Archive for the ‘Financial Tune-Up’ Category

One Woman’s Story: How To Pay Off $14,000 In Credit Card Debt?

Posted By: Lemondrop

The girl: Tiffany
Age: 25
Job: Nonprofit
Where she calls home: The Midwest
Her sitch: In June 2008, Tiffany owed $14,611.47. She’s managed to chip away at the balance by using gift money, tax refunds and watching her spending, but she still owes close to $8,000, and she’s not sure what else to do.
“I don’t have any real system,” she says. “I tried fun Excel spreadsheets and advice from friends, but nothing really panned out. In the end, I just kept throwing any money I could at it, from $50 to $200, as often as I could. But I’m hoping to move in the [...]

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Stop Procrastinating! 4 Steps To Mentally Prepare Yourself To Tackle Your Taxes

Posted By: Amanda Clayman

Even Albert Einstein lamented that “the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” Though taxes are complex and tedious, the number one reason we dread April 15th is simple: Nobody likes to pay tax.
Here’s how to get over procrastination and take the sting out of doing taxes:
Step One: Put Emotions Aside.
When we’re stressed out or on high alert, it is much harder for our brains to weigh options, predict consequences, and solve complex problems. No matter how good you are at multi-tasking, it’ll be much harder to think clearly when your brain is engaged in a [...]

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LearnVester Tax Questions, Answered!

Posted By: Eileen Gunn

You’ve come to us with tax questions, and we’ve heard you. That’s why we sat down with Inna Merzheritsky, a partner specializing in international tax at accounting firm Burr Pilger Mayer in San Francisco, to answer YOUR questions about taxes.
I love getting cash back from my refund, but some of my friends say it’s a bad thing. Why?
Don’t think of your refund as some sort of bonus. It’s your own money that you’re getting back, which means that you’ve basically given an interest-free loan to the government. Put it this way: If you could stash money under your [...]

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Podcast: Why You Should Check Your Credit Score

LearnVest’s very own Alexa Von Tobel (CEO) sits down with Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma, to discuss credit basics and how building a good credit score can save you HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars!
Credit Score Myths… Debunked:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
How A Good Credit Score Can Save You Major Money:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

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How Likely Are You To Be Audited? 10 Ways To Tell.

Posted By: Minda Zetlin

Audit. Not a word anyone wants to hear. Of course, considering that the IRS audits about 1% of individual tax returns the general odds of being audited are very low. The IRS says it uses a complex computer model to determine who it will audit, but we can understand more generally how it picks that 1%. After all, no matter what the result, being audited is time-consuming and can do take an emotional and financial toll. Who needs that?
Here’s what puts you at risk:
Making An Error In Your Return.
Check your math. Then check it again. Having a mistaken calculation on [...]

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