Four Things to Consider When Filing Your Taxes

Many people are finding themselves in a situation where they need to file their taxes and they don't know how to do it. There are so many different tax forms that you can be faced with and the IRS website has a lot of information about them, but not all of it is relevant to the situation you're in. The following are four things that you should consider when filing your taxes.

Home Office

1) If you have a home office, make sure that you include the space that you use as part of your income. This may seem like an obvious thing to do, but there are a lot of people who forget to include this space. 

It's easy to forget about the fact that you are allowed to deduct the cost of your office space from your income, and if you don't take advantage of this benefit, then you'll end up paying more than you should on your taxes.

Business Expenses

2) You also need to keep track of any business expenses that you incur. Many people will find that they have a lot of expenses that aren't directly related to their business, such as food or gasoline. 

If you don't have a good way of tracking these expenses, then you could end up paying a lot more than you should on your tax returns.

Self Employed

3) If you are self-employed, then you will want to keep track of your sales. You can get a lot of help with this by going online and looking at sites that allow you to keep track of your income. 

There are also websites that will allow you to keep track of what you spend on advertising and other marketing costs, and then you can calculate how much you've made.

4) Finally, you should make sure that you keep track of your mileage. If you're driving to and from work every day, then you can deduct the cost of your gas from your income. 

If you have a car that gets used for personal reasons, then you should still be able to deduct the cost of gas from your income.

Financial Benefits of Downsizing Your Home as You Get Older

One of the most popular trends in the housing industry right now is downsizing your home. As people get older, homes often become too large and expensive for a single person or family. 

Instead, they are moving into apartments or living in smaller houses that they have put on the market. Downsizing has many benefits to consider, including financial savings if you move into an apartment and potential tax benefits as well. 

People who decide to downsize their homes as they get older have several reasons for doing so, which we will explore in this article.

Reduced Cost of Utilities

By moving into a smaller home, you will likely reduce your utility costs. If you choose to live in an apartment, it may be possible to save money by choosing a local power provider with lower rates and fees and who offers senior discounts.

Reduced Home Insurance Costs

One of the most common ways seniors save by downsizing their home is lowering their home insurance costs. A smaller house means you will need to spend less on insurance. You won’t need as much coverage. This can save you a significant amount of money each month.

Lower Property Taxes

The IRS allows people to offset some of their income taxes by lowering their taxes when they are older. The amount you receive depends on how much you would have paid in taxes by filing as a younger taxpayer and whether or not your income has changed since you filed your original tax return. 

The process is called "stepped-up basis." If you sell out of town, it's possible to offset the entire value of the home with the sale proceeds less any debt involved in the deal.

Less Maintenance Expenses

When you are young, your home may seem big and convenient, but when you get older, your needs change. A smaller house or apartment can be easier to maintain. You will spend less on furnishing it and doing repairs.

In conclusion, downsizing your home can be one of the best ways to save money. As you get older and wish to move, you may be able to find a suitable apartment or smaller house that fits your needs and your budget. 

The critical thing to remember is that you can use those savings to pay off debts or invest in other ways once you make a move. Talk to a real estate agent who can help you sell your house fast so you can begin to see the financial benefits.

How Refinancing Your Home Can Benefit Your Future

When you purchased your home, it was without a doubt the single biggest investment you have made in your life. Now that you're a few years into making mortgage payments, you may be thinking refinancing your home is a viable option.

If so, you're not alone, since many homeowners choose to do this each year. Since refinancing your home can change your financial future for the better in numerous ways, here are some factors to keep in mind when mulling over the possibilities.

Lower Monthly Payments

When you refinance, you trade your existing mortgage loan for a new one that will have a lower interest rate. As a result, you will have lower monthly mortgage payments. 

Not only will this help you immediately, but in the future as well, since this will free up more of your money to be used for other things, such as home improvements, paying college tuition for your kids, or other things.

Building Equity in Your Home

When you speak with a mortgage company, such as Fairway PNW mortgage professionals, one of the biggest benefits you learn of regarding refinancing is the ability to build up equity in your home much faster than you anticipated, since you will now have a much shorter loan term. 

In doing so, this gives you the option to tap into your home's equity in the future, which could help to pay for unexpected expenses that may arise as you get older.

Paying Off Your Mortgage Sooner

If you refinance to a shorter loan term, this will let you pay off your mortgage much sooner than you anticipated. This lets you build up your savings for the future since you will save thousands of dollars in interest along the way. Best of all, you will own your home years earlier, giving you tremendous peace of mind.

Pay Off Other Debts

When you refinance, one important factor is being able to use an improved credit score to your advantage. If your credit score has improved since you took out your original mortgage, you should be able to refinance so that you get a lower interest rate. 

In fact, you may be able to choose a cash-out refinance, which will enable you to use the money to consolidate credit card debt and pay if off faster.

Since there are many details involved in getting the right refinancing deal for your situation, always do your homework beforehand and work with professionals you trust. By doing so, you could soon see lower mortgage payments and more savings.

5 Small Businesses That Are Easily Scalable

When starting a small business, most entrepreneurs have a timeline written for expansion purposes. The goal is to create a business with good growth potential.

When considering business ideas, consider scalable businesses as they have a more significant profit margin as they grow. Here are five small businesses that are easily scalable.

Digital Downloads

Digital downloads mostly consist of video games, templates, music, and e-books. It works as one of the most scalable businesses, as there are no delivery costs associated with the product sold. 

Using an online platform like a website, users access the downloads after processing payments. Advertisements of the products are equally done online on the platforms you choose. 

The best part is that with aggressive marketing of the product and offering sampling to ensure that the market is reeled in, it's easy to see an upward growth as popularity increases.

Franchising

Starting a franchise requires having a unique business idea and looking for investors who will buy the franchise. As the franchise owner, you’ll not spend money on operations, staff or, even location. After the business starts running, you’ll profit from the sales. 

However, you want to place guidelines that buyers will follow to ensure that the franchise name is protected. Have a standard model that the buyer must follow for uniformity in business practices.

Blogs, Podcasts, and YouTube

Blogging, podcasts, and YouTube channels work great, and it's a virtual business in which you make all the rules. In the platforms, you talk about anything and everything that interests you. 

Companies associated with a given topic will sponsor you to market their products. The best part is that you do not have to fabricate the results and everything you say and do. 

The other way, it's a scalable business that you get revenue from adverts on the platforms you use as your viewership grows. The larger the audience, the bigger the paycheck.

Rental Properties

If you have a significant amount of money that you don’t know where to invest, rental properties are the thing. After the initial renovations to market standard, at least 90% of the income remains pure profit. 

With property value continuously increasing, your investment return is guaranteed in the shortest time.

Salvage Car Business

A salvage car business grows rapidly, especially since vehicles have become a necessity rather than a luxury as it was considered a few years ago. 

Set a temporary workshop between the towing truck services and a parts shop. Within no time, the business will thrive, and you can set yourself as the point man for second-hand parts.

4 Things You Need to Protect Your Retirement Side Hustle

Having a side hustle throughout your retirement is a fantastic option to increase your income, however, there are a few things you need to get in line to make sure that it is protected.

Most of these things are simply quick fixes that are definitely worth doing to future-proof your side hustle. Invest some time and a small amount of money now and you will reap the benefits in the future.

Choose A Legal Structure

Although you might have already done this, we must mention it to start with. You need to make sure that you have associated your business with one of three legal structures; a sole trader, partnership, or limited company. 

If you haven’t, you might face issues later down the line, so getting this right if you haven’t already is important.

When you register yourself as self-employed, you will automatically become a sole trader. If you face any debts, this does mean you are responsible and your personal assets could be at risk if you can’t pay them. 

Another option if you have joint ownership with someone else is to register as a partnership. There are different types of partnerships depending on your business, some with fewer obligations than others.

Finally, you can set up a limited company, where your personal assets are separate from the business assets. This is a big advantage, but there are many more legal obligations involved that you need to learn about. 

If you are unsure, there are so many different guides online or you can discuss this with a business advisor to make sure you are making the right choice.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

If you have developed a new product, service, or brand for your side hustle, it is important that you protect it by trademarking your intellectual property. 

This could be anything that you have created, from brand names to new technology, products, or symbols. Not only will this make sure that you protect your own business and ideas from being ripped off by other people, but you will also make sure that you’re not infringing on other people’s businesses so you don’t face any legal issues later down the line. 

Even if your business only generates a small amount of your income, this is a really important step regardless to future proof the business.

Have The Right Insurance

Every business should have some kind of insurance, and if you don’t, you might find that you come to regret the decision later down the line. 

It is best to work with a broker for this, to make sure that you find the right insurance depending on your specific side hustle. If you work on a credit basis for your side hustle, you might need whole turnover insurance if your business is particularly high risk. 

Perhaps for your specific business, you will need property insurance, liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, the list goes on!

The best piece of advice we can give you is to go to a broker and they will be able to assist you with getting the right cover for your business at the right price.

Make Sure You’re Paying The Right Tax

No matter how big or small your side hustle is, you need to report your earnings to the government. This income will be classed as self-employed income, so it is important you report anything to the HMRC or another relevant governing body. 

Tax is a very complex thing to get your head around, so it is always worth contacting a professional accountant to make sure you aren’t paying too much or too little tax. 

This will make sure that your business isn’t hit with any huge and unexpected tax bills in the future!

Final Thoughts

If you invest in these things now, it will certainly be worth it in the future. Protect your retirement side hustle and your future!

How to Get Out of Medical Debt

Medical debt is a major financial burden that millions of people are currently struggling with. While you might feel overwhelmed by your medical bills, there are a few steps that you can take to reduce your debt, lower your payments, or even have your debt wiped out entirely.

Collect and Review Paperwork

It is an unfortunate fact that a relatively large percentage of medical bills have errors, and some studies have shown that as many as 75 percent of patients aren’t being billed correctly. 

That is just one of the many reasons why you should always review all of the paperwork that you receive from the hospital. You must also ask the hospital for an itemized list of all the charges so that you can dispute any errors.

Contact the Hospital

The next step in the process is contacting the hospital directly to discuss your bills. As long as your bills haven’t been sent to collections, you might be able to negotiate new terms with the hospital’s billing department. 

Most hospitals want to retain the debt so that they profit from it, and they could help you come up with a more affordable payment plan that doesn’t destroy your finances.

Apply for a Medical Credit Card

Acquiring a medical credit card is another option that you should consider if you can’t negotiate with the hospital. Medical credit cards tend to have very low interest rates and much lower requirements for applying. 

Some medical credit cards even offer zero percent APR for upwards of two years, and that will give you plenty of time to focus on your finances and rebuild your credit.

Consider Bankruptcy

While these other options can be very useful for some patients, there may come a point when it is time to consider bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy will allow you to restructure your debt or even wipe it out entirely, and that process should be off your record in a matter of years. 

To read more about your bankruptcy options, you should head to a reputable legal site that will allow you to learn about the pros and cons of each chapter of bankruptcy.

Ongoing debt can become a life-altering burden, and that is why many people will ignore it for years as it spirals out of control. If you have been struggling with medical debt, then it is time to come up with a long-term plan for getting out of debt and rebuilding your finances.