My Tax & Financial Tools

Occasionally, when we run across a deal that we think may benefit our friends, family, or clients, we let you know about them! Recently, because I have no dental insurance, I shopped around for ways to help save before I made an appointment. This dental plan I found saved me more than what it cost on my very first visit. And I know I have to go back soon. I couldn't imagine how much it would save an entire family! So if you own a business, ...

Something I stumbled across this week that I put in my speed dial right way, was this free service from Google called GOOG-411. Straight from the horse's mouth: "Google's new 411 service is free, fast and easy to use. Give it a try now and see how simple it is to find and connect with local businesses for free." Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 from any phone, tell them the location and type of business, connect for free, and that's it! Oh yeah, did I mention, it's FREE! Go ...

The most basic form of year-end planning involves pushing tax bills into the future by deferring income into the next year and accelerating deductions into the current year. ...

Although we hate to continually pick on Congress, their inaction on getting legislation passed for the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) patch this year will cause a delay in refunds for early filers. And of course, as of December 4th, we still don't know what's going to happen with this legislation, or what the AMT exemption is. To worsen an already difficult situation, the IRS will need 10 weeks from the time legislation is passed until they are ready to administer the tax and make ...

Every year, many of the various tax limitations, deductions, allowances, etc., are inflation adjusted. The following are the more commonly-encountered values that apply to 2007: Personal and dependent exemption amount: $3,400 Standard deduction: Joint filers - $10,700, Single - $5,350 and Head of household - $7,850 IRA contribution limit: $4,000 ($5,000 if age 50 or over) IRA deduction phase-out AGI threshold: $52,000 for unmarried ($83,000 for joint filers) Spousal IRA deduction AGI phase-out threshold: $156,000 401(k) and 403(b) plan contribution limit: $15,500 ($20,500 if age 50 or over) Simple plan contribution ...