Donating appreciated stock to charity is a very common tax tool for the wealthy. When you donate stock that you have held for more than a year (through direct transfer of the stock to the charity) you get a tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock, on the date of donation. In [...]
I came across an interesting online discussion the other day, about how maxing out both a 401k and an IRA was simply a lot of over-saving. The discussion was based on some article about a single adult male who maxed out his 401ks and IRAs every year, and had another $1200/month to invest. His income [...]
Putting Patents On Saving Money: This is an interesting article that totally blew me away. Apparently you can patent ways to save money on taxes and if you create tax savings in a way that someone else has patented, you have to pay that person a royalty. Spend Every Dime!: Slate argues that the way [...]
I know this is going to sound strange, but a lot of people don’t know the proper way to save money. They think that they know and if you ask someone about this, the person will look at you like you’re stupid for asking such an obvious question, but the truth is that most people [...]
In the U.S., April has been designated as National Gardening Month. Four years ago, the National Gardening Association began pushing the Greening of America, one garden at a time. Imagine the positive impact if everyone planted something. It doesn’t have to be a whole garden, but just something. A pot of herbs, a container full [...]
We Were So Poor…Lessons From Living Down and Out: A series of people talking about what it was like to live poor when growing up. One point that is emphasized is that there is a difference between being broke and being poor: “Broke” is temporary. It’s running out of money before you run out of [...]
One would assume that you could place your money in a bank and it would earn you money there. That, unfortunately, is no longer the case. Banks have so many fees and charges that you can easily lose money keeping it in a bank. Here are ten steps you should take if you haven’t already [...]
Is It Better To Buy Or Rent?: The New York Times has a nice calculator to help you get a general idea of whether it makes more sense to buy or rent. Tightwad Nation: An interesting interview with George Loewenstein (professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University) who has come to the conclusion [...]
If you have pets, here is a simple fact to remember that will save you a ton of money: The toys for pets are made for people, not for the pets Think about it. When you walk down the shop aisles, you look for toys that you think your cat would enjoy playing with. Most [...]
Annoyed Snowball Debt Reduction Theory: Tired of trying decide whether paying off your credit cards by highest interest rate or lowest balance is better? Poorer Than You gives you another choice by arguing you should pay the most annoying balance off first. Democrats Seek to Lead the Way in Tax Overhaul: Trying to get the [...]
