This article by Natasha Burton in Daily Worth and picked up by MarketWatch from the Wall Street Journal talks about some money saving things that might actually cost you cash: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/11-money-saving-habits-that-can-cost-you-2014-05-29 Some of these problem items may still be worth doing, but the most important item here is to look at what you are getting and what the savings are costing you. After doing your due dilligence and seeing your net savings, then you have a better idea of whether it is worth it to use various savings ideas. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Musings of a Burbank CPA: Don’t Go Broke Paying for Your Kid’s College
These days helping your kids finance their college education is just one of many items on parents’ plates, like funding retirement and having to support their own parents as well as younger children. This article by George Schofield in Yahoo Finance has a list of ideas to help with the college funding problems: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dont-broke-paying-kids-college-163007050.html One thing mentioned in this article is that a 529 plan is a win-win; this may not necessarily be true. Some college financial advisers I have talked to say a 529 as it is being distributed is treated as income for the student for financial aid purposes, which can cut down on other financial aid items they might be entitled to. They say either spend right away on tuition (a hit in one year) or wait until the very end of college to use it. This is a reason for having a college adviser helping you to find the most college savings – the savings should more than offset the adviser fees, making it worthwhile to explore. Also remember that any gifts of tuition paid directly to a college for the benefit of the student by ANYONE is exempt from gift taxes, so those wealthy relatives can get the [...]
Burbank CPA Financial Musings: When credit card charges keep slipping in
This happens more than people want to think about – these recurring ‘stealth’ credit card charges appear on your statement and you ignore them and let them slide. But the issuers should maybe ask about this charges occasionally (just a ‘this recurring charge has been on your card for a year; do you still approve it?’ might be nice once in a while). When you have changed credit cards because of fraud items it should be standard practice, but it isn’t all the time. See this article in the Los Angeles Times by David Lazarus: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140509-column.html This is something the credit card issuers should be doing on a regular basis as a service to their customers. I have to admit that Chase and Citi have been good about notifying me about odd little charges, so kudos to them. I also remember Chase questioning me on all recurring charges when we had to change a card because of fraudulent charges a year ago. Way to go! For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa