Money
Why You Should Use E-Filing To File Your Taxes
Do you file your taxes electronically?
I never used E-file, not since I knew there’s such an option. The reason is very simple: I didn’t have a refund to claim, so I wasn’t that eager to send Uncle Sam my tax money. Every year I printed out my tax forms and waited till April 15th to [...]
2009 Federal Income Tax Brackets
Though for many people, the 2008 tax season just started, it’s never too early to plan ahead for what will happen next year. Part of the planning is to know your tax rate for 2009, so you can adjust your tax strategies for the new year accordingly.
At the end of 2008, the IRS published its [...]
What To Do When Credit Cards Are Closed Due To Inactivity?
Have you got letters from credit card companies recently informing the decision to close your credit cards due to inactivity?
I got two such letters in the past couple of months, one from Chase and one from Citibank. The contents of the letters are almost identical, something like: After a review, we noticed that you haven’t [...]
2009 IRA And 401(k) Contribution Limits
Did you max out your retirement savings accounts last year?
I did. I contributed close to the maximum $15,500 allowed for 401(k) account in September and $5,000 for IRA account in October. After missing out a large portion in 401(k) in 2007 after changing the job middle of the year, I determined to take advantage of [...]
Time To Lock In CDs After Fed Lowered Interest Rate Again
So the Federal Reserve continued its aggressive rate reduction campaign on Tuesday with another 75 basis points cut which brought its benchmark short-term interest rate to close to zero. At 0.25%, the interest rate is the lowest in decades.
After the latest rate cut, lenders followed suit by lowering their prime rates that they charge customers [...]