50 Plus Finance

Monday, February 7, 2011

Follow the IRS on YouTube and Twitter

I will never accuse the I.R.S. of being behind the times every again. They have been constantly updating their computers and data processing for years. There are new ways to file your taxes like never before. You can do them on computer, online and now on your phone.

Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBaseThe I.R.S. has kept up with social media too. You can follow there videos and tweets here.

YouTube

The IRS has short and informative YouTube videos on tax related topics in English, American Sign Language (ASL) and a variety of foreign languages:

IRS Videos – http://www.youtube.com/irsvideos

ASL Videos – http://www.youtube.com/IRSvideosASL

Multilingual Videos – http://www.youtube.com/IRSvideosMultilingua

Twitter

IRS tweets include various tax-related announcements, news for tax professionals and hiring initiatives:

@IRSnews – http://twitter.com/irsnews

IRS news and helpful information for the public, the press and practitioners

@IRStaxpros – http://twitter.com/irstaxpros

IRS news and guidance for tax professionals

@IRSenEspanol – http://twitter.com/irsenespanol

Información, Comunicados de Prensa y Noticias en Español del IRS

News and information in Spanish from IRS

@RecruitmentIRS – http://twitter.com/recruitmentirs

IRS Human Capital Office

@YourVoiceatIRS – http://twitter.com/yourvoiceatirs

Taxpayer Advocate Service

Audio Files for Podcasts

The IRS creates audio files for use as podcasts. Each short audio recording provides information on one tax related topic. The audio files and their transcripts can be found in the Multimedia Center on IRS.gov. These files are also available as podcasts on iTunes.

Widgets

Widgets are tools that can be placed on websites, blogs or social media networks to direct others to IRS.gov for information. The IRS has developed a variety of widgets that feature the latest tax initiatives and programs. These widgets can be found on Marketing Express, the marketing site that allows IRS partners and tax preparers to customize their IRS communications products.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Bowl Weekend Roundup

If you are lucky enough to go to the Super Bowl you must be pretty well off. A nice info graphic at Mint.com pretty well sums it up. The median price of 4 tickets to attend is $26,294 according to Stubhub.com. Add to that your airfare, room and food. The ticket price range goes from $2,827 for a seat to $307,500 for Hall of Fame Suites.

So what kind of person can attend this shindig? The average income is $222,318. The median age is 37 . It splits up to 26% Female and 74% male. Most attendees are executives or professionals. Pretty nice.

In between plays here are a few of the best post on some of my favorite blogs that you can read:

When Can You Lie About Money to Your Spouse? @ Consumerism Commentary

What Should You do if You Get an IRS Audit Letter in the Mail? @ Free Money Finance

Your Take: Divorce Insurance? @ bargaineering

Lifecycle Funds are a Terrible Investment Idea @ Five Cent Nickel

Surviving on Minimum Wage? : An Example Budget @ Free By 50

Can you afford NOT to be in a couple? @ DINKS Finance

Check your mortgage company rules before trying to pay off your loan @ Clever Dude

20SomethingFinance 2010 Tax Guide @ 20 Something Finance

Converting a Principal Residence into a Rental Property – The Solution! @ Million Dollar Journey

How to Cope With Buyers Remorse @ barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance

How Moe Broke Out of His Rut @ personalfinancebythebook

Here are some carnivals I participated in:
FESTIVAL OF FRUGALITY-265-Get Stuff on the Cheap & Help the Earth
Totally Money Blog Carnival #3!
Baby Boomer's Blog Carnival Seventy-sixth Edition

Have a good time watching the game. I know I will.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Online Budgeting Tool That Keeps Your Data Private Try Doughhound.com

Some people are a little worried when using sites like Mint.com because they have to share their personal account numbers and passwords.

Now there is a new site called Doughhound.com that wants to serve these people. The idea behind Doughhound.com is to help consumers monitor their spending without having them enter there account numbers or passwords.

Doughhound.com was created by Daniel and Jillian Tobias. They used to track their budget on a spreadsheet since they could not find an online budgeting site that didn't require them to provide private information.

The way Doughhound.com works is you manually enter your expenses and tag each one with the corresponding category or categories. Which you create yourself. This means users can decide to look only at one area of their spending, and they don’t have to deal with correcting categorizing errors that can crop up on sites that do it automatically

Users can also set up budgets on the site to keep track of how much they are spending in a certain category over a certain time period and create customized charts and views. Each time they visit the site and enter their data, users can see how well they are meeting their budgeting goals.

If you don't want to manually enter the data yourself then Doughhound.com is not for you. A site like Mint.com will suit you better.

So why not just use a spreadsheet? The advantage of Doughhound.com over a spreadsheet or similar software is that you don’t have to deal with complicated spreadsheet formulas, you can more easily share the information online with others and you can provide information via e-mail. Doughhound, which went live recently, will accept advertising and so far has about 100 users.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Are You Putting Your Life On Hold To Save For Retirement?

Image via Wikipedia

In her new book, “Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back” (Ten Speed Press), the author Kimberly Palmer recommends that young adults try to save at least a quarter of their annual income.

This is a tall order for young or old to accomplish. But for the author and her husband they actually saved one-third of their joint income. Ms. Palmer, who is now 30 and writes the Alpha Consumer blog and column for U.S. News & World Report, said she recommended the one-fourth figure rather than one-third in her book because “it’s more realistic for people” in the current economy.

So how did they do this? They lived in a one bedroom apartment and basically never upgraded their college lifestyle. The daily meals consisted of inexpensive non-meat meals costing $120 weekly. They never upgraded to new cell phone models and never got cable.
Let's fast forward to the present. Today they have a mortgage, a child, daycare costs and are only saving 15% of their income. There goal is to get back to the 25% level of savings, but that's going to have to wait a while,

What are the reasons for this radical shift, the answer is babies. A family takes a lot of your income. And not just for a little while. For this family the next 25 years will be a time for sacrificing savings for a family . If more children come along then the money needed, will be multiplied.

I know many couples who have chosen to not have children. They enjoy more freedom and can retire sooner if they were good savers.

I received a comment on another post called "Do I Rent or Own When the Kids Are Gone?". It was from a couple who were in their mid 50's who had retired. They answered my question by telling me they live in a apartment and feel they can move to any city they want if they so desire. They do own a vacation home in the country where they go enjoy outdoor recreation activities. These people are set with a sustainable life style that can be enjoyed for the next forty years.

Did they put their life on hold to prepare for this day? Or did they live their lives along the way. The young author sacrificed before the child arrived and is sacrificing, in a different way, after the child came.

The extremes on either side of savings must make you move to the center and convince you to live your life along the journey

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Who's in your Corner When the I.R.S. is at your Door?

Darth Vader as depicted in The Empire Strikes ...

Image via Wikipedia

What strikes terror in the hearts of the individual like a letter from the I.R.S. I know because I received a couple in my day. You feel like Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader in battle for the first time. Maybe not that bad but close.

If you have never dealt with the I.R.S. count yourself lucky, it's an experience you can do without. In my case I claimed a deduction I shouldn't have and got busted. They offered me a payment plan. I took it and it was over.

I was lucky with my minor scrape with the I.R.S. but some people have been audited and charged fines and late fees. They have had to hire lawyers and meet multiple times with an auditor. Many months of correspondence fighting the problem is exhausting.

What happens if your not getting anywhere with the I.R.S., it feels like they are so powerful and intimidating. There is help, someone to stand up to them and be in your corner. Where do you find them? Well, there at the I.R.S. Believe it or not the I.R.S. has something called the Taxpayer Advocate Service. It's an in house advocacy group that will stand up for you, all you have to do is ask.

Their mission statement is:

Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Mission: As an independent organization within the IRS, we help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and recommend changes that will prevent the problems.

Here are seven things every taxpayer should know about TAS:

1. TAS is your voice at the IRS.

2. The service is free, confidential, and tailored to meet your needs.

3. You may be eligible for TAS help if you have tried to resolve your tax problem through normal IRS channels and have gotten nowhere, or you believe an IRS procedure just isn't working as it should.

4. TAS helps taxpayers whose problems are causing financial difficulty or significant cost, including the cost of professional representation. This includes businesses as well as individuals.

5. TAS employees know the IRS and how to navigate it. They will listen to your problem, help you understand what needs to be done to resolve it, and stay with you every step of the way until your problem is resolved.

6. TAS has at least one local taxpayer advocate in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. You can call your local advocate, whose number is in your phone book, in Publication 1546, Taxpayer Advocate Service -- Your Voice at the IRS, and on the website at Contact Your Advocate. You can also call the toll-free case intake line at 1-877-777-4778.

7. You can learn about your rights and responsibilities as a taxpayer by visiting the online tax toolkit at www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov .

This advocacy at a government institution is a breathe of fresh air. It's hard enough to deal with a bureaucracy normally, a helping hand and a kind face is what's needed in government. A little customer satisfaction goes a long way.

File Your Tax Return For Free - Here's Where to do it

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Are Extended Warranties Worth the Money?

If your like me have you noticed the deluge of ads for big screen TV's. You know it's Super Bowl time again when you get that yearly itch to get that new LCD or plasma TV. Why don't they have the Super Bowl around Christmas so I have a good excuse to give my wife a new set. You know it would be for her.

Marching down to Best Buy to get a new set is bad enough, but when you finally check out the clerk asks you if you would like to buy an extended warranty. You freeze, like a deer in the headlights. There is nothing like having to think in a split second to spend the extra money on something you haven't thought through while the burly guy behind you is waiting to make his purchase and the clerk is staring at you.

The debate over extended warranties is never quite over. We are offered these warranties for everything now a days. I bought a $50 voice recorder and was offered a extended warranty of 2 years for $10. Would it make sense to purchase it or pass it by? I don't know I'll have to do the math and get back to you.

I can see maybe getting a warranted on things $500 and up. On items that you know are expensive to repair. Not things that are necessarily throw away items like a voice recorder.

So what do consumer agencies say about extended warranties?

Most products don't break during the warranty period. If they malfunction right away, they're covered by a store return policy or manufacturer warranty.

The cost of the warranty is almost as much as the cost of a repair. So, buying a warranty is like paying for most of a repair, whether you need one or not.

You can self-insure by setting aside the same money in a repair fund. If the item doesn't break, you get to keep the money.

As a general rule, you shouldn't buy insurance for little things, only for financial disasters. If a repair cost won't wreck your finances, you probably don't need the coverage.

Some higher-tier credit cards will extend the manufacturer warranty for free if you purchase the item with the card.

The benefit of a warranty is mitigated if you have to pay a deductible.

A warranty might call for replacement with a refurbished unit, not a new one.

The extended warranty usually starts when you buy a product, largely duplicating the manufacturer warranty for some length of time.

You know warranties are a bad deal for consumers because electronics retailers make a huge share of their profits from them.

On the other had the warranty industry has their arguments:

Warranties extend your protection, providing peace of mind for typically 10 to 20 percent of the cost of the item. If a warranty costs more than that, make sure there's a good reason.

Extended warranties usually offer service and protection a manufacturer warranty does not. That includes in-home repair or replacement, generally quicker turnaround for repairs, around-the-clock and weekend technical support, coverage for damage caused by power surges and the ability to transfer the warranty.

If you regret buying a warranty, you can cancel, typically within 30 days, for a full refund, not a prorated one.

Repair prices are often more expensive than warranty costs. An LCD television costing $550 would typically have a service-plan cost of $55 to $110, while the cost of repairing a main system board, for example, might cost $375.

A self-insure repair fund is a good idea, but, as a practical matter, consumers won't set aside money for repairs.

Some extended warranties cover accidents. As electronics become smaller and more portable, there will be more dropped laptops and cell phones in the toilet. Manufacturers typically don't cover accidental damage.

The bottom line is, the statistics and math say that buying an extended warranty is a bad move if you want to save money. Warranty companies are in business to make money and if they were paying off on the warranty contracts they would be out of business. They know the chances of your item needing repair is nil, thus they make money. Use that same data in your decision to purchase an extended warranty.

There is one other thing that warranties provide that is not in the fine print. That is warranties give piece of mind. The value of that is hard to quantify.

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