My watch beeped midnight only a short while ago. Let the waiting game begin. Matt Jabs gave me some comfort in telling me that the solstice wasn’t going to happen until 11:12 this morning. But he didn’t say which time zone. More seeds of doubt. If we take the stance that the Mayans were wrong, … Read more
No doubt there are three highly ecstatic people in this country: the three people who chose the magic numbers on the record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions lottery. Let’s hope that they haven’t gone through all of the money within the next few years, as they’re likely to do. (The US Government, of course, will burn … Read more
I ran across this article on MSN Money on six ways to get your tax refund. The fifth way, “IRS Credit,” left me scratching my head a bit: If you got a refund but don’t need the cash right away, the IRS will hold on to it for you and let you apply it to … Read more
The mortgage interest tax deduction is one of the best sales tools that real estate agents have at their disposal. It costs them nothing to mention that in all but the most expensive homes, all of the mortgage interest on a primary residence is a federal tax deduction if you itemize your deductions. Sounds fantastic, … Read more
Financial windfalls, planned or otherwise, are almost always welcome additions to the family budget. (No doubt they’re preferable to large unexpected expenses!) Whether those financial windfalls are spent or saved wisely, though, is an entirely different matter. Fortunately, it’s not that difficult to put these windfalls to effective use. Here are two simple but broad … Read more
Nine short days to the federal tax filing deadline on April 18th, 2011. This year, Uncle Sam has a $6,500 tax credit in store for those of us who bought a new home during the first part of 2010 after having lived in another home for a while. The instructions to Form 5405 call a … Read more
Let’s face it. Mortgages are beasts. A mortgage is the largest loan that people are likely to take out in their lifetimes. They’re also very expensive to acquire. Most of the closing costs that are paid by the borrower are largely for the benefit of the lender. The appraisal fee protects the lender’s judgment that … Read more
In Part 1 of this series, I explained the motivation for cracking out Quicken to get a handle on our family’s finances for this year’s tax season and beyond. I began by entering our primary checking account’s transactions for 2010. Along the way, I created accounts in Quicken for the other financial vehicles we have … Read more