Steve Repak's Blog - Posts Tagged "taxes"
What to Do With Your Tax Refund
To keep things simple, there should be at least three things you should consider:
1. Add some cushion to your cushion
Nobody likes to plan on things going wrong, but invariably they do. Your car’s transmission will go out or your pet will swallow a golf ball, and you need short term savings to cover these types of emergencies. It isn’t a matter of if they will happen; it is only a matter of when. A good goal is to have at least 3-6 months of your monthly non-discretionary spending in an account separate from your checking account. If you don’t have this much consider using part of your refund to add to your cushion.
2. Pay down some debt
The more debt you have, the more interest someone else is earning on your money. Your ultimate goal is to be debt-free, but just as you didn’t accumulate it overnight, neither will you pay it off overnight. Evaluate your current debt and put some of your refund towards the debt that is charging you the highest interest.
3. Have some fun
After you have put some money into savings and paid down some of your debt, take the rest of your tax refund money and spend it any way you want. Extremes rarely work and I have found that people who have balance in their lives are happier. Wasting all of your money will lead to poverty while saving every last cent can lead to resentment.
So there you have it. Be responsible with most of your tax refund, but have a little fun with the rest of it!
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (NLT) “And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.”
http://nicoleodell.com/2014/03/do-you...
1. Add some cushion to your cushion
Nobody likes to plan on things going wrong, but invariably they do. Your car’s transmission will go out or your pet will swallow a golf ball, and you need short term savings to cover these types of emergencies. It isn’t a matter of if they will happen; it is only a matter of when. A good goal is to have at least 3-6 months of your monthly non-discretionary spending in an account separate from your checking account. If you don’t have this much consider using part of your refund to add to your cushion.
2. Pay down some debt
The more debt you have, the more interest someone else is earning on your money. Your ultimate goal is to be debt-free, but just as you didn’t accumulate it overnight, neither will you pay it off overnight. Evaluate your current debt and put some of your refund towards the debt that is charging you the highest interest.
3. Have some fun
After you have put some money into savings and paid down some of your debt, take the rest of your tax refund money and spend it any way you want. Extremes rarely work and I have found that people who have balance in their lives are happier. Wasting all of your money will lead to poverty while saving every last cent can lead to resentment.
So there you have it. Be responsible with most of your tax refund, but have a little fun with the rest of it!
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (NLT) “And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.”
http://nicoleodell.com/2014/03/do-you...
Death & Taxes
Romans 13:7 (NIV) Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
With the tax season upon us, I am reminded of an old saying that goes “you can plan on two things in life and they are death and taxes.” That said, this year I had the privilege to participate in the Military Saves campaign at Rose Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Military Saves takes place during the last week of February throughout all branches of service on installations all over the U.S. and overseas. The campaign encourages military families to build wealth, not debt. The Service members and their families have the opportunity to take classes throughout the week to help them learn how to be better prepared financially. Mission readiness equals financial readiness. This year’s message was “set a goal, make a plan, and automate your savings”. I really love the concept of automating your savings because it doesn’t take much time or effort and it gets you saving consistently.
Romans 13:7 says that we are to give to everyone what we owe them, whether that be taxes, respect, or honor. As I was thinking to myself, I wondered how can you pay taxes and respect or honor others if you are not doing those things for yourself.
For example, respecting and honoring yourself. If you don’t respect or honor yourself, you will not respect or honor others.
Keep in mind that honoring yourself is very different depending if it is worldly honor or Godly honor. When our culture honors themselves or others, they heap worldly praise and admiration on people such as celebrities, politicians, or the super-wealthy because of status. Biblical honor comes from God and His Son and our commitment and devotion to be a Christian which translates to Christ like or being like Christ. If we are to honor ourselves the way the Bible intends we would demonstrate that with obedience to God not just by sharing the fruits of our labor but also through taking care of ourselves, physically, spiritually, and financially.
I have always shared with others the 10-10-80 rule where you give the first 10% of what you make, you save the next 10%, and then you can spend the rest. One of the easiest ways to accomplish the rule is by automating it. For example, instead of putting cash in the collection basket at church, consider setting up an automatic bill pay so you are always paying God first. If you miss a week or two at church, you won’t be missing the joy of giving. As for saving 10%, you should automate that too. If you follow the 10-10-80 rule and automate your giving and your saving you won’t escape death or taxes, but you are honoring God.
article courtesy of http://nicoleodell.com/2015/03/death-...
With the tax season upon us, I am reminded of an old saying that goes “you can plan on two things in life and they are death and taxes.” That said, this year I had the privilege to participate in the Military Saves campaign at Rose Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Military Saves takes place during the last week of February throughout all branches of service on installations all over the U.S. and overseas. The campaign encourages military families to build wealth, not debt. The Service members and their families have the opportunity to take classes throughout the week to help them learn how to be better prepared financially. Mission readiness equals financial readiness. This year’s message was “set a goal, make a plan, and automate your savings”. I really love the concept of automating your savings because it doesn’t take much time or effort and it gets you saving consistently.
Romans 13:7 says that we are to give to everyone what we owe them, whether that be taxes, respect, or honor. As I was thinking to myself, I wondered how can you pay taxes and respect or honor others if you are not doing those things for yourself.
For example, respecting and honoring yourself. If you don’t respect or honor yourself, you will not respect or honor others.
Keep in mind that honoring yourself is very different depending if it is worldly honor or Godly honor. When our culture honors themselves or others, they heap worldly praise and admiration on people such as celebrities, politicians, or the super-wealthy because of status. Biblical honor comes from God and His Son and our commitment and devotion to be a Christian which translates to Christ like or being like Christ. If we are to honor ourselves the way the Bible intends we would demonstrate that with obedience to God not just by sharing the fruits of our labor but also through taking care of ourselves, physically, spiritually, and financially.
I have always shared with others the 10-10-80 rule where you give the first 10% of what you make, you save the next 10%, and then you can spend the rest. One of the easiest ways to accomplish the rule is by automating it. For example, instead of putting cash in the collection basket at church, consider setting up an automatic bill pay so you are always paying God first. If you miss a week or two at church, you won’t be missing the joy of giving. As for saving 10%, you should automate that too. If you follow the 10-10-80 rule and automate your giving and your saving you won’t escape death or taxes, but you are honoring God.
article courtesy of http://nicoleodell.com/2015/03/death-...
