Author Archive
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Tax Changes in 2010 – Part 2B – How to figure how much it will cost to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and a bit more
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
Ok, so you behaved and I didn’t. I had some extenuating circumstances develop earlier this week, but not to worry. This installment of 2010 tax changes will deal with how to analyze what it will cost in taxes to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2010 and 2011 should you choose to do so (and it WILL COST YOU MONEY to convert), and what the net benefit will be once you attempt it. Here is a link to a conversion calculator from calcxml.com.
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Facing Friends & Family
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 25th, 2009 at 1:03 am This post was written by @tamelarich on the Die Broke Blog
Last week I sat down over a cuppa with a longtime friend who had loaned my now-failed industrial cleaning business money — a loan I personally guaranteed. I hadn’t seen “Ron” in nearly two years but we’d stayed in touch via email and the occasional phone call.
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Tax Changes in 2010 – Part 2A – A Primer on Conversion of Regular IRAs to Roth IRAs
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 20th, 2009 at 9:23 am This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
One cannot build an Orion rocket (and some critics of N.A.S.A. say they can’t either) without understanding the basis of aerodynamics. So it is with Individual Retirement Account (IRA) conversion. You don’t need an engineering degree to understand it either, but you do need to understand the basics of investing at least at the simplest level.
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Do You Have Great Credit? It Might Cost You Money
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 19th, 2009 at 9:09 am First, something I forgot to post last week, along with the holiday links: MarketNut’s Retail Madness! blog post on the StockTwits Blog Network. She has ideas and tips for saving money at holiday gift-buying time. MarketNut blogs daily with links to some of the most interesting news to be found in the financial world, so check out her blog.
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So you think the world ends in 2012? Dude (or Dudette), from the IRS perspective, it might end in 2010 – Coming Tax Law Changes – An Ongoing Series
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 13th, 2009 at 8:28 am This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
The Mayan calendar supposedly tells us that the world we know may ceremoniously, or not so ceremoniously, end on December 21. 2012. Well, it could happen I guess. Yet, for most Americans, there are lots worse things that will happen way before then as well as some opportunities to take advantage of special changes that could impact their retirement lifestyle.
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Creditor Communications Judo
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 11th, 2009 at 8:35 am This post was written by @tamelarich on the Die Broke Blog
If you can’t pay your bills, you can’t pay your bills. That doesn’t stop creditors from calling to inquire, cajole, threaten and humiliate you. In today’s economy everyone’s feeling the pinch and none of us is our best self under siege — not you, not your creditors.
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Tax Help – What do you really need? (Part 5 of at least 5) When Should One Choose Enrolled Agents or Tax Attorneys?
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | November 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am This post was written by @iron100 on the DieBrokeBlog
As one can see, I have suddenly rediscovered my ability to count, which infers correctly that I will end this series at Part 5. I would, however, after I have given my perspective on this issue, like some input and even guest commentary on this subject from the StockTwits community. What I am about to discuss comes from someone who runs very small basically “one-person” enterprises. The answer to the question posed in the title will immediately be impacted by at least one of the following items:
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Tax Help – What do you really need? (Part 4 of at least 3) Enrolled Agents
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 30th, 2009 at 8:28 am This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
I decided to use the title above to see if anyone was really paying attention. In all likelihood I will add one other post covering the situations in which enrolled agents exclusively, tax attorneys exclusively, and both tax attorneys and enrolled agents may be used in the final post on tax help.
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While Nero Fiddles in Washington
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 28th, 2009 at 8:36 am This post was written by @tamelarich on the Die Broke Blog
When politicians pay homage to all the “right” constituencies on the campaign trail, small biz is in line right behind motherhood and apple pie.
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Tax Help – What do you really need? (Part 3 of at least 3) Tax Attorneys
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 am This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
In thinking about this post, I decided that I would invest most of my effort in defining what the tax attorney does and then in the next post defining what an enrolled agent does. In the final post I will attempt to contrast the two and then summarize the series.
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Tax Help – What do you really need? Part 2 of 3 (or more) Me, Software, or a CPA?
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 16th, 2009 at 8:21 am This post was written by @iron100 on the Die Broke Blog
Let’s deal with what I might consider first level of difficulty when it comes to tax help. The question is which kind of tax help do I need when I am first starting out in the workforce or have relatively uncomplicated tax returns (like W-2 and 1099 forms)?
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My Two Favorite Penny-Pinching Resources
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 15th, 2009 at 8:20 am I was traveling from October 6 through 13, and am traveling again starting today, this time for a college reunion. So, Part Three of my continuing series on health insurance must be postponed until next week, October 22. In the meantime, I hope the following resources will help you if you need to restrict your monetary outflow for whatever reason.
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Don’t Write “The Note”
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 14th, 2009 at 8:27 am This post was written by @tamelarich on the Die Broke Blog
Two years ago I succumbed to macroeconomic forces and closed my industrial cleaning business. My customer base was caving in all around me, going bankrupt, offshoring and closing for good.
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Tax Help – What do you really need? Part 1 of 3 (or more)
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 9th, 2009 at 8:25 am I certainly realize that I have been shot-gunning topics in these first three weeks, but for now, since the final calendar quarter draws nigh and we must prepare for the end of the tax year, I figured it might not be a bad time to discuss the various forms of tax help you may need to 1) just GET your taxes done properly and 2) not cost you an arm and a leg (unless, as in some cases with my business, you at least need to pay a couple of fingers to assure that you stay out of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service).
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But Dave, I don’t know ANYTHING about stocks? What do I do?
Die Broke Blog, Die Broke Blog | October 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 am This post was written by @iron100
The title of this post is the quintessential question that plagues new investors of any age, whether it is the young ambitious teenager (me, many eons ago when papyrus and stylus were used) or the widow who might have inherited the assets of her recently passed life partner, who handled every financial matter. I believe strongly that one should learn as MUCH as one can about stocks and investments so that one can lower your total investment costs and avoid being taken advantage of by every financial guru, broker, investment manager, or whomever you encounter who may or may not have your best interest at heart. Where would I go first?
