You can be in control of your money instead of letting it control you. This is one of the many benefits to having a budget. For more information on how a budget can help you organize, communicate and save time when dealing with your money, read this C.P.A. Insight.
A tight economy is no reason to postpone your travel plans until better times. While our econonomy is beginning to recover, bookings are still soft for airlines and hotels, so you may be able to benefit from discounting. For more information on how to stretch your dollar especially when traveling abroad, read this Financial Strategy.
Now is a great time to assess your financial needs and set achievable goals for your financial future. One way to accomplish this is to develop a financial plan. Simply, financial planning is a process in which you determine what you want to achieve in life and how best to do it with the money you have and will earn.
If you were faced with an emergency, would you have the funds to cover it? Emergencies may vary from needing a new roof for the house to unemployment. An emergency fund with cash and cash equivalents in low-risk investments provide easy access to money should you need it. For more information on how much you should have in your emergency reserve, read this Financial Strategy.
Your credit score is usually based on the FICO model that weighs reported credit activity in five categories, which consist of payment history, debt-to-credit ratio, length of credit history, new credit applications and types of credit used. For more information on how your credit score is used and how your credit activity is ranked, read this Financial Strategy.
If your thoughts of spring include a tax refund check, you may opt to use your windfall to benefit your future, rather than spend it now. Some uses you may consider include adding your refund to your retirement savings or investing in continuing education. For more ideas on how to make your refund work for you, read this C.P.A. Insight.
If you are receiving a tax refund, consider directing your refund into your retirement account. This option is available to all individual filers no matter which 1040 form they file. For more information on the direct deposit of your refund, read this C.P.A. Insight.
When gathering your previous year’s tax information or planning for the current year’s taxes, it is important to consider how you keep your personal records. Some basic records that everyone should keep include: W-2 Forms, bank statements, invoices, insurance records and various investment information. For more information on which records are vital to keep and organize for the tax season, read this C.P.A. Insight.
When creating a budget, it is helpful to assign percentages to major categories. This article lists typical family budget percentages.
When creating a budget, you need to separate your expenditures into required or optional categories. This article contains a sample list of mandatory and discretionary expenses.
