Tax Credit For Hiring An Ex-felon.
Don’t laugh, 1 person in every 34 citizens are ex-felons. Surprising?
You may have family members who belong in this category. You can
receive up to $9,000 of tax credit for hiring an ex-felon. There are
some requirements but they are not hard. Go to www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8850.pdf and get form 8850. Remember this is a tax credit, not just a tax deduction. Good luck.
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Credit Repair
Credit repair is so hard to do. Most people are not a licensed
attorney, therefore, they can not challenge the three bureaus legally
in court. Calling them or writing letters seldom work in my experience.
I use a credit repair company and they're okay, but it is such an
unknown world without a map to guide you. Still worth the effort, and
must be done, but hard.
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Goals Can Be False Motivation
Only 2 ½% of all people have written goals. Just a few of these actually refer to these goals on a regular basis. I love goals and impact they can have on us as we focus, but not to review these goals can only give you a “false” sense of excitement as you day dream about results.
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Money Is Emotional
Just doing accounting is not the solution to curb emotional spending.
Knowing the amount of money available just before you spend your money,
or immediately after is the key. You can not manage what you do not
know. Knowing how broke you are will alter spending in a big way. Track
spending compared to a plan will be a big help.
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Bank Charges
Bank charges are crazy. I think banks give out bank accounts and visa
cards like candy! They make so much money off of bounced checks it
isn’t even funny. One president of a small bank said they make the most
money on bounced checks because people are so embarrassed they never
approach the bank for a refund. His small bank made over $1.5 million
on return charges within one year.
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Identity Theft Protection
Identity theft is here to stay. Don’t put your head in the sand. Check
out the companies that can block this and help teach you just how often
this happens. It affects your credit, which in turns affects your
ability to borrow, which affects interest rates, which affects your
life. Be careful!
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Heads-up for tax planning
Since tax season just ended, here are some reminders that popped up. If
you hold an asset over one year you get to pay long-term capital gains
on it when sold. And the rate is 15% since 2003. However, if your tax
rate is 10 or 5%, then the long-term capital gains rate is only 5%. The
threshold for this tax rate for 2007 is $63,700 for married couples
filing jointly and $31,850 for single filers. For 2007 tax planning, if
you can squeeze under this threshold, it can save you big bucks. Maybe
you can give to charity or make and IRA contribution. This is just a
heads-up for tax planning.
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Costs Of A Living Trust
A free will is easy to find on the internet through some search engine.
But to add a living trust, you might need an attorney. In my experience
an attorney will charge $800 to $2,400 depending how much time he needs
to take preparing it. More money will be needed if an additional entity
is needed like an limited liability company. Some attorneys have
pre-prepared standard trusts that they boiler plate them for you at
half these costs. My suggestion is to do it right and get it done. Then
make sure you review at least once a year and keep it up to date. Best
wishes.
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