Missed Mortgage Payment

We missed our mortgage payment last month and I’m glad to say the bank didn’t foreclose on our house.  I mentioned previously how our mortgage was bought and how it caused some troubles when setting up my credit card payment  since both debts are through the same company.  After negotiating payment for some late fees, I thought the issues were worked out but this month I had trouble with our mortgage payment.

Our online billpay isn’t recognizing the new mortgage bills so it’s not being paid automatically.  I missed the fact that the payment wasn’t sent and so the bank called us up.

Mortgage Collections Conversation

I was at my desk at work when my cell phone rang and someone from the Chase collections department was on the other line.   He said our we were behind on our mortgage and we needed to pay as soon as possible.  I asked him to wait while I logged into our online bill pay account and sure enough we had missed a payment.

Of course he wanted to know how I was going to make the payment today and suggested I give him my bank account and routing number.  This was a problem for two reasons. 

The first problem was that I don’t give out personal information to anyone that calls me to avoid identity theft through social engineering.  I asked if there was a number I could call back and his response was simply that I needed to take care of it right now, on this call.

The second problem was that I didn’t have my bank routing number handy; his suggestion was that I use the routing number and account number they had on file for a previous withdrawal.  I wanted to make sure it came out of an account that had sufficient funds so I asked him what account number that was.  He wouldn’t tell me for privacy reasons, which didn’t make total sense because it was my mortgage & my bank account, so I asked him to tell me just the last 4 digits.

After some back and forth and time spent on hold I realized that this guy must deal with all different kinds of people and hear all kinds of stories and he didn’t have much patience for me.  He wasn’t being helpful and was starting to act like a jerk so I wasn’t too sad when my cell phone died and I lost him mid conversation.

Paying the Mortgage

I called back into the main number for the bank and hooked up with a much friendlier and more helpful women who answered my questions and helped me figure out how to handle it. Of course she wanted to know why I missed the payment and asked a few questions about our monthly income and how often I’m paid.  She suggested  that I set up my bank account through their website for monthly payments.   

I thought about just submitting payment through my online billpay account but she recommended against that since it was close to the end of the month and I didn’t want to risk having a late or missed mortgage payment show up on my credit report.

She could have taken my payment over the phone but there was a fee for doing that and she suggested using the automated pay by phone option which had a lower fee.  Since I had already owed a late fee on the mortgage payment, I was happy to reduce any further fees so I used the pay by phone.  By the next morning the payment had gone through so now we’re all settled up, just in time to make our next mortgage payment : )

---

myFICO Promotion & Other Deals Ending

myFICO is running a promotion to celebrate their anniversary; 30% off the price of your credit report as well as other services like Score Watch, Suze Orman’s FICO® Kit, and IDFreeze. The promotion is over at the end of this month – myFICO Promo Code

I cover deals, coupon codes, and savings in the deals section and have a few other promotions you might be interested in that are over at the end of this month.  Here are some of those deals:

ING Direct – $20 Referral Bonus
ING Direct usually offers $10 if you refer someone new to their savings or checking account. Through the end of this month they’re giving you $20 for each friend that you refer – ING Direct Promotion

OptionsXpress IRA Promotion
OptionsXpress is offering 5 free trades if you open an IRA account before the end of the month. No maintenance fees and no account minimums – OptionsXpress Promotion

Quicken Discount Promo Codes
This deal isn’t ending at the end of the month but they are offering some nice discounts on the new versions of Quicken software – Quicken Promo Codes

---

Tax Deadline Looms!

Tax day is almost here, have you filed your taxes yet? If not, you can still get free H&R Block at Home software if you enter by the end of the day. Below are some tax tips from around the web on topics such as tax audits, tax deductions, hiring an accountant, amended tax returns, and others.

In other personal finance news, I also want to congratulate JD Roth from Get Rich Slowly for finishing his first book Your Money: The Missing Manual ! I haven’t read the book yet but I’ll do a write up on it once I have a chance.  I know JD poured his heart and soul into this one so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s come up with.

Here are those tax tips and some other recent personal finance articles on the health care bill, investing, career, and credit:

Taxes

– Don’t Let Your Taxes Make You a Criminal @ Generation X Finance
– The Tax Collector @ Lazy Man & Money
– Is It a Good Idea to Pay Taxes with Credit Cards? @ Suns Financial Diary
– Do Kids Have to Pay Taxes? All About the Kiddie Tax @ Five Cent Nickel
– Tax Audit Red Flags @ Bargaineering
– Just Because It’s Deductible Doesn’t Make It Smart @ Wealth Pilgrim
– What to Look For When Hiring an Accountant @ Good Financial Cents
– Why Tax Deferral May Be a Sucker’s Bet @ Fiscal Geek
– Time Limit on Filing Amended Tax Return @ No Debt Plan

Health Care

– Health Care Reform Bill: How It Affects You @ The Digerati Life
– Health Care Reform Bill Summary, Taxes, and Fines @ My Dollar Plan
– Overview Of The Health Care Reform Bill. @ My Two Dollars

Investing

– The Wrong Reason to Dollar-Cost Average @ Consumerism Commentary
– Are You a Dinosaur for Not Investing in ETFs? @ Frugal Dad
– Max Out Your Tax Advantaged Accounts First @ Money Ning
– Mutual Fund Hidden Cost: Brokerage Commissions @ My Money Blog
– How to Open a Roth IRA Account @ Moolanomy
– Considering ETF Investing and Mutual Funds @ Debt Free Adventure

Career

– The 5’oclock Test @ Brip Blap
– Transitioning Well from One Job to Another @ Million Dollar Journey
– How To Successfully Work From Home @ Cash Money Life

Credit

– Six Secrets of a Credit Score @ Budgets Are Sexy
– My Credit Card Beef with Dave Ramsey @ Free Money Finance

---

Spring Break Travel Money Tips

Spring break trips always seem to cost more than you’d planned. Here are some tips on how to save money and make your dollar go farther on spring break.

• 10 Ways College Students can Save Money on Spring Break
• Spring Break Vacation Money Savers

In terms of traveling, here are some things you can use to book cheaper flights and hotels or get money back:

• Best Travel Rewards Cards on Spring Break
• Save Money on Airline Tickets
• Travel Tips for Your Money
• Best Travel Websites

If you do take your student rewards card be sure to watch out for these credit card mistakes.  If you don’t have one, signing up for the card that offers a free T-shirt probably isn’t the best way to choose one.

As with many things in life, some up front planning can save you some money.  If you can make extra money ahead of time and plan ahead to lower your vacation costs then you’ll have more money to have more fun with!

---

Quitting Your Job On Good Terms Can Pay Off

Quitting your job on good terms can definitely make a positive difference as you travel down your career path. Last weekend I heard two examples of why it pays off to leave your job in style, with your relationships intact and no bridges burned. 

The first story shows how a bad break up with your boss or your company can put you at a disadvantage in your career in the future.  The second person who shared thier story with me was a great example of how valuable old co-workers can be for referrals if you leave a job on good terms.

Getting Fired

The first example is a lady that I met about 2 years ago who moved to the Midwest from California for a new job.  She’s good at what she does and was working well at her new company but they had a management shake-up and she found herself at odds with her new boss.  She left the company on bad terms and ruined any chances she had of getting a job there in the future. 

My friend used her personal network to find another job that suited her well but just last week they had to lay-off people due to a decline in business.  She still has a good network of friends and acquaintances but many of them work at the company she left on bad terms; making it hard to get referrals.

Fortunately she has a 4 month emergency fund so she should have enough time to find a job.  However, if she had kept her options open at her previous job she might not have needed to burn through a chunk of her savings before finding another job. 

Getting Hired

I also heard a story where a bad career experience led to a great one thanks to a good relationship.  Another friend of mine found himself in a very poor working environment, due mostly to one person in management.  He had never been treated as poorly by a boss and realized he needed to get out of the situation. 

The day he left his job, he called up a former boss and let them know he was on the job market.  He had worked with the previous supervisor as a contractor and had a really good relationship with the team of people there. 

Great news for my friend, they called him back right away and offered him a full time position.  Although it had been several years since he had worked there the people in the company remembered him in a positive light.  Had he not given two weeks notice and left on good terms, he probably wouldn’t have landed a new job right away.

It’s tempting to let people know what you *really* think of them when you’re leaving a company but think about the long term and how the people you’ve worked with could be potential job referals in the future.

---

Free H&R Block at Home Software!

Free H&R Block at Home Giveaway

Thanks to the team at H&R Block, I’m giving away free access to H&R Block at Home to three of you! If you haven’t heard of this tax prep software before, that’s because it used to be called TaxCut and just this year they changed the name to H&R Block at Home.

H&R Block at Home Versions

As you may remember from my Q&A session with Julie Markey about the H&R Block at Home software, the most popular version of the software is the Deluxe edition. Here are the differences between the Basic and Deluxe as listed on the H&R Block website:

• Guidance for reporting investments, dividends, home sales, and retirement income.
• Personalized tax guidance based on popular occupations to ensure you get the most deductions.
• Maximize deductions for home mortgage interest and real estate taxes.
• Assistance on investment income and stock options.
• Advice for getting key tax benefits after life changes.

Of course, if you only need the Basic version, the Deluxe edition will work for you as well so feel free to enter to win.

How to Enter

Here are the rules. The contest is open to anyone in the United States, I will randomly select three winners on March 30th. In order to claim your prize I’ll need your address so we can send you the software.

There are three ways to participate in the contest (listed below) and you can perform each action once. The first two below will earn you 1 entry and the 3rd will earn you 5 entries into the contest. Good luck!

1) Follow me on Twitter (Worth 1 entry)

Stay tuned to the latest tax posts from around the blogosphere. Follow me here on Twitter and tweet the following:

Free tax software, H&R Block at Home, follow @moneysmart to win your copy http://bit.ly/aMg59c #moneysmart

2) Leave a Comment (Worth 1 entry)

Share your favorite tax credit or tax deduction in the comments below.

3) Get Free Money Tips (Worth 5 Entries)

Enter your information below to get personal finance tips delivered to you via email.

Name:
Email:

Good luck

---

Tax Savings You Don’t Want to Miss

Here are a few tax deductions that you’ll definitely want to take advantage of if they apply to you for the 2009 tax year:

Homebuyer Credits

Granted, it would be kind of tough to miss these if you were in the home market at all last year, but there are substantial tax credits available to both first-time and repeat homebuyers who closed a deal in 2009. First-time homebuyers (defined as someone who didn’t own a home in the three years leading up to purchase) can qualify for an $8,000 credit on the purchase of a new home, and as of last November 6, existing homeowners (someone who owned a home continuously for at least five of the last eight years) can qualify for a $6,500 credit for a new purchase.

It’s also important to check income requirements. President Obama extended these 2009 credits into 2010 with some critical changes in income requirements, so it’s important to see which rules affect you based on when you made your purchase or if you’re planning to make one this year. Visit the Internal Revenue Service website for more information.

Sales Tax Deduction

All taxpayers that itemize their deductions have a choice between deducting state and local income taxes or the combination of state and local sales taxes, whichever is higher. For most taxpayers, the income tax (if their state has one) is a bigger bite and therefore the best choice for a deduction, but if you’ve made a major purchase like a car, boat or airplane, it makes sense to see what you might be able to deduct in your state.

For most citizens of income-tax states, the income tax is a bigger burden than the sales tax, so the income-tax deduction is a better deal. The IRS has an online calculator that can help you make the decision.

Points on a Refinance

Remember you can deduct the points you paid on a refinance over the life of the loan. If it’s a 30-year mortgage, you can deduct $33 per $1,000 of points you paid, which may not seem like much, but it’s worth a few bucks. If you sell the home before the loan is paid, however, you get to deduct the rest of the undeducted points.

401(k) Contributions

See if you can push your 401(k) contributions to their regular and catch-up limits for those 50 years of age or older. For tax year 2009, the regular contribution limit in a traditional 401(k) is $16,500 and 11,500 for a SIMPLE 401(k). For anyone who is age 50 or older in 2009, you can make an additional contribution of $5,500 for a traditional 401(k) and an additional $2,500 for a SIMPLE 401(k). 

IRA Contributions

For tax year 2009, traditional and Roth IRA contributions are limited to $5,000 for those under age 50; for those over 50 during 2009, the contribution limit is $6,000. For Roth IRAs, keep in mind that if you are married and filing jointly with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of less than $166,000, you can contribute up to the limit, BUT between $166,000 and $176,000, the limit is reduced.

Those with MAGI more than $176,000 cannot contribute to a Roth. For single filers or married taxpayers filing separately, those reporting MAGI of less than $105,000 can contribute up to the limit, BUT between $105,000 and $120,000 that contribution is reduced. Over MAGI of $120,000, no contribution is allowed. A 2009 IRA or Roth IRA contribution can be made up until April 15, 2010.

2009 Unemployment

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits an individual receives in 2009 are tax free. This provision applies only to benefits received in 2009 (normally, unemployment benefits are taxable).

College Perks

The new American Opportunity Credit, part of the economic stimulus effort, allows a tax credit of up to $2,500 for each qualifying student in a family for the first four years of college. The full credit is available to individuals whose modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less or $160,000 for married taxpayers.

This replaces the $2,000 Hope credit for the first two years of school and the Lifetime Learning credit that applies at a lower amount afterward. For more information visit the IRS website.

---

Web Giveaways

There are a few things being given away online that I wanted to let you know about this weekend:

• A Netbook Computer over at CoupleMoney. There are a few ways to enter to win so check it out.
• H&R Block is offering 24-hours of free tax advice this Thursday, March 25.  You can call 1-866-HRBLOCK or e-mail taxtalk@hrblock.com for free advice.
• Next week I’ll be giving away a few free copies of H&R Block at Home tax software.

Here is some personal finace reading for the weekend, enjoy:

Frugality

• The Key To Living Frugally @ Lazy Man & Money
• Household Debt Panel @ Suns Financial Diary
• Preparing for a Long Decline @ The Simple Dollar
• Save Money! Get a College Degree In Three Years @ Free Money Finance
• Would you out a friend’s spending patterns on Facebook? @ Mighty Bargain Hunter
• Library Sent Me To Collections! @ My Money Blog

Car Savings

• Best Gasoline For Your Car Engine? Not Always Premium Gas @ The Digerati Life
• 9 Ways To Save Money On Car Insurance @ Frugal Dad
• 28 Tips to Save Money on Car Expenses and Save Thousands of Dollars @ Generation X Finance

Making Money and What to Do With Your Money

• Do You Have What It Takes To Manage Your Money? @ Free From Broke
• Ban Credit Checks for Job Applications @ Bargaineering
• Unexpected Income: What Should You Do With a Windfall? @ Consumerism Commentary
• how to make money on Facebook @ Brip Blap
• CD Laddering: The Frugal Way to Build an Emergency Fund @ Being Frugal
• How To Make Money Blogging @ Debt Free Adventure
• Get a Second Job and Quit Whining About Debt @ Fiscal Fizzle

Taxes

• Canadian Income Tax Deadline @ Million Dollar Journey
• Unemployed Tax Deductions Provide Tax Relief @ My Dollar Plan
• Filing A Tax Extension: Don’t Pay Someone, Do It For Free. @ My Two Dollars
• How To Make Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments @ Good Financial Cents
• Why Doing Your Own Taxes is Beneficial @ No Debt Plan
• Owing on Your State Income Tax Return @ Out of Your Rut

Personal Finance

• 9 Effective Ways To Protect Yourself From Being Scammed @ Money Ning
• OptionsXpress Promotion – Free Stock Trades @ Deals
• Five Ways to Disaster Proof Your Finances @ The Wisdom Journal

Business

• How To Survey Your Customers for Free Using Google Docs @ Erica Biz
• How to Organize Your Small Business Finances @ Cash Money Life

Health and Money

• How to Get In Shape and Save Money @ Moolanomy
• Why the Gym is a Waste of Money @ Fiscal Geek

---

Standard Deduction or Itemized Deduction?

Who doesn’t love tax deductions right? As a quick reminder, a tax deduction is an expense that you subtract from your total income; after taking all your deductions you’re left with your adjusted gross income or AGI. The lower your AGI, the lower the amount of taxes you will have to pay.

When its time to file your tax returns you’ll have to decide between taking the standard deduction or to file itemized deductions. Which way you decide depends on a number of factors but you have to chose just one.

Some Deduction Rules

• Eligibility: To be eligible for the standard deduction you must be a U.S. Citizen or resident alien, non resident aliens cannot use the standard deduction.
• Filing Status: If you are married and filing separately you cannot mix and match, if one party itemizes, both parties must itemize or one must claim zero as the standard deduction.
• You can decide to use the deduction method that results in the least amount tax owed.
• Itemizers must use IRS Form 1040 and complete form Schedule A. If you claim the standard deductions you can use IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ

Itemized Deductions

You should have documentation as evidence to support each item that you are attempting to deduct. If you cannot support your tax deduction claims then you risk running into IRS problems if they ever decide to do a tax audit.

In order to accurately itemize your tax deductions you should be saving receipts from all of your allowable itemized deductions for the year. Here are some of the types of expenses that can be used to calculate itemized deductions:

• Medical expenses that are greater than 7.5% of the taxpayers adjusted gross income – medical tax deductions
• State and local taxes including property, sales and income taxes
• Some mortgage interest and home equity loan interest
• Investment interest
• Donations and charitable contributions

Standard Deduction

What exactly is the standard deduction? It’s a flat rate amount that is deducted from your total income to arrive at your AGI. The amount that can be deducted varies based on the your filing status. Here’s a standard deduction table from the last few years:

Year	Single	Married Filing Jointly	Married Filing Separately	Head of household	Qualifying widow(er)
2009	$5,700	$11,400	$5,700	$8,350	$11,400
2008	$5,450	$10,900	$5,450	$8,000	$10,900
2007	$5,350	$10,700	$5,350	$7,850	$10,700
2006	$5,150	$10,300	$5,150	$7,550	$10,300

According to the IRS more taxpayers that file income tax returns choose the standard deduction amount over the itemized deduction amount. There are a few different reasons which might contribute to this:

• If you don’t have many qualifying expenses, the inflation adjusted standard deduction may be a bigger tax savings for you.
• Claiming the standard deduction means that you’re not burdened with knowing and with keeping track of every single qualifying expense throughout the year.
• If the standard and itemized deduction amounts are similar some people may choose the standard deduction so they won’t worry about the possibility of problems during an IRS audit.

Track Your Expenses

If you haven’t kept records of all your itemization expenses for the past year you might get some tax forms that could help you, like the form for mortgage interest paid on a loan. However it’s better to track your expenses yourself throughout the year. The only way to know for sure which method works out best for you is to keep records of your itemizable expenses during the year and then calculate both methods next tax season.

---

TradeKing IRA

A TradeKing IRA is a good option if you’re looking to open a Roth IRA or traditional IRA and make contributions for last year.  April 15^th is the IRA contribution deadline, same as the tax deadline, and contributing to a traditional IRA can lower the taxes you owe for last year.

There are multiple things to consider when deciding between an IRA vs Roth IRA but the contribution deadline for both is coming up; which is why a recent email from TradeKing caught my attention.

TradeKing and Taxes

Trade King is offering a free report on taxes and investing, just give them your email address and they’ll send it to you right away.  They also offer their customers free tax reporting software by Scivantage, called MaxIt.  The software gives you cost basis information and can help you make investment decisions from a perspective of minimizing your taxes.

Of course your tax investing strategy will differ depending on whether you have a Roth or traditional IRA since you don’t have to pay any taxes on a traditional IRA until you take money out of your account.  Regardless of how much income your investments earn or how often you trade within your traditional IRA, the taxes aren’t paid until you make an IRA withdrawal.

A Roth IRA on the other hand doesn’t lower your tax bill in the year you contribute funds since the money is not pre-tax (like a traditional IRA).  However, when you make qualified withdrawals from your Roth, you take the money out tax free.  One thing to keep in mind is that the Roth IRA rules are changing some this year regarding income limitations and ira conversions.

TradeKing IRA

In addition to keeping taxes from eating into your retirement you also want to keep your expenses low.  Since TradeKing is a discount broker they offer low commissions and don’t charge maintenance fees for your IRA account.

Tradeking also allows you to invest in ETF’s, which can lower your expenses, since ETF’s often have lower expense ratios than mutual funds.

You can read more about the online brokerage’s various features in this TradeKing review and also see what’s required in order to open a TradeKing account.

---

Page 76 of 190« First«...102030...7475767778...90100110...»Last »