If you are like many others, you may think investing is complicated. But by simply knowing your goals and options and then picking the right investing partner, becoming a successful investor is easier than you think. Vanguard does a great job at explaining the steps you’ll need to take in making smart investment decisions as well as guide you on becoming a successful investor. Check out these excellent articles - Vanguard’s 4 Investing Truths:
1) Vanguard’s Investing Truth - RISK:
With the amazing rise in the value of gold, silver and other precious metals in the past few years many investors are looking to cash in on some of the spectacular profits they’re currently sitting on.
Have you just filed your 1040 tax return and later realized you had made a mistake on it? First of all – don’t feel badly, people make mistakes all the time while filing their tax returns, after all, they are pretty complicated, especially if you do it yourself. And second, don’t panic and ignore the problem – there are ways to fix your errors and Certified Public Accountant, K.M. Pittman, in a short article written for Daily Worth, wrote how to handle tax filing problems with relative ease.
Pittman gives links to the IRS list of common mistakes, where you can read the top 9 common tax errors people make when filing taxes. There is also a link where you can file Form 1040X, the amended return and also the time limit in which to fix your error.
Last quarter, I posted the financial task list for January, February and March, taken from the Financial Planning Association (FPA) website. This second post is for tasks that need to be completed for April, May and June, which are quickly approaching.
As both my parents and in-laws are well into their 80's, I so appreciate and value the importance of the task for the month of May; talking to your parents about estate, health and long-term care planning. Please don't put this one off - you will save yourself and your loved ones a huge amount of work and heartache if you address these important and inevitable end of life issues sooner rather than later.
This task list is taken from the Financial Planning Association (FPA) website. I've divided the list into four posts, one for each calendar quarter starting with Jan-Feb-March 2011. There is much to do in January, but Feb and March are much lighter task months.
If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to get control of your finances in 2011, here’s a list of important planning and execution tasks that should be on your money calendar for the year:
Should you choose a ROTH IRA or a Traditional IRA? That’s a tax planning question that deserves much scrutiny. First thing you need to do is find out if you’re eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA. Here’s a link that can help determine the answer: Roth IRA Income Eligibility
Let’s say for argument sake you’re eligible to contribute to either a Roth or a Traditional IRA. If you take the Traditional IRA route, you’ll deduct the IRA contribution from your reported income which will have the effect of lowering your income tax bill.
For most small business owners, discussing the pros and cons of a pension plan vs. a 401(k) vs. a SEP IRA is about as exciting as watching paint dry. I get it. Yet, I’ve noticed over the years just how much time entrepreneurs invest in growing their business and how little time and money they spend on designing smart and sensible tax savings strategies that could save them big money at the end of the year.
It’s usually at the end of the year that you’ll notice lots and lots of articles offering money savings tips. But with the New Year only four months away, putting your tax planning hat on now is a smart financial move as well as a good investment of your time. Similar to investment planning, tax planning is pro-active and has the potential to lower your overall tax bill.
