The New 1099-K Tax Form (Infographic)

 The new 1099-K tax form is just another confusing bit of tax law to make business do a little bit more work. As usual the Internal Revenue Service needs to make sure it gets all the revenue it can.

It seems the I.R.S. is not collecting an estimated $385 Billion dollars, this new tax form is going to cure that problem, they hope.



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How My Emergency Fund Kept Me Above Water

Emergency funds are nice things to have around because of the many nice things they do. The best thing they do is keep you out of debt. My emergency fund kept me out of debt today.

In my backyard I have a nice pool. It's a nice thing to have. It's pretty to look at but it's a shame no one ever uses it. The kids are to grown up and are always out, to busy, but my wife loves to lay beside it and soak up some sun on Saturdays. Last weekend, the pump finally burnt out. I have been nursing it for almost a year. The rear bushing has been making a horrible noise and I have been giving it a shot of WD-40 to make it behave. It gave up the ghost last weekend and I needed a new one. 

It Gets Worse!

Luckily my brother deals with foreclosed houses and was able to locate a nice, almost new pump. Things were looking up. An almost free new pump was going to solve my problem. I had it installed in no time and preceded to crank it up. It was running great. Better than ever, pressure was noticeably twice as much as the previous motor. As I was admiring my handy work a 8 inch crack developed on the filter tank. Water sprayed everywhere. The higher pressure from the new motor was to much for my 22 year old plastic filter tank. 

I must admit the tank was previously patched along the crack but sadly it couldn't take the increase in pressure, it was time to replace it. I was back on the phone to my brother but he had no good news for me but said he would try to hunt one down for me. 

While brother was on the job I did some searching over at the pool store. The salesman quoted me a price of $500 for a new filter tank. I was immediately depressed at this situation. I would of liked to not spend that kind of money but I had the cash in the emergency fund for things just like this. It's funny I almost forgot I had an emergency fund I haven't had to use for a few years, the last time was when the water heater went out. 

On a Mission.

I was determined to not pay $500 so I was on a mission to seek out a cheaper solution. I went on Craigslist and found many used filter tanks for sale. Most of them did look a little distressed but out of 12 filters I pick one that was the right size and the best price was $80. It was an alternative I was going to seriously consider. 

While I was online I searched the online pool stores and found they were selling the same tank as my local pool store for about $25 less. I was down to $475 for a new tank. I was determined to do better. Amazon was next. They had the same tank listed for $300. I was feeling better that I was going to save $200 on Amazon as apposed to my local store. I have an Amazon Associates account so that would knock 4% off the price plus I would have used my Chase Amazon card which would have given me another 5% off. I was down to $273 with the discount.

Lets Do Better.

Still I wanted to do better. It was on to Ebay! They had the filter I wanted at auction for less than $200. I searched Ebay's completed auctions and saw they were going for an equivalent price as Amazon. I placed the bid when the filter tank was at $175. When it finished I had won the auction at a bid of $220 with a shipping cost of $30. So I was buying a filter tank for $250, brand new, guaranteed for 1 year from a pool supply company with over 10,000 good recommendations. I felt confident in the purchase and I should have the new tank at my home by the end of the week. And I paid cash.

This whole experience was very eye opening for me. Before emergency funds I would of made the purchase of a new tank at my local pool store and I would of put it on my credit card. It was an automatic response that I had made throughout my life, and a very costly one. I never gave it a thought to shop around like I did this time. But the main reason I did shop around was I was spending real cash. Real cash makes you work for the best deal. Dave Ramsey is right when he says it hurts to spend real money. Buying with a credit card is painless and you don't even feel the need to get a better deal. At least I didn't.

Lessons Relearned

Overall the experience has retaught me that staying out of debt is something to be proud of. Having an emergency fund is something to be proud of. Taking control of your life is really something to be proud of. 

Do I Need Short Term Health Insurance?

 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

If you have health insurance, your are probably pretty happy just to have it, but maybe not to happy paying those large premiums. But what would happen if you are between jobs or insurance policies and still want to keep some kind of coverage. This is where short term health insurance plans comes in. 

During this gap in coverage you need something temporary, maybe just for a month or two. Normally, these plans are only good for a period of six months. 

They do not cover the same things as regular health insurance. The more advanced services like preventative medical treatments, immunization, and physical tests are usually excluded with this gap insurance. These plans are normally more expensive than regular and longer term plans. For those with pre-existing conditions it becomes even harder to get insurance.

The main reason people sign up for short term health insurance is there may be a waiting period in the start of a new job when you don't have normal health benefits. Possibly you are between jobs, short term health insurance will continue to cover you until you secure a new job and start proper health insurance.

College students sometimes need short term health care because they cannot be on their parents health care policy anymore. Short term health insurance gives them coverage until they can sign up at their new jobs. Short term policy's also start immediately, you do not have to go through any waiting period. They are also easier to sign up for, they do not have the extensive paperwork regular health policies have.

There are many benefits to having a short term health insurance. But before signing up for any plan be sure you understand how they work and if it is the best choice for you.

Arrange Your Car Loan Before Going to The Dealer

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many people believe the best place to get your car loan is where you buy your car. It sounds right, because the dealer finances so many cars they must be giving the best deals. This seems to make sense but you probably will find better financing deals off the car dealers lot.

Just like when you are shopping around for the best deals on things you normally buy, why not shop around for car financing? How to get car finance means seeking out competitive loan vendors who will often give you the lowest interest rate. Competition between companies will give you the best results. But some people may be worried that multiple applications and credit inquires will damage your credit score. This is not true because the credit reporting agencies know this kind of multiple inquiry is not abnormal and they only count the inquiry as one. 

Car dealerships are trying to squeeze the maximum profit out of every car sale so a few points of interest on your car loan helps their bottom line. Margins are tight these days on car profitability so you may find out that you are going to pay a little higher interest rate when financing through your car dealer.

When you walk into your car dealers office and you already have arranged financing your car dealer looks at your deal as a cash purchase. You know the car dealer prefers getting a cash payment for the car purchase. This is your leverage in negotiating. A salesman will have to give you a better deal because they don't want a five figure amount of money to walk out the door into someone else car dealership. 

Knowledge is your advantage in car purchasing. Knowing the product well and its appropriate purchase price will make your car purchase a positive one. Also having payment options on a firm foundation will only increase your chances of getting the best value in your car purchase.