Ben Edwards's Blog: Money Smart Life, page 34

5 Things You Can Learn from Your Tax Return

After you file your tax return with the IRS, and before you stick your copy in a box kept in the attic, take the time to look through the results, and learn what you can do to improve your financial situation. Your tax return says a lot about your finances. If you know what to look for, your tax return can help you identify areas where you could do better.

While your tax return offers insight into several aspects of your financial life, I’ve chosen five to focus on:

1. You Might Be Able to Shel...

Could You Use a Short Sale for Your Home?

One of the difficulties that many homeowners still face is the fact that low home values make it harder to sell a home. Even now, with home prices rising a little bit, it’s still difficult to get what you paid in some cases.

If you need to sell your home, you might be able to get your lender to agree to a short sale.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale is fairly straightforward. It takes place when the lender allows you to sell your home for less than you owe on your mortgage. In many cases, the...

How to Prepare for a Career Setback

We live in an increasingly uncertain world. Jobs are no longer offering the long-term security that our grandparents experienced. Instead, your career is likely to be a series of different jobs.

Along the way, you are likely to experience setbacks. Your hours might be cut, or you might not get that raise or promotion you hoped for. You might even be laid off.

In the current environment, it helps to be prepared for any career setback. You need to be ready for what’s next. Here are some things to...

Why You Should Be Careful Using Online Tax Advice

Now is the time of year when nearly every website and blog on the world wide web is offering income tax advice. With the April 15th filing date approaching fast, it’s easy enough to see why. Everyone is looking for tax advice right now, and the preference is always to get it for free. The web will do that for you.

But as a semi-retired tax preparer from a CPA firm, I’m here to tell you to tread lightly in getting and fully accepting tax advice online. It’s not that the information given is fau...

5 Ways to Save Money to Buy a House

Saving money to buy a house can be difficult if you are not a saver by nature. And it’s usually not a small amount of money either. Unfortunately, down payment requirements are higher now than they were a few years ago. If you’re purchasing a house for $200,000, a 5% down payment will mean $10,000. A 20% down payment will mean $40,000.

And that’s not all.

You may also be required to pay some or all of the closing costs on the purchase, as well as to establish escrow accounts for taxes and insur...

4 Investment Alternatives to Equities

In general, many investors are reactionary. They tend to pull out of investments after the bottom has dropped out of them, or buy into something that has already had a pretty good run.

These last six months are perfect example. Pre-election, many investors felt skittish and moved to cash with part or all of their portfolio. There was a bit of dip with the post-election low for the Dow showing on November 15th at 12,542. However, the market closed on February 21, 2013 at 13,880. The cash is flo...

Can Shopping Really Help You Alleviate Sadness?

We hear a lot about “retail therapy,” and how shopping can help you alleviate feelings of sadness and even stress.

But does retail therapy really work? A recent study from the University of Michigan indicates that retail therapy may be a real thing – and looks at why retail therapy is effective.

Reducing Sadness with Retail Therapy

According toThe Benefits of Retail Therapy: Choosing to Buy Reduces Residual Sadness, just the act of choosing between products can help you feel better. It’s not so...