Personal Finance
TurboTax Free vs. Freedom, 2010 edition
Last year, I posted “Don’t Let TurboTax Free Edition Fool You—You Probably Want FREEDOM Edition,” and it is one of the most often viewed posts on this site. Here’s the update for 2010. In short, before you try the Federal Free Edition, make sure you don’t qualify for Freedom Edition, which will allow you to … Continue reading … Continue reading You just got a 2% pay increase! Use it wisely.
…well, kind of, sort of. On Dec. 17, Congress agreed to extend many of the Bush-era tax cuts, which is generally pretty awesome in the more-money-in-my-pocket way but not so much in the holy-staggering-national-debt-increase-Batman! way. In addition to the extensions is what I’ll call Making Work Pay 2.0 (officially the Tax Relief Act)—a employee payroll … Continue reading … Continue reading How Bad Does it Hurt? Closing Your Oldest Credit Card
I came home a few weeks ago to an ominously large envelope from 1st Financial Bank, USA, the guarantor of my oldest credit card—too large to be the statement or those deplorable fee-heavy cash advance checks they send me. You may remember from my grousing a while back that 1FB was guilty of pretty much every shady tactic outlawed by the CARD Act that recently went into effect, and how happy I was to finally pay the card off. Well, know that they’ve been forced to stop double-cycle billing, roving due dates, and other money-making tactics, they have a new way of making money: annual fees. … Continue reading
Great Time to Start an IRA
“You’re in your early 20s. That’s too early to start thinking about retirement.” Wrong. So completely wrong. Now is the best time to think about retirement. Sure, it’s a long way off, but even a small percent of your salary can mean a nice bit of savings in the long run thanks to the power of compounding interest. … Continue reading
Don’t Let TurboTax Free Edition Fool You—You Probably Want FREEDOM Edition
TurboTax touts their Free Edition’s free-ness. Free to use, free to file. Free for Federal, that is (1040EZ only). Then, they try to up-sell you on filing State for $27.95. What they probably don’t want you to notice is that the Free Edition has nothing to do with the Free File program offered by the IRS, which TurboTax does participate in. But I noticed. Especially one year in while in college when I had to file in three different states, all of which allowed Free E-Filing. … Continue reading
My Opinion of 1st Financial Bank, USA: Steer Clear
In honor of paying off my oldest/highest-interest credit card balance (woohoo, halfway through my CC debt!), I thought I’d share some thoughts on the card issuer—1st Financial Bank, USA. Particularly, why I think it is an exceptionally shady lender that preys on financially-uneducated students. Sure, most credit card lenders are shady, but few target students to the extent of 1FB. … Continue reading
My Craziest Investment: Lending Club
finished my BA a couple of years ago better off than some, in terms of student loan debt, but worse off than those lucky people whose parents paid their way. Between those loans and dumb credit card debt I accrued while in school, I pay a fair amount toward debt every month, but I also make sure to save and invest. I take advantage of my company’s matching in a SIMPLE IRA, have my own ROTH IRA, and occasionally throw some spare money at a non-retirement investment account or two. The most interesting? My Lending Club Account. … Continue reading
