|
|
|
|
|
Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of January 4, 2010This is an OPT-IN list ONLY! If you feel that you have received this message in error, please follow the directions at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe. Thank you.Click Here to view this newsletter online. Navigate This ColumnGrandpa Terry's Update Welcome to The Budget Stretcher! On January 1, 2000 I launched Budget Stretcher with the idea of helping those folks that were having problems paying their bills thinking that I had all of the answers. It didn't take very long for me to find out that this was a much more complicated field than I had imagined. My main tool when I began was my Budget and Bill organizer that had served me well for several years with my own finances. But as it turns out there is much more than a budget or organizing your bills. I learned from the very people I was trying to help that it would take a very detailed step by step process to gain control of your finances. And, I'm still learning today. I want to thank all of you for your input and your loyalty as subscribers. I know some of you have been with me since October 2001 and I sincerely appreciate that. Let's try to make the next 10 years even better. Sometimes I sound like a broken record saying the same things over and over again. Obtaining your free credit report is one of these basic tools that will help you no matter what your financial situation. A few years ago credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies were made available annually and at no cost to you. All you have to do is visit https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp I have listed this site a few times in the newsletter but I thought it may be fun to do it again. Please be sure to read the disclaimer before trying any of these tips. http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/cola.html That's all for now. Remember, I really enjoy hearing from you folks. If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions or just want to say Hi, please send me an email to tre2000@midwest.net If you know someone that may be interested in subscribing to our newsletter just copy and paste the below link into an email to them and have them subscribe: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/confirmsubs.html Have a great week, Grandpa Terry Sponsor AdvertisementAre you frustrated trying to get by on the money you make? Would you like to get a good view to where all your money is going? Would you like to start saving your money, or save even more? Looking for something easier then software like Quicken or Money? Would you like to teach your children about finance? Click Here to check out My Budget Planner Today Grandpa Terry's Tip of the WeekBy Terry Rigg Did you already find out the answer to last weeks quiz? Here is the first quiz: Here is a quiz for you! If you had a credit card with a balance of $20,000, interest rate of 20% and the minimum payment starting at $500 which is based on 2.5% of the unpaid balance, how long would it take to pay it off? a. 67 months b. 112 months c. 327 months d. 534 months Quick, make your selection. Is it "a." at 5 years and 7 months or is it "d." at 44 years and 6 months or somewhere in between. Now, here is a second quiz! Using the exact same figures as above except that you continue paying that $500 each and every month, how long would it take to pay it off? a. 67 months b. 112 months c. 327 months d. 534 months Answer: If you continued to pay $500 per month on this credit card instead of the lower minimum payment you would only pay for 67 months and interest of $13,233.84 for a total principle and interest of $33,233.84. This would be a savings of $26,233.49 in interest and you would pay it off 467 months early, or 38 years and 11 months. You would have this credit card paid off in 5 years and 7 months. Come on folks, this is not a scam, scheme or numbers trick. It's something I believe each and every one of us can and should do and you won't even notice the extra few dollars. I prove this with each and every Debt Elimination Summary I do. If you are interested in letting me prove it to you just visit the below web page: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/debtelimsummary.html Try entering your credit card information on the form at the below page and see for yourself just how much you could save in time and money: http://www.bankrate.com/msn/calc/minpayment.asp Sponsor AdvertisementEffective immediately and for the foreseeable future you can get the below products for only $5! Please take advantage of the Specials: The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer The Quick-Find Filing System The Bill Pay Management System Grandpa Terry's EmailHi Grandpa Terry,I wrote to you a few months ago. I am the lady with MS who prays for others. My dear husband recently made a web site for me at www.prayersforhelp.net . I'd like to invite your readers to visit it. I hope they will be blessed. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Karen
Featured ArticleNOT Get A Big Tax Refund" by Wayne M. Davies I will never forget the day one of my tax clients came to pick up his personal income tax return. "How's it look?" he asked. "Well," I said, "You're getting a refund." "Great! How much?" "Oh, it's a big one," I said. "Over $5,000 dollars." Mr. Taxpayer couldn't have been happier. He face lit up like a light bulb. He was ecstatic -- he sincerely believed that he had "beat the tax man" by getting such a large refund. I was not so happy. I couldn't understand his thinking. So I asked him if he really meant to get such a big refund. Mr. Taxpayer was a W-2 employee and so I wondered if his payroll department made a mistake -- were they doing his withholdings wrong? Did he really want to have so much tax taken out of his paycheck each week? Mr. Taxpayer went on to tell me that he has a tremendous fear of having a balance due on his return. For some reason, he just assumed that if he ended up owing money to the government at the end of the year, somehow he would get in trouble with the IRS. So he went to the opposite extreme. In addition, he thought that getting a big refund was a great way to save money during the year, so that at the end of the year he got a nice little "bonus" from the government. You know, a forced savings plan. I can think of at least 5 reasons why Mr. Taxpayer's thinking is flawed. REASON #1: When you get a big refund, you are loaning your money to the government. My biggest objection to getting a large refund is the simple fact that you have given the IRS an interest-free loan of your hard-earned money. Mr. Taxpayer's $5,000 could have been earning interest over the course of the year. So by letting the government keep his money, he was actually losing money! Sure, with rates so low, maybe we're not talking about a lot of interest income here, but why give the government your money any sooner than necessary? REASON #2: Getting a big refund does not mean you are paying less tax. I know how complicated are tax system is. It's crazy, convoluted, chaotic and inconsistent. I deal with our tax laws every day, and there's stuff in there that will drive any sane person over the edge. But on this point, there really is a lot of misunderstanding on the part of innocent (but misinformed) taxpayers: Getting a large refund does not mean that you somehow paid less tax than if you got no refund. I'm serious here -- there are taxpayers out there who think that getting a refund means that you somehow "beat the system." This is nonsense. Think about it -- all you did was get your own money back! It was your money all along, all you did was postpone getting it. REASON #3: Having a balance due does not increase the chance of audit. If you have a balance due, you do NOT end up on some IRS "hit list." But for some reason there are many taxpayers who have this unfounded fear of owing money to the government. This fear causes people to unnecessarily go to the opposite extreme -- "I've got to make sure I never owe, so I'll just have way too much withheld to be safe." Safe from what? This fear of an audit is pure hogwash. REASON #4: Getting a large refund is usually a sign of poor (or non-existent) tax planning. Many folks do not realize how easy it is to get out of the "big refund rut". You have control over how much you pay in to the IRS during the year. If you or your spouse are W-2 employees, you can change your withholdings very easily. Just file a new Form W-4 with your employer and you won't have to wait so long to get your money back. If you are self-employed and making quarterly estimated tax payments, the same principle applies. With a little number- crunching you can determine the minimum amount of estimated tax payments you are required to make. Whether you are self-employed or work for someone else, if you're not sure how to do these calculations, get help from your local tax professional. REASON #5: Getting a large refund is usually a sign of poor (or non-existent) financial planning. My client insisted that he needed a large refund so he could have a nice nest egg to look forward to every Spring. He was using the government as his short-term savings plan. I told Mr. Taxpayer this: "If you want to save $5,000 dollars over the course of the year, just authorize your employer to deposit $100 per week into your savings account. Then at the end of the year, your $5,000 will be sitting in your own bank account instead of at the U.S. Treasury. And you won't be in such a frantic frenzy to get your tax return filed." So I urge you to reconsider such an approach to money- management. Why let the government have your money? Don't wait until the end of the year to get your money back. With a little planning and self-discipline, you can take control of this part of your life. Wayne M. Davies is author of the new eBook, "The Tax Reduction Toolkit: 29 Little-Known Legal Loopholes That Will Reduce Your Taxes By Thousands (For Small Business Owners and Self-Employed People Only!) Don't file another tax return until you visit: http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com/toolkit.html Tired of paying so much tax to the IRS? Don't file another tax return until you've read the Special Report, "How Any Small Business Owner or Self-Employed Person Can Save Thousands In Taxes." http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com |
|
Copyright © 2000-2010 Budget Stretcher All rights Reserved. |
