Finance & Enjoyment Blog
July 14, 2010Changes to Medicare Advantage
Category: Your Financial House
Starting in 1997, Medicare Advantage allowed for Medicare Beneficiaries to receive their benefits through private health insurance plans rather than the original Medicare plans. This works by Medicare paying the private health care company a set amount every month per member. These private plans are required to offer benefits that are at least as good as that of Medicare. A positive effect of this is that beneficiaries are able to tailor their plans for their individual needs, while a negative effect is that the private insurance companies often charge an additional amount each mo …
Read The Rest of This PostFebruary 27, 2010Benefit of Credit Cards, according to Denver CPA Firm
Category: Your Financial House
When we talk about credit cards, we automatically think about the high interest rate and all sorts of fees the credit card company charges us. But I recently learned that there are times we should use a credit card. The credit card benefit was an accidental lesson. It happened when my two year old Sony big screen TV was broken a month ago. I called the Costco tech support hot line and found out that the two year warranty had expired three days earlier. The Costco customer service representative noticed that I had charged the TV with American Express. He told me that American Express has an …
Read The Rest of This PostFebruary 25, 2010Helpful Hints to Expedite Your Individual Tax Preparation
Category: Your Financial House
With tax season upon us, these tips may be helpful to avoid follow up information requests and maybe even reduce your tax prep bill. 1. Read your organizer! It is a very useful tool. On the right side everything you reported in 2008 is listed. Use this guide to enter (or gather) the necessary information for your 2009 taxes. 2. Remember to include ownership tax information for your car. On the organizer, it’s listed just below real estate tax as “personal property tax.” Simply refer to your auto/boat/motorcycle/trailer registrations …
Read The Rest of This PostFebruary 17, 2010Roth IRA Conversions
Category: Your Financial House
Roth IRA’s (named after Representative Roth who was chairman of the House Ways and Means committee at the time) have been in existence since 1998. They are only available to individuals with earned income and adjusted gross incomes below established levels. Roth IRA’s are advantageous because: Virtually all future income, growth and withdrawals are tax-free You are not required to take distributions after age 70 1/2, as you are with traditional IRA’s Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes below $100,000 have been permitted to convert traditional IRA& …
Read The Rest of This PostDecember 23, 2009First Time Home Buying - My Home Buying Nightmare!
Category: Your Financial House
It was a dark and stormy night in Southeast Denver and my apartment lease was weeks from expiring. I had spent the last few weeks of April trying to find the perfect home to rent so I could have a yard for my basset hound to play. May 1st rolled around and I realized that maybe renting isn’t the best option for me. A friend asked me, “Why don’t you buy a house?” To which I immediately laughed. “Are you crazy?” But later that night I took a step back and I realized the idea wasn’t that crazy after all. If you take …
Read The Rest of This PostJuly 19, 2009First-time Homebuyer
Category: Your Financial House
For those of you considering taking the plunge into home ownership, there may be no better time to buy then right now. With the depressed housing market and foreclosures at an all time high, many individuals are looking to take part in the American dream and become first-time homebuyers. In order to help facilitate you, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has enhanced the first-time homebuyer credit for those who are eligible to take it. Who can take the credit? An individual is considered a first-time homebuyer if he (or spouse, if married) had no presen …
Read The Rest of This PostJuly 16, 2009Internal Controls - Financial Health of Your Business
Category: Your Financial House
How’s the financial health of your business? You probably check the pulse of the business financial health by regularly watching the cash flow and even reading the monthly financial statements. But have you examined the internal financial structure of your business recently? To conduct a business self-assessment, answer “yes” or “no” to this list of questions: Do you know how transactions flow through your business? Do you know who in your organization is responsible for specific financial functions? (deposits, check writing …
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