Taxes. They’re one of those unavoidable facts of life. When it comes to preparing your taxes I believe the key is striking a balance between keeping it simple—not spending more time or money than necessary—and being smart about getting all the deductions and savings you are entitled to. So, how do you get the job done right and walk that line? It depends on your particular situation.
Estate Planning. Just the mention of the subject is enough to turn off the brain. Well stick with me for a minute, because we all need it and also because I believe I can quickly show you how over 85% of adults can do a really good job of estate planning in just a couple of hours. And the best part? It's free! In my opinion, all most people need to do are these 5 things.
There are so many advertisements out there for identity theft protection. They’d have you believe that that tens of millions of people have been the victims of identity theft and that the problem is growing by leaps and bounds. The commercials are emphatic that you just "can't afford" to be without protection. And over 50 million American's have bought into this idea, subscribing to one or more theft protection services at a cost $100-200 a year or more. So is it really the dire problem it’s made out to be and what should you do to protect yourself?
It’s never too late to establish some good financial habits and secure your finances. The single smartest financial habit to adopt is to save 15% to 20% of your income each month. This is the number that will ensure you are never caught unprepared and are building a strong financial future.
For the past two weeks the mainstream media’s year-end spin has been, "2011 was a break-even year for investors." Break even? I don't think so. Not even close. As we start the new year it's a good time to stop and look at the truth and at a successful investment strategy.
From time to time an email scam or other hoax comes across my desk that I think is worth sharing. I recently got an email that offers a very good example of how to spot and handle these things so I thought I'd pass it along. The email (reproduced below) appeared to be from Netflix. I love Netflix and this email said that my account had been cancelled. On the surface the email looked just like the emails that Netflix sends but the classic warning flags were there.
