Mar 20
The oddsmakers are telling us there’s an 80% chance of passage. Hold on to your wallets.
Mar 19
This week, I was busy getting two guest posts in, the first at Kay Bell’s Don’t Mess With Taxes, and today I’m pleased to offer Taxes 101: The Gift Tax, at TurboTax’s blog.
As with anything tax related, there are rules. Rules which can cost you if you don’t understand and don’t follow them. Yet, by doing it right, you can save yourself some money and some grief, making your recipient happy in the process. Please visit my friends at TurboTax and let them know if my article helped you.
Have a great wekend,
Joe
Mar 15
I recently read Kay Bell’s article at Don’t Mess With Taxes titled Are you ready for a Roth conversion? I commented that most people would not be likely to save their way to a higher bracket at retirement and offered some numbers. For example, a couple having a standard deduction of $11,400 + exemptions totaling $7300. First $18700/yr tax free. The 4% withdrawal rule (as good a starting number as any) means one needs $467,500 in pretax savings to generate that $18,700. This led to Kay inviting me to expand on this thought and in response I wrote an article titled Roth IRAs and your retirement income, now published there. Take a read and let Kay know if the article helped you.
Beware the Roth Mania.
Joe
Mar 14
It’s that time again, Daylight Saving Time started while we slept.
By the way, if you didn’t know, this Dali work is Persistence of Memory. If you refer to it correctly the first time and are asked again, it’s okay to say “you know, the melting clocks.” Glad to get that out of the way. Now, on to my best of the week.
At Eliminate The Muda, FinEngr of Engineer Your Finances asks What’s your magic number? The (literally) million-dollar question. Everyone’s number is unique to them, but it seems we all start with trying to understand if we will spend more or less after retiring. Is a million enough? For some, yes, others, maybe not.
Next on Len Penzo’s site is a guest post, The (Dead)Beat Generation, a discussion of whether to walk away from your mortgage. I’m still on the fence about this, gathering up a survey of others’ views and trying to come to my own conclusion.
Meg Marco authored Consumerist’s 10 Commandments of Credit, which caught my eye both because I’m a list guy as well as the common sense it offers. Dave Ramsey be darned, I’ll take the advice here, “Thou Shalt Get A Credit Card With Extended Warranty Protection, Cash Back or Reward Points, And Thou Shalt Take Advantage Of Them.” This, and 9 more great credit tips.
Another recurring question, Is There Such a Thing as “Good Debt,” was asked at Fiscal Geek. In theory, debt is good if you can get a higher return than the interest you are paying. In the old days, a zero fee, zero interest credit card that let you borrow for a year was a great deal, to me, good debt. Short of that, I’d say being debt free is a worthy goal.
Last this week, I liked 7 Income Tax Breaks – Thanks to Your Children, by Miranda. As tax time approaches, this post is a great reminder of the tax breaks you can take advantage of if you have children. Take a look and see if you’re taking advantage of the tax breaks available to you.
Have a great week. Enjoy the extra daylight.
Joe
Mar 13
The Democrats are doing their best to get it through…..
Mar 11
Last week, my aunt passed away, and I took a few days off to go the the wake and funeral. I grew up in a 4 family house (a small apartment building) and she and her family lived right above us. She lived to 89, and I had the honor of presenting a eulogy I wrote with the the help of my wife and daughter at the funeral service.
Today, I’d like to share it with my readers.
Aunt Sue often joked with me that I was the black sheep of the family. So in order to keep my reputation I would first like to share with you the worst thing ever said to me about Aunt Sue. “She wants everybody to love her.” This truly was the worst thing that you could say and yet if everyone in the world felt as she did the world would be a far better place. On the other hand, if no one felt this way it would be a world in which I wouldn’t want to live. I know I moved away from Brooklyn a long time ago, 25 years, but during that time I spoke to Aunt Sue often enough that I felt I never left.
In every conversation she spoke of the love she had for her family, her children, her grandchildren, her great grand children. She spoke about a mother’s love and how she would have trouble going to sleep before getting that phone call telling her that her daughter was home and safe.
I’m sorry that it took until the second half of my life to really understand some of this. I wish that I had learned as a child what I learned these past decades that Aunt Sue was so full of love it wasn’t something that she could run out of. She had enough for everyone who wanted to share it.
My family often sent cards and spoke to Aunt Sue on the phone to remind her how much she was loved and missed. My daughter often asked why Aunt Sue wouldn’t come and live with us because we had plenty of room and air conditioning. She came to understand that her home was where Aunt Sue was most comfortable and close to most of her family. Aunt Sue and my wife enjoyed wonderful conversations and never a visit or call would pass without Aunt Sue imparting some words of wisdom and the always “I love you.”
The above photo is over 44 years old as my Uncle Al passed away in 1966.
Joe
