Archive for April, 2006
…but I’m not. Funny how small talk with people has shifted from the weather to complaining about gas prices these days. From the grocery store to neighbors to well, the guy pumping my gas! The reason I don’t really stress about it is that combined, the both of us drive less than 10,000 miles a year. I don’t track my MPG or even look at the receipt when I fill up. The sad thing is that gas prices can really affect those barely making ends meet anyways. But if you’re loading your groceries into your 4WD Land Bruiser or Ford Extinction, watch me not sympathize.
Anyhow, I should give some tips. Lots of good info at FuelEconomy.gov. Also save 10-15 cents a gallon by using a 5% cashback card from Citibank or Discover. If you haven’t noticed, I’m still a bit grouchy today. =/
Posted in Frugal Living | 47 Comments »
Just like last October, using the information in my How To Predict I-Bond Savings Bond Rates post, we can now try to predict the upcoming I-Bond rate announcement on May 1st. For more information on savings bonds, check out my Savings Bond category, starting with my intro to I and EE bonds. Let’s just jump into it:
The CPI-U in September 2005 was 198.8.
The CPI-U in March 2006 was 199.8.
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Posted in Savings Bonds | 4 Comments »
I forgot about another reason to form an LLC or corporation: Tax Audits. Here are some stats from 2004:
IRS Audit Rates
Sole Proprietors with income < $25k: 3.15%
Sole Proprietors with income $25-100k: 1.47%
S-Corporations (all): 0.19%
C-Corporations, assets under $250k - 0.18%
According to this small data set, sole props are 7 to 17 times more likely to be audited than corporations, and about 3 times more likely than indviduals without business income. Couldn’t find info for LLCs.
Posted in Entrepreneurial | 4 Comments »
I’ve been reading LLC or Corporation?: How to Choose the Right Form For Your Business by Nolo Press, which writes a lot of do-it-yourself legal books aimed for the public. Some of the little details just make my head spin, but here are the main benefits of forming a corporation or limited liability company (LLC) for an individual:
1) More job opportunities. Many companies won’t hire an independent contractor unless they are an LLC or corporation. This is because they are afraid of the IRS classifying you as an employee later, and then charging them possibly years of back employment taxes.
2) Limited liability for business debts. As a sole proprietor, if your business goes under you are personally responsible for all the debts. That means your house, your car, and everything else you own can be taken away to pay off those debts. This doesn’t protect you from everything all the time, though.
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Posted in Entrepreneurial | 13 Comments »
I hate moving. But one perk is that I get to become a ‘new’ customer again for Comcast. You may recall that I bargained myself down to $19.99/mo for six months for Comcast High-Speed Internet last year (saving $138). Now that those six months are over, I need a new deal! Well, right now the Comcast offer for new customers is:
» 6 months at $19.99/month
» Free cable modem after $80 mail-in rebate ($9 shipping)
» Free wireless modem
» $75 cash back rebate. (now maybe $100?)
Well, new address + wife’s name = new customer. =) Not counting the modem, that’s a savings of ($43-$20)x 6 months + $75 = $213! I usually don’t like rebates, but I’ll do these. If you are a current Comcast customer and can live without internet for 60 days, you can also get in on this deal.
Posted in Frugal Living | 23 Comments »
I’ll explain later if I can, but always. put. everything. in. writing. Handshake or verbal agreements that involve money or services promised are stupid. Even if it’s between ‘friends’. Me stupid.
Posted in General | 17 Comments »
Since the taxes are done and the IRS has already cashed my check (funny how quick they are at that!), it’s time to throw away some of the paperwork that I’ve accumulated through the year. I usually keep all my pay stubs, bills, and other papers in their own folders in a creaky filing cabinet. By this time of year, I can barely open the drawer anymore. But how long should you really keep your papers?
I got this list from a Fidelity newsletter I received a few years ago. Not sure how accurate it all is, but it seems like a good general guideline:
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Posted in Taxes | 18 Comments »
There has been a big jump in money-related blogs recently, and I would like to support that with my new free blog community - mBlogs.org (short for moneyBlogs). I’ve been sitting on this idea for months now, mostly because it won’t be very profitable considering the amount of work I’ll have to put into it. But I think if I don’t give it a try I’ll probably regret it too, so I spent most of today working on it.
If you’ve thought about starting your own money weblog to share tips or track your own financial progress, and would like to join a community that will help you do so and that is free, read on!
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Posted in Entrepreneurial | 11 Comments »
As we pack up our things for our move down the road, my wife and I are constantly arguing about what to throw away and what to keep. Of course, I think all her stuff is “stuffed animals and junk”, and all my stuff is “useless gadgets and crap”. I think both terms are accurate!
I call this weird human condition the EATIOs (kinda like Cheerios). It’s short for Emotional Attachment To Inanimate Objects. This is not even restricted to things like cars or houses. There are things in our basement that we have not touched or thought about within the last year, but yet when the other person moves to throw it away or sell it, the other gets this deep visceral reaction to keep it. Some disputed items:
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Posted in Frugal Living | 13 Comments »
I just ran across MagazinePriceSearch.com, which helps you compare prices on subscriptions, with some even rivaling those on eBay
. Beware that some sites listed auto-renew you when the subscription expires! Some current examples (none of these auto-renew):
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance - $4.91 for 3 yrs. (36 issues)
Forbes - $6 for 2 yrs. (52 issues) $6 for 1 yr (26 issues)
U.S. News & World Report - $8.73 for 1 yr. (52 issues)
I just picked up Forbes for some cheap bathroom reading. [Update: My initial Forbes order was cancelled. What a waste of time. You can get $6 for 1 year from another site.]
Posted in Frugal Living | 32 Comments »
The first quarter of 2006 is over, time to check in on my progress towards my 2006 Financial Goals.
Separate business and personal financial worlds. - Partially done, but not completely. Still need to research LLC v. S-Corps.
Open a SEP IRA for 2005 business income at Vanguard. - Done.
Do my taxes and research to maximize tax return. - Done.
Roll over Traditional IRA to Roth IRA. - Holding off for now since we may not be in the 15% tax bracket, will reconsider at years-end.
Posted in Goals | 6 Comments »
As mentioned in my Scottrade review, they offer 3 free online trades if you are referred by an existing customer. The referrer also gets 3 free trades. To get a free referral, simply send me an e-mail or leave a comment with a working e-mail address and I will be happy to send you instructions on getting a referral. Let me make sure all the terms were clear:
The referral bonus applies to all accounts except IRAs or custodial accounts. You must open the account with at least $500 for cash accounts ($2,000 for margin accounts). The free trades should show up about one week after you open and fund your accounts, and expire after 6 months.
Here is a screenshot of what you should see when you login, after you get the 3 free trades:
Posted in Investing | 10 Comments »
Well, I ended up opening a Scottrade account. Here were my reasons:
» $7 limit trades. Not the best, but good enough for me.
» Local broker. It’s nice to have somewhere I can drive to in 10 minutes and be face-to-face with a human. Much easier to resolve things that way.
» No inactivity or maintenance fees.
» No transfer-out fee. If I am dissatisfied, I can just move all my holdings over to another broker with no charge.
» Good reviews both offline and from online comments.
» Just $500 to open, but if you have $5,000 in account equity, you get free checkwriting, which you can then link up with other accounts.
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Posted in Investing | 26 Comments »
For those cutting it close to April 17th, it may be time to consider filing a tax extension. But while it’s pretty easy to get an extension until October 15th to file your taxes, you still have to pay any tax you owe by the 17th. Still, the penalty for failing to file (5% per month + interest) is a lot worse than the penalty for paying late (0.5% per month + interest). So even if you know you’re going to pay late, file an extension!
So how do you get one and how much will it cost? According to IRS Form 4868, there are three ways to do it:
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Posted in Taxes | 1 Comment »
After some more research, I jotted down some thoughts on each of the six brokers I narrowed it down to last time. Again, these are all from my own admittedly-biased perspective and personal needs.
TradeKing
I have an account with TradeKing, and they seem ok. Online chat help is alright. The site runs slow as if it is on a 56k modem, but my trade executed promptly. $4.95 trades with no inactivity fees is nice. The founders of TradeKing also founded SureTrade, which themselves merged and are now part of Bank of America. Thus, they seem to be a likely future merger target, which I am trying to avoid.
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Posted in Investing | 17 Comments »
