The Financial and Credit Benefits of Not Getting Married

Posted by on December 8, 2011 Comments Off

Many people dont know about the financial advantages of being in a relationship while remaining unmarried. They don’t seem to recognize that being single, which I take to mean NOT being in a long-term relationship, has its own set of financial challenges and advantages.

That said, the article is a good basic list of the perks for unmarried couples.

The five main advantages they cite are liability, debt, survivor’s benefits, taxes, and children. Here are summaries of the points raised, and my reactions.

1. Liability
If you’re married, you’re both in hot water if one of you gets sued. Being legally single, even if you consider yourselves partners, means your assets don’t get lumped in with your spouse’s if he or she loses a lawsuit.

2. Credit and debt concerns
If you’re married, it’s pretty hard not to take on responsibility for your honey’s debt. If you’re unmarried, and keep separate accounts, you’re not saying “I do” to someone else’s credit mistakes.You can always run a free credit report on them before making the big decision to commit together.

free credit score fico

How does it affect your FICO Score?

3. Survivor’s benefits
This is only a benefit if you’ve been married before and want your Social Security payouts to be based on your ex’s earnings. If your new sweetie has earned less money than your ex, this might be advantageous.

But in general, survivor’s benefits are a huge reason TO get married, especially if you have a child. If you’re married and your spouse dies, your kid gets checks until he or she comes of age, and you get checks as well to help you support your minor child. If you’re unmarried, any child you have with the deceased still gets survivor benefits, but as an unmarried spouse you get zilch. Stay unmarried if you like, but make your life insurance decisions based on the knowledge that Uncle Sam will be really stingy if your spouse dies, leaving you with children to raise.

The article does bring up some good points about Medicare eligibility that I hadn’t considered before. If you don’t want your personal assets to be counted when your spouse is applying for Medicare coverage, you’re better off being unmarried.

4. Taxes
If you’re married, it’s harder to qualify for a Roth IRA if you make three figures (a problem which, unfortunately, I do not face). In addition, you get less tax credits if you’re married filing jointly, especially if you have a kid. In my case, I get the Earned Income Credit AND the Addt’l Child Tax Credit. This is because the IRS considers me a single mom, even tho, as my seven-year-old neighbor puts it, “my baby has a daddy”.

Still, there are major tax benefits to being married if one spouse earns significantly more than the other.

5. Children
The article points out that college financial aid forms ask for data on the child’s mother and father. If you’re a same sex couple, where do you put the second parent’s data? The article makes it sound like you’d be unethical if you left the second parent’s data off the form, but I ask you, where are you supposed to put it? If those FAFSA people don’t like having half of the family’s earning power left off the applications, they should bloody well change the language on the form.

If you have kids from a previous relationship, the article says you may want to consider remaining unmarried so your new spouse doesn’t get all your worldly goods when you die. I don’t think this is a good argument for or against getting married. Rather, it’s a reminder that all of us, married or not, need to make sure we have updated wills. Do you want your precious nest egg to be frittered away in probate costs and taxes? No. You want your spouse (unmarried or otherwise), your kids, even your neices and nephews, to enjoy your hard-earned money after you’re gone.

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Finance News: A Triple Tax Benefit with a TQ Benefit Possible?

Posted by on November 11, 2011 Comments Off

Effective January 1, 1997, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), codified as IRC Section 7702B, created Qualified Long Term Care Insurance (QLTCI). For business owners and high net worth individuals, QLTCI represents an enlightened decision to implement an efficient Income and Estate tax reduction strategy wrapped around an unparalleled insurance buying opportunity: a triple tax benefit.

In addition to the tax reduction opportunities, QLTCI provides business owners and high net worth individuals with income tax-free indemnification for potential LTC-related losses, while contributing to the preservation of current and accumulated assets. Further, a limited number of insurance companies offer QLTCI contracts guaranteeing that upon the death of the insured, 100% of all premiums paid will be refunded, regardless of claims.
Income Tax Reduction for Business Owners
IRC Section 7702B(a)(1) provides that a QLTCI contract shall be treated as an accident and health insurance contract. This is extremely favorable treatment for “C” Corporation business owners and self-employed individuals (other than “S” corporation owners) who legitimately employ the owner-employee’s spouse. When a business owner purchases a QLTCI contract, premiums are 100% tax deductible, and the indemnity benefits received in the event of a QLTCI loss are income tax free, subject to limitations provided by IRC Section 7702B(d). For year 2001, the maximum income tax free daily indemnity benefit is $200. In addition, the IRC imposes no non-discrimination coverage requirements and QLTCI contracts are an “excepted” benefit from ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements. (Reference IRC Sections 162, 105, 213, 7702B and 29 USC 1191b)


Estate Tax Reduction for High Net Worth Individuals
High net worth clients can apply the power of the tax law to remove substantial sums of money from their estates simply by purchasing a single premium or ten-pay QLTCI contract for others. With such a purchase, the donor has an unlimited gift tax exclusion for payment of “medical care expenses” of a donee. [IRC Sections 2503(e)(2)(B), 7702B and 213(d)(1)(D)]. Donees of the QLTCI contract do not have to be a dependent or family member. Under this definition, QLTCI premiums qualify as a medical care expense as long as the payment is made directly to an insurance company and not the insured. Indemnity benefits received for a QLTCI loss are income tax free up to the maximum daily benefit stated above. In addition, 100% of all premiums paid may be refunded to the donee’s beneficiary, regardless of claims. This results in an efficient income tax free transfer of wealth.
How QLTCI Premium Refunds are Taxed
The special rules under IRC Section 7702B(b)(2)(C) specifically state that premium refunds on a complete surrender or cancellation of a QLTCI contract shall be included in gross income to the extent any deduction or exclusion was allowable with respect to QLTCI premiums. However, in the authors’ opinion, the special rules imply that premium refunds received by a beneficiary upon the death of an insured are not included in gross income.


QLTCI simply makes sense
The most compelling reason QLTCI coverage should be considered is in the HIPAA law itself. Congress passed, and the President signed, a law that essentially declared private long-term care insurance as the preferred way to finance the cost of long-term care expenses facing Americans, and supported that proposition with mandated benefits and tax incentives.

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Payday loans – legitimate financial tools or not?

Posted by on July 7, 2011 Comments Off

No matter how well you plan your life and how you save your money from time to time you may find yourself in a situation that needs emergency cash and you have no other way of raising that money fast. Is a payday loan the best option for you? Due to their high interest rates they do get a bad wrap, but they may be useful for you if you do your homework and make an informed decision about whether or not to borrow money this way.

emergency help with payday loans

Emergency financial help

Does your credit score matter?
Generally speaking your credit score will benefit every time you pay off a loan and improve your credit rating. It will also take a hit every time you are not able to repay a loan on time. The lower the score, the harder it is for you to even get a credit card for emergency use. This can cause people to have limited options for financing and makes them rely on no credit check payday loans to get the money they need.
Why they do not check your score:
There are a few different reasons why a company may not check your credit score. The most popular reason why a company will not check your credit score is because they are looking to make a loan. They want you to submit to their terms which will be quite exorbitant in fees or interest. These companies will probably sign up for the Teletrack system in order to decide if you have any other loans out or if you have a history of not repaying the payday loans you have taken out in the past. However, there are some companies that approved payday loans with no Teletrack. By not checking your credit score, it is possible to charge you a higher interest rate.
Benefits of not having your credit checked:
The biggest way in which most people benefit from no credit check payday loans online is that they will actually be able to get the money they need without a hassle. The other reason why people may want for this to happen is because they have obtained loans through other means and they do not want the payday loan company to know that they have multiple loans open. This may cause the company to charge you even higher fees.
If you have to take out a payday loan, it is important that you know all of the facts going into it. This will help you to make better decisions about the loans you procure. It will also help you to get the money that you need in the time period in which you need to obtain it. If you do get a cash advance loan, it is important that you repay the loan in the terms which have been established.

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Important training in how to deliver feedback as a manager

Posted by on January 23, 2012 Comments Off
Feedback and management training perth

How not to do it

Being ready to provide powerful feedback isn’t merely a good expertise to have as a leader is also a wonderful life expertise to have in many different conditions. Because when you are masterful at providing feedback, not only will you assist your employees to maintain consistently improving efficiency, you can also increase the efficiency of the football crew you coach, the cleansing woman at home, or the efficiency of your own children on completing their jobs. Any person’s effectiveness in any activity can be favorably impacted by effective feedback. Isn’t that the effective expertise to have? Would not you intend to be a master at offering impactful and actually beneficial feedback?

It’s crucial that you give a balanced mixture of equally positive feedback and feedback for progress. Try to conclusion with a beneficial remark. Be sure that the feedback individual has comprehended your remarks. Stimulate a reply.

There’s also special conversation skill expected when receiving feedback. If you request feedback, be certain you’re ready to acquire it. Definitely hear along with your whole interest. Look for unique examples of that which you did well and what may have been greater. Ask concerns to paraphrase to examine your understanding, and clarify. Don’t withstand the feedback and prevent being defensive — don’t clarify, rationalize or warrant. Listen for the influence your conduct is having on the other individual. Consider how you intend to alter your behavior, and cautiously whether. Let others know immediately so they can support you. Require aid and support, if ideal. When they offer you feedback most importantly, appreciate people. They’ve taken a risk help you grow.

Giving feedback is the sole method to ensure behavior may adjust, and focus others can be served by it on the most significant concerns about mining supervisor training. Lots of people are determined or influenced by well-delivered feedback, and may perform at a more impressive range due to it.

The nearer to the affair you target the difficulty, the better. Feedback isn’t about shocking someone so the earlier you do it, the more the person may be expecting it.
Think of it this way: It’s much easier to nourish back about a solitary one-hour job that hasn’t been done properly than it is to nourish back about a total year of failed one-hour jobs.

Feedback is a process that needs regular attention. When something needs to be stated, say it. Individuals then understand you can find several surprises and where they endure on a regular basis. Also, difficulties don’t get out of control. This is not a once-a-year or a once-every-three-month function. Informal, simple feedback should be offered far more typically than this possibly each week or maybe every day, depending on the scenario while this could be the time of conventional feedback. Also formal training may be important as an outcome of the problem you are addressing with your feedback. Sending the employee on a training course in frontline management something like Certificate IV Frontline Management in Perth could be just what they need to up-skill and not need constant feedback on where they are going wrong.

The total intent behind feedback is to enhance performance. You have to calculate whether that’s happening and as you move then produce modifications. Be certain to document your talks and examine what has to be altered and what is functioning.

The prices of computer monitors now

Posted by on December 8, 2011 Comments Off

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just a week behind us, many of us went out and purchased the newest and greatest computer monitors that money could afford.  Thankfully on these deal-filled days, our money could buy us some of the highest quality monitors out there at a fraction of the price.  The surprising thing, however, is that most people don’t know that there was a time when monitor technology wasn’t anywhere near what it is today.  There weren’t four different types of monitors out there.  Thin screens didn’t exist – monitors looked more like gigantic televisions that happened to sit on a desk.
With the rapid technological innovation of the 1990s came not only a bunch of different tech startups, but a lot of hardware innovations as well.  Hard drives became smaller and held more data.  All of a sudden what was once only able to be housed in a $100 hard disk drive could be housed in a mini USB stick.  The pace of advancement was increasing at an exponential rate, and computer monitors were no exception.

huge computer monitors

You can afford more than one now...

When I was growing up, the only display available on the market was something called the cathode ray tube monitor.  It was a beast of a machine that sat on your desk looking like a fortress.  The screen was curved due to the way that the technology worked, so nothing was ever able to be displayed in a completely flat way.  While at the time it was the pinnacle of technology, nowadays it is nothing more than a laughable relic of the past.  It’s funny how quickly things become outdated in our modern society – and also a little bit sad.  However, monitors have sped up other technological innovations of their own.  With the productivity boost that comes from having a higher resolution and more display space, programmers and designers have been able to come up with  tons of cool web applications and startups that have drastically improved our quality of life.
Take Twitter, Facebook, or even Yelp as an example.  Imagine if the people behind these amazing applications were still using the old cathode ray tube monitors.  They would be working with a fourth of the resolution on screens that displayed at around half the size.  If they wanted to use two monitors in order to capitalize on more display space they would have to stack two of those huge things on their desk, cluttering their workspace.  I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a situation rife with productivity and action to me.
Computer monitors are a necessary component in our technological age and something that we should be fortunate to have.  Just two decades ago having a top of the line computer monitor would have cost you around two thousand dollars.  Now, you can get one that is ten times as good for around one fourth of the price.  The times have changed – for the better.

Financial advice how to spend less money on your car

Posted by on December 5, 2011 Comments Off

A little over a year ago I bought a Toyota Prius. I’ve been tracking my gas usage for a year and recently I paid more then $3/gallon for the first time, so I thought it was time to report on the Prius.

There were two reasons I bought a Prius. First, it’s a fun car. It really feels like the future, and I love it. The dashboard is beautiful, the backup camera is fun, my in-dash MP3 cd changer is great, the smart key (I don’t need to remove it from my pocket to enter the car, lock the door or start the car) is great, I use the bluetooth speakerphone a lot, and it has plenty of room. It’s a great car. I really love it. Secondly, it gets much better gas mileage than most cars, so I potentially save money (I’ll discuss that more in a bit) and I reduce pollution due to me burning less gasoline. On the first point you will either agree with me or not, but on the second issue we can be a little more data oriented.

Cheap car insurance quotes for the toyota prius

So, I spent $823 to drive 15K miles in a year, and I got 46 MPG. If I bought a car that got 23 MPG, I would have paid $1646 to drive the same distance. Naively, if we extrapolate for 5 more years with constant gas prices, I’ll save $4938. In addition to these ongoing cost savings, I got a $3100 tax credit this year on my income taxes. So, adding that in, that’s $8038 saved by buying the Prius over 6 years. It is true that the sticker price of the Prius is higher (say 22-25K) than a Civic (say 15-17K), but when you add in the $8000 saved, it may well be worth it. Indeed, even ignoring the tax credit, Intellichoice says you have a lower total cost of ownership with the 2006 Prius ($19,897 over 5 years excluding tax credit) than the 2006 Civic 4 Door ($22,543 over 5 years) (ownership costs include expected maintenance, fuel costs, and depreciation amongst other things). In fact, the Prius is the cheapest car to own according to Intellichoice.

Secondly, I realized I was paying way too much for auto insurance from my old provider. I have a great driving record, no tickets in the last 10 years. I am out of the dangerous 18-25 year old bracket and live in a pretty decent neighbourhood. On top of all of that with a new Prius the insurance companies realize it is a new, reliable car with good safety scores as well. So what I did was shop around for cheap auto insurance quotes online, compared all the deals on offer and managed to find a deal that saved me a further $340 per year. That’s an extra $1800 a year saved. Combined with the gas savings by driving a hybrid I project that I will save nearly $10 000 over the next 6 years – that is a good chunk of money that can be invested!


 

Look out for Botulism, the worst food poisoning imaginable…

Posted by on December 2, 2011 Comments Off

Most people think that the only way to contract botulism is through tainted food or improperly canned foods.  While that is one of the more commonly known ways to get infected, it’s actually one of the rarer ways that we get botulism these days.  Food practices and healthcare are just too good now for the bacteria to survive in canned goods and prepared foods.

In fact, one of the most common ways to contract botulism is as a newborn in the intestinal tract.  As humans we have a lot of beneficial bacteria that help us digest our foods.  In infants these bacteria have not had the time to propagate fully, so when a malicious bacteria is present it has a lot more room to breathe, so to speak.  That makes the intestines a breeding ground for the Clostridium botulinum bacteria.  Infants shouldn’t be fed anything that contains honey because it’s one of the bigger risk foods for botulism.  After a year however, you can feed your child all the honey in the world.
As for adults, the most common way to get botulism is actually through a broken skin injury.  In the last few decades as the use of drugs like heroin and other injectable substances, botulism through wounds has risen.  Without proper disinfection it’s a lot more common to get botulism through a wound than food.  Fortunately if you’re not a hard drug user your risk level goes way down, and you would have to be extremely unlucky to contract it through a regular injury as that would mean that the bacteria would need to be present wherever you got the injury.
If you do happen to get infected, botulism symptoms are very distinctive and arrive in as short as six hours.  If you notice any difficulty moving the muscles in your face you can safely conclude that you’ve contracted botulism and should get medical help immediately.  If the toxin progresses through your system you will start having a hard time swallowing and eventually lose control of all of your voluntary muscles.  The last effect that botulism will have on your body will be to shut down your respiratory system, leading to a quick death unless you are put on a respirator immediately.

Fortunately recovering from botulism is fairly easy so long as you identify the toxin early.  If you let it progress, you can suffer from nerve problems for up to a year after technically recovering.  Other lasting symptoms include a slight paralysis in some facial muscles for a while after the toxin has left your symptom.  After a while all of these drop away and you’ll be back to normal, but not without learning a serious and important lesson about your own health.  Knowing common diseases and how to prevent and diagnose them quickly is a skill that could save your life or the life of someone you know – it’s a good idea to get educated.  Botulism can be completely eradicated if we all take a little time to educate.

The true cost of Mesothelioma

Posted by on December 2, 2011 Comments Off
Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that forms in the lungs of those who are affected.  For the most part it is limited to the outer lining of the lungs, but sometimes it can actually attack near the heart or the testes in men.
Mesothelioma diagram

Mesothelioma in action

If you begin to notice shortness of breath over a long period of time, you may be dealing with a lung issue like mesothelioma.  Shortness of breath could indicate a lot of different diseases, but mesothelioma is by far one of the worst.  You should always see a doctor immediately upon noticing symptoms like these, especially in your lungs.  They’re one of the most essential parts of your body and for them to not be operating at 100% is something you should take extremely seriously.

Another symptom of mesothelioma is weight loss.  This might seem great but it is accompanied by a lack of energy overall and a slight pain in your chest.  Again, see a doctor right away before you let the disease mutate and grow in your lungs any more than it already has.  The longer you wait, the less your chance of a successful recovery because cancers are notorious for spreading throughout the body as quickly as they possibly can.  I don’t think that I can put any more emphasis than that on seeing a doctor as soon as possible.
So, what is the cause of mesothelioma?  In around 75% of cases it’s because the person affected worked in a situation where they inhaled asbestos on a regular basis.  The other 25% of cases are caused by unknown factors, but there is the chance that slight inhalation of asbestos particles has just gone unnoticed in this quarter of cases.
If you have ever worked in an environment like this and are experiencing the symptoms described above you are a prime candidate for mesothelioma.  Consult both a medical professional and a lawyer immediately.  Your health is obviously the most important thing to take care of, but you might be eligible for damages based on your condition.  Most people don’t know that there was an entire cover up of the true dangers of asbestos for decades before lawyers and lawmakers finally got their act together and created protectionary regulations for those who worked around asbestos.
There are a number of famous people who have come down with mesothelioma, mostly due to their humble starts in the construction business and being exposed to it on a daily basis.  It has claimed the lives of far more people than it actually had to, because of the sheer greed of corporations behind homebuilding, shipbuilding and manufacturing.  Although we cannot change the past, we can certainly look ahead to the future with these lessons in tow and take a strong stand against people who think this is the way to do business.  Contacting a lawyer and taking care of your health are the first two steps to being around to join the fight.

Finance trends – penny stocks could be worth watching.

Posted by on December 1, 2011 Comments Off

What are penny stocks and why is there so much interest in them these days?  Well, let’s get the definition out of the way first.  Penny stocks are simply stocks that trade at prices under one dollar.  Sometimes they are referred to as cent stocks, but I personally think that penny stocks sounds much better, don’t you?

Watching my penny stock resultsThere is a classic stock market movie called “Boiler Room” that features penny stocks heavily and displays the darker side of investing in these risky assets.  In the movie, reluctant investors are pushed and prodded into buying shares of stocks that are touted as the “next big thing” by a savvy firm of young, ambitious men.  When the investors, most of which are average working men, finally end up plunking down the cash, it is already too late.  They have missed the surge in stock price and immediately get hit with a sharp drop in price.

The firm has already made their profit on the stock by buying low and then pumping up the hype of the stock to their investors.  When they finally do buy, the firm then shorts the stock and makes money as all of the hot air from the stock has left its sails.  In the end the firm makes a ton of money while all of the investors it is supposed to be helping have gone broke.

The reason I tell this story is because penny stocks do carry additional risk that the stock of bigger, more established companies do not.  The companies behind these stocks are often small startups or companies with a very low market share, so they don’t get a lot of investor attention and as a result don’t have a huge stock price.  Another thing to be aware of when trading in penny stocks is that because of all that I have just said, many people shy away from them and not many people make trades on a daily basis.

Whereas with Apple stock you can always find a buyer or seller when you want to get in or out of a position, in penny stocks it might take a few days to actually make a trade.  This feature of penny stocks is known as a lack of liquidity and increases the risk of trading in these stocks.

For all of the risks, there are huge rewards to be made by playing in the penny stock market.  Imagine the case where your fifty cent stock goes to a dollar.  You’ve just doubled your money even though the stock only rose fifty cents!  This is the most attractive feature to penny stocks and it is the reason that so many people fantasize about playing in the market.  It’s recommended to actually get educated and do some more digging into what penny stocks are all about before you make a big commitment of money and time.  You don’t want to hop into the market and be one of the unwitting victims of the classic pump and dumb scam, so get educated!

How does debt consolidation work?

Posted by on July 1, 2010 Comments Off

Useful debt consolidation tips to help you clear debt
Once you work out a budget you will know how much money you can funnel into a consolidation loan. Don’t forget, these expenses will be recurring. A good idea is to curb any impulsive spending and use those finances to top up your loan if you can. Granted, this needs discipline but will be well worth it in the long run.
I suggest you cut up your credit cards and banish them from your life. At least until you have your debt under control. Some recommend to use debit cards, because they can help to control your spending. The good thing about debit cards is the fact that you can only spend what you already have, meaning you won’t be able to rake up more debt.
If you must have a credit card, don’t up your credit limit just because you like the idea. If you already struggle with finances, you will only be more inclined to spend money you don’t have in the first place.
Check your bank statements every months and try to reconcile them while you are at it. Even banks make mistakes. Therefore it is essential for you to do a check as soon as you receive them in the mail. Also take a close enough look at the charges and fees as sometimes they get charge wrong.s incurred are legitimate.
Stay well clear of interest free offers. You know the kind when they promise you not to pay a single cent for two years or more. These offers are suckers for high interest rate penalties. They can also affect your credit rating real bad.
Are you impulsive or do you buy stuff when emotional? If so, be very careful about impulse buys. See a financial counselor to help you if you need to.
Keep an eye on your outstanding debt. It is good to have all your spending budget listed on a spreadsheet to help you see how much you actually own. Often on paper your situation will sink in more than if you weren’t doing this. This debt consolidation tip alone is worth a lot of money.
Last but not least, if you are already experiencing credit card debt or struggle with your loan repayments, it pays to monitor your situation. I hope with our best debt consolidation tips you understand a little more about the process now.

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