Personal Money Management

A Health Savings Account (HSA) can offer tax-advantaged ways to save and pay for eligible medical expenses. Employers may fund the HSA or allow employees to contribute to it with before-tax...

A Health Savings Account (HSA) provides a tax-advantaged way to save and pay for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses. These may include medical care and services, vision and dental care,...

When purchasing an item, it is important to budget for its cost. However, the purchase price is not the only amount to consider. Sales tax should be added to each item in order to properly...

Accounting provides vital information for households, businesses, and non-profits. Businesses often have questions about tax obligations or financing options. Non-profits usually are tax exempt...

An important part of financial success is the creation of an accurate budget. To create your budget, you must know the exact amount of income you receive each month. For salaried employees...

Your death ranks right up there with birth in terms of important legal events in your life. It's also the last thing most of us care to think about, let alone plan for. However, there are a few...

If divorcing couples understand how the tax laws work, especially the financial issues associated with filing status, alimony, child support and property transfers, they can minimize the tax...

Charitable gift annuities are a method of giving to charities that helps the donor to still have income during their lifetime. There are pros and cons to setting up a charitable annuity and you...

A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) allows self-employed professionals or small-business owners and employees who do not have 401(k) plans available to contribute much more to their retirement...

If you donate, you can deduct. Items donated to charity -- whether furniture, clothing, household items or cars -- can help lower your tax bill, while also giving the charities a needed boost....

A pro forma income statement is a best-estimate projection of income and expenses, usually over a one- to three-year period. Pro forma measurements are used in loan requests, determining the...

If you are the recipient of a structured settlement, you may be entitled to sell the agreement for cash. I'll show you some steps to get that needed money in your hand as quickly as possible.

The hallmark of an irrevocable trust is the grantor's surrender of ownership interest in the assets of the trust. Generally, under state laws, the irrevocable trust simply cannot be amended,...

While most states add their own income tax onto the federal income tax, a few do not. As of 2009, there are seven states--Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, and...

Estate planning involves determining how your assets will be distributed in the event of your death or physical or mental incapacitation. Without proper estate planning your assets may not be...

Have you ever been late on a payment because you misplaced a bill and forgot about it? Are you constantly hunting down receipts or other financial records such as tax returns or bank statements?...

Determining how investment funds have been managed requires that an investor look beyond the published rate of return. It requires an analysis that considers fees paid, tax liabilities,...

An accounting degree is useful for those going into auditing, tax accounting, investing and private practice. Find out how to use an accounting degree with helpful information from a practicing...

When you shop, your receipt usually includes your total before and after tax is added. However, there may be times when you want to know your total before tax is added and you don't have the...

The value of a home will directly effect how much money the homeowner can borrow. Every mortgage lender has regulations defining which loan-to-value ratios are acceptable, so knowing how much your...

There's nothing better than getting an income tax refund check in the mail. Unless, of course, it's getting your refund deposited directly into your bank account automatically. This feature is not...

Transferring stocks to your church can be a tax efficient way to help a charity that you support. By transferring stocks to your church instead of donating cash, you can avoid potential tax...

Tax exempt municipal bonds are debt obligations issued by state, cities, counties and other government organizations. The money raised by the sale of these bonds is used to build roads, bridges,...

Some people mistakenly fail to review their pay stub after receiving their check from an employer. If you begin to learn how to read the different deductions from your check stub, you can better...

The IRS audits people who are late with their tax payments, people who do not file tax returns and people who have flagrant misuses of deductions. Discover how the IRS largely goes after...

Rapid refund is a type of tax refund that occurs when an individual uses an easy-to-file tax return. Find out how some companies have been known to keep portions of refund money as a commission...

When trying to manage tax information from brokerage accounts, an individual needs to be aware of whether the brokerage accounts are qualified or non-qualified. Make sure a brokerage firm provides...

Do you want to be rich and have financial freedom? millions of people around the world would love to have financial freedom and be rich. Here's some ways you can take the steps to become rich the...

Health savings accounts provide individuals a way to put away tax-deferred money to pay for qualified health care costs. In much the same way as an individual retirement account, which remains...

If you've decided to donate to make a charitable contribution, you'll need to organize the details of the donation to make the most of your efforts. Donating to charity isn't limited to just...

Whether you need to know your net income (after taxes and deductions) or need to monitor your pay to ensure that you are getting compensated correctly, you will need to be able to calculate how...

If you’re eagerly awaiting an IRS stimulus check or rebate payment and hoping to check the status of your stimulus check or income tax rebate, you may be a target for IRS stimulus check scams...

Many people are getting a refund this year. If you are one of the many people looking forward to an income tax refund, here are some ideas of what to do with you income tax refund.

When social security benefits were first created, they were not taxed, but changes in the tax law make it so that most individuals are now taxed on about 85 percent of their social security...

So you have a nice tax refund coming your way. What should you do with it? Read on to find the best ideas for how to spend your 2008 tax refund!

The percentage of a charitable contribution that is gotten back on a tax return will depend on the individual, the city, the state and the amount of the contribution. Use deduction calculators to...

There are seven states that do not tax pensions: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Learn how economic deficits in the budget may cause these states to levy fees...

Deductions can be made to income taxes for children under 18, interest paid to someone, mortgage payments, business travel expenses and asset depreciation. Be aware that lots of tax deductions may...

Federal tax returns are handled by the IRS each year. It is important to file federal tax returns with information on salary and the amount of taxes paid to the government. File federal tax...

Invest in a Roth IRA by putting away money for retirement and paying taxes at the same time, so that withdrawn money is tax free. Visit the IRS Web site to learn about the various tax codes...

In order to get an economic stimulus check, a person must file their income tax return. Discover when to file an income tax return with information from a registered financial consultant in this...

Don’t scramble around looking for important financial records at tax time. With this simple plan, you can keep all your statements, bills, and important papers in one place, organized so that you...

Inheritance is the transfer of property, cash and other assets from a deceased person to relatives and colleagues. A responsible individual lays out this transfer in a last will and testament,...

No one enjoys paying income taxes, and while we can't advocate that you follow illegal means to hide your income, we can offer legal ways to help you protect your money and let you keep more of it...

Withholding is the amount held back by your employer to cover mandatory payments to other agencies. This is mostly to cover taxes, but may also include payments into benefit plans such as health...

Learn how to budget property taxes in this free video on managing money & personal finances.

Why is it important to know what tax bracket you're in? Understanding how tax brackets work helps you figure out how much of the money you make you actually get to keep after taxes. If you're...

In May 2008, more than 130 million households in the United States will begin to get an economic stimulus check from the US Treasury. However it won’t happen automatically. Here are the steps you...

When the economy seriously slumps over a period of time, it is called a recession—in an effort to get out of the recession, sometimes government officials will jumpstart the economy. Although...

This article provides just the basics about how to create more cash flow and over time -- improve your overall wealth. Realize there is sometimes wisdom in the simply things. So once you read...