Leveraging Your Cash Flow
Key Takeaways Using Other People’s Money (OPM) comes in to play in things like a matching 401(k) where an employer is matching their money to yours to put away for your retirement. There are three leveraging tools in a 401(k): Other People’s Money, pre-tax savings, and tax deferment. If your employer offers a matching 401(k), […]
Replacing Your Life
Key Takeaways Life insurance is important to have if you have dependents and are a high income earner. Term insurance and Cash value insurance are the two types of life insurance. There are different benefits to each type of life insurance, so it’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages of each to determine what […]
4 Common Tax Advantaged Strategies
Key Takeaways There are three things to look for in a tax strategy: tax deductible, tax deferred, and tax free. A strategy will most likely not contain all three, but usually will have two of them. Four common tax strategies are 401ks, IRAs, HSAs, and 529 plans. Putting money away using any of these strategies […]
Your Future Taxes
Key Takeaways There are two types of tax planners; historians and futurists. Tax historians look to the past to plan for their taxes and can often be left with costly surprises or pay more taxes than they should by not researching changes in the tax code. Being a tax futurist, where you plan your taxes […]
Clipping Tax Coupons
Key Takeaways The 1040 form is used to file your tax return and it’s important to know what’s on it so you can take advantage of any areas where you may be able to save money. The main sections of the 1040 form are Income, Adjusted Gross Income, Tax and Credits, and Other Taxes. There […]
Leveraging Expenses
Key Takeaways There are actually ways you can use your expenses as leverage to help you pay off your debt and save more money. Developing a budget, paying your bills on time, and prioritizing expenses helps to gain clarity of your financial picture, keeps your expenses low and credit ratings high, and helps you build […]
Auto Loan Basics
Key Takeaways When getting an auto loan, you want to be sure you know what’s involved so you are not caught off guard with hidden fees or payments. The elements to consider when getting an auto loan are your budget, savings, credit score, amortization, depreciation, and buying new or used. You can get a loan […]
Taxes—The Good, the Bad and the Smart
Key Takeaways You can’t get away from taxes, but people who are well-informed pay less. The majority of Americans pay not one but three taxes on their salary—federal, state and payroll. There are a myriad of deductions, exemptions and strategies you can use to lessen your tax bite and accumulate wealth from Day One of […]
The American Dream —Your First Home
Key Takeaways Before you embark on the dream of owning your own home, make sure there are no errors in your credit score or financial history. If you can’t come up with a 20 percent down payment, you can often still buy a home—but you’ll typically need mortgage insurance. Many new homebuyers underestimate how much […]
5 Reasons Why Math Matters
Key Takeaways Even if you weren’t a math major, you need basic computational skills and an understanding of compound interest, inflation, amortization and taxes to be a financially responsible adult. As discussed in a previous post, the Rule of 72 is a powerful shorthand way of calculating how many years it will take an investment […]