February 27, 2008

Tax Mistakes Could Cost You Money... Find Money That You Didn't Think You Had... Fast-Track Your Retirement Plans by 10 Years... Dealing with Disaster... Lessons from a Lying Sales Clerk... and More.

** Tax Mistakes Could Cost You Money
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily

With the deadline slowly creeping up on us to get our taxes in, some of us may be putting off the whole ordeal to the last minute.

While I recommend that you file early and double-check your return before submitting, there are still plenty of us that wait until the last minute to file. In fact, millions of Americans wait until the last minute to file, and one H&R Block tax professional once noted that these are the returns that have the most errors.

While no one is perfect, here are the goofs that you should avoid making at all costs:

First of all, the worst kind of error and, not surprisingly, the most common, is a math mistake.

A simple mix-up in a calculation could cause you to miss out on a refund or, even worse, pay more taxes than you actually owe.

No matter how rushed you are, even if you are finishing up with barely 10 seconds to go, check your calculations thoroughly! If you have a friend whom you trust who can give your calculations the attention they deserve, buy them a coffee and have them check them over.

Another common mistake when filing is the ever-popular forgetting to sign and date your return. If you haven't started filing electronically (which, by the way, is so much easier!) and are doing it the old-fashioned way, remember to sign that return. The IRS will not process your return without a signature! If you've sealed up the envelope and have a speck of doubt as to whether or not you've signed that sucker, take a knife and open it up to check!

Speaking of check, remember to sign your check if you owe money! And don't make it out to the IRS. The proper recipient is the United States Treasury. Besides, con artists have been known to snatch tax returns out of the mail stream and then change the checks to their advantage. For example, all a thief has to do is add a few letters in front of or after "IRS" and they could have a personalized check to "KIRSTY" or "IR STEVENSON." You get my drift?

Here's another good one that many people (including me one time!) have forgotten to include: charitable donations.

I've asked charities if they give a tax receipt with donations before, and then I've forgotten to include them on my tax return. If you've made any type of donation to an IRS- registered, tax-exempt charity, include it in your return. I've learned my lesson.

Another lesson I learned the hard way was not to put the incorrect postage on my return. The post office returned my tax return to me. If you're unsure of how much postage you should be placing on your return, go to your local post office to weigh it and get the rate. If you can't do that, then I suggest plastering the envelope with the same amount of stamps you would use to mail an elephant to Italy!

Finally, there is nothing worse than coming home from mailing off your last-minute return only to find out you forgot to mail one of the forms because it was buried under old receipts and pay stubs.

When you're putting everything away, double-check under papers, in the trash, between the couch cushions, in the freezer, wherever, to make sure you haven't forgotten a form.

Regardless of what you make, if you feel that you are struggling to get by and pay the bills, then it's probably high time that you took a look at what you spend your money on every month, because you can sometimes find money in the least likely place — your bills.

That's right; your bills can hold the answer to your financial problems. There are ways for you to get money from your bills, as many of them are costs that you can cut back on.

People generally pay their bills every month and move on to the next month, without a second thought. However, if you dig a little deeper, you might find yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars richer with money you didn't even know you could save. You can also do this without denying yourself the things you enjoy. There's no rule that says that you have to deprive yourself and be unhappy to save money. It's all about cutting corners here and there and making your money work for you.

Start with the basics. If you are one of the millions of people who have a cell phone, then you are also one of the millions who pay a lot of money every month for this service. You can cut down the cost of your monthly cell phone service by making little changes. At first, they might seem drastic, but they might save you more than $20.00 every month. Saving $20.00 a month means that you will have saved $240.00 by the end of
the year.

For starters, even though it might be convenient, text messaging is a costly feature. You're either paying a monthly charge for an unlimited amount or you're paying per message.

Ten cents a message might not seem like a lot, but it can really add up if you use the service often. See if you can get a package if you use it often, or don't use it at all and just make a call.

Also get rid of things like caller ID, voicemail, Internet access, and, if you have a newfangled camera phone, don't use the photo service, as it will cost you a good chunk of change.

And, if you're not the type who has their cell phone permanently attached to their ear, then you may want to consider switching from a monthly plan to a "pay-as-you-talk" phone card system.

Companies these days are trying to make it as easy as possible for you to save on your bills. They still make money, but by combining services, they take you away from the competition, and you actually can save a buck or two.

For instance, there are companies that combine Internet service with your telephone, cable or satellite service — some might even throw in your cell phone service as well. Do some math and figure out if these combo plans save you more money than getting three services from three different companies.

While on the topic of cable service, if you're getting 250 channels and you're only watching 30 of them, then you might want to consider cutting back to a basic cable package. It sounds great to get all the sports channels, the movie channels, and everything in between, but if you're truly not watching them, then cut them out.

It can be a lot easier than you think and, believe me, you will adjust to not having caller ID and things of this nature when you see how much you can save by cutting them out.

** Dealing with Disaster
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher

Late last week, I woke up to the sound of fire engine sirens blasting at 5 a.m. I live near a fire department, so this isn't unusual; however, on that morning, the sirens lasted a lot longer than normal.

I looked out my window and could see a huge cloud of smoke billowing up over my neighborhood.

Quickly flipping on the news, I soon found out that a building a block away from my home was engulfed in flames. Being on a main street in the heart of downtown, the flames soon jumped from building to building and, in the end, one building was destroyed and half a dozen others were extremely damaged.

Luckily, everyone who lived in the buildings was able to evacuate safely.

However, the shops on the main level and all of the possessions of the people who rented apartments above where completely destroyed. While the business owners most likely had their merchandise insured, it is quite possible that many of the renters above did not.

The local community has already rallied to support those who have now found themselves homeless in the matter of a few hours in one morning. A local dance club has organized a fundraiser and the neighboring businesses have been opening their doors in every way they can.

The most important thing to remember during difficult times is that you're not alone. Neighbors, businesses, churches and countless other groups are there to provide support. And when you see someone else getting a rough shake in life, taking action and helping those in need can be one of the most rewarding experiences you'll ever find.

If you own and operate a business, or even if you're just a regular Joe, I have an important piece of advice for you: never assume the people you deal with are stupid. To put it a little more bluntly, don't lie.

Here's a little story for you:

A very close friend of the family has a son whom I consider a nephew. He's celebrating his 16th birthday on Friday and is a die-hard basketball fan. Not only does he love the game, but he also has an extensive collection of team jerseys featuring the names of star players from the past and present. Considering one of the NBA's biggest stars (in both reputation and physical stature), Shaquille O'Neal, was recently involved in a trade, I figured a new jersey would be the perfect gift.

Yesterday, I went to a sports collectibles store with a colleague of mine to purchase the jersey, but unfortunately I couldn't find one. When I asked the employee when they were expected to arrive, he told me the league wasn't manufacturing any because O'Neal's future on his new team was unclear after this season due to an expiring contract.

What the employee failed to realize was that my colleague is a die-hard basketball fan and knew that this piece of information wasn't true.

My colleague gave me a look to signal to me that the clerk was lying right to my face. So, when the clerk tried to up-sell me on a more expensive piece of merchandise, I thanked him for his help and left the store — and I will never return.

Outside the store, my colleague told me that O'Neal's contract with his new team would last at least another two years. Not only that, but I remember seeing a portion of a game the previous week and seeing members of the audience wearing the new O'Neal jersey. Not only was the store clerk's cover-up ill-informed, but it was actually rather silly. You see, O'Neal is one of the most marketable and recognizable figures in the game, so there is no question that this trade presented a wonderful opportunity for the league to boost its revenue with some additional jersey sales. Any time a big-name player gets moved, fans are quick to spend their money on the new uniform — not to mention the jerseys are for sale on the NBA's web site.

In business — just like in life — you shouldn't assume you know more than your customer and should refrain from answering questions you don't know the answer to. When you're asked a question you're not sure about, don't come up with a false claim. All you need to do is simply tell the customer you will look into it and provide an answer as soon as you can. Assume that most people using your business have done their homework and are closing in on a purchase, meaning there is a good chance they know what they're looking for. If you tell them a lie about something they already know, you can kiss that sale goodbye.