Protecting Survivorship Benefits

Have you considered what you would like to do in retirement? Most people leave their full-time jobs and move into a phase of life that is focused on relaxation, fulfillment, and leisure time.  

They often depend on retirement savings, pensions, and Social Security benefits to keep them financially stable. Most want to maintain their standard of living, include more travel, and do things they could not while they were working. Family time and quality relationships often become more important with many choosing to stay busy by doing volunteer work or going back to school. 

These were likely the same goals Bruce and Anne Freidman, a Brooklyn couple, had for their golden years. However, things did not quite work out that way for them. 

How to pay less in taxes!

Tax season. A time when filers scramble around to collect various tax documents, like Form W2, 1099s, and any tax- deductible receipts they can get their hands on.

While it may be a bit too late to make many tax saving changes now, there is still one trick you may be able to pull out of the hat...a deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA. Most think the contribution must be made before they hit the send button on their return. That is not the case-

You can actually use your refund as your contribution. Just make sure to have the funds deposited into a qualified account by the filing deadline (April 18th for 2022).

A bit confused still. Let's break it down...

Will owning Bitcoin disqualify you from receiving government benefits?

Some years back I wrote an article about Crowdfunding, and how funds raised can count towards your gross income.

"Crowdfunding sites generally use a payment processor like PayPal to handle the donations, and PayPal is responsible for reporting information to the IRS on payments of $20,000 or more made up of 200 or more transactions, which creates a 1099-K form. If you earn other income through PayPal, perhaps from an online business, that income could be combined with your crowdfunded money to create a bit of a financial mess.

Why we wait to get our finances in order

Personal Money Planning has taken up a group virtual challenge. The task consists of running (or walking) a total of 1083 miles, which is the distance across the United Kingdom. As a team, we total our activities to accumulate the 1783km distance. Since Gary is really into running, and logs about 4,000 miles per day (well, not quite, but almost), he is pulling the rest of us along well. However, the competitive nature in me could not allow him to take full credit for getting us from Lands End to John O'Groats. Each day I have been logging a few miles myself. I’m just as determined to claim my medal as he is- 

The other morning, I was approaching my third mile when the temperature began to quickly rise. Since I was at the opposite end of my starting point, I had no other option but to continue my trek. As I was rounding the corner, a lady in a dark SUV drove by, looked at my red, sweaty face, and gave me an encouraging thumbs up. That doesn’t seem like much, but it gave me the enthusiasm I needed to make it the rest of the way.

Why is it that we often ignore or avoid the things we know are good for us, take for instance, exercising? 

Which Money Language Do You Speak?

Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec once said, “If you can’t speak money, you will be broke for the rest of your life”.   

So how exactly do you “speak money”? Money language is how you view money, and the understanding of how you use money to express yourself. Money is often cited as the number one reason couples argue. That’s because when it comes to financial matters, many people don’t speak the same language. Learning to  understand your partner’s money language, fears, and goals could help minimize this dilemma.

 

Having an open and honest discussion about your differing financial viewpoints might seem treacherous at first, but by doing so it can add depth and perspective to the relationship. Since both perspectives are integral pieces in the joint financial journey, the collective input encourages an equal collaboration in working towards the same goals. 

Tips and Tricks to Help You Create a Sustainable Spending Plan

Need some help creating a spending plan? What about just making some minor adjustments to the one you already have? Well, good news...I've got you covered-

Creating a spending plan may seem a bit daunting at first, but can actually be quite easy. The areas that give most people grief are categorizing their expenses into various buckets, like groceries, housing, transportation, and cash items. 

What if you could just separate these expenses into two categories...discretionary and non-discretionary expenses (wants and needs)? Would that not make it much easier? I'll show you how.

Here are some tips and tricks to help save money without having to resort to a steady diet of Ramen?

Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoeAIpbe2hc&t=731s

Online Shopping Shortcomings...Buyer Beware

Everyone loves getting a good deal. Whether it's receiving a low-interest rate on a car loan, to finding a can of tomato sauce on sale at the supermarket. Saving money on something you want feels great. 

Often times you can find great deals online at sites where individuals sell things, like eBay or Amazon (through third-party sellers). One such site I recently had an opportunity to do business with was Poshmark, a site where sellers list new or slightly used items of clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories, along with a few other things. While I had created an account about six years ago, probably to review the site for an article, they were not high up on my list to search when needing to find an item.