What To Do With That Tax Refund

So your electronic fairy godmother (or if you still prefer snail-mail, Mr. Postman) finally got around to delivering that big, fat tax refund check you’ve been waiting for. Woo-hoo! You’re not alone, there’s a lot of woo-hooing going on these days. As proof, here’s some tax time trivia for you—according to Bankrate.com, last year (tax year 2008) over 96,000,000 taxpayers saw a refund from Uncle Sam worth an average of $2,683. That was up from 2007’s $2,371. Of the 131.5 million tax returns filed, over 73% received returns. Four out of five people say they expect a return this year.

The 5 "Debtly Sins"

In the church of finance, personal responsibility is the high priest. It’s true that outside forces will affect your situation to a point, but only you can dictate how your financial life will proceed. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five “debtly sins” that can misdirect your financial well-being.

Uncle Sam Wants YOU … To File Your Taxes

Get your receipts lined up. Rip open the W-2s. Sharpen those pencils and make sure you have plenty of erasers. It’s tax time, the season for crunching numbers and squeezing blood from a turnip. It’s a chore not many of us relish unless we expect a big return (and if you do, for shame, you’re giving the government an interest-free loan, but more about that at another time).

It’s not that we don’t receive breaks from Uncle Sam. Last year, nearly 46 million citizens itemized their taxes via the 1040 form and claimed nearly $1 trillion in deductions. Those using standard deductions claimed half a trillion dollars. Yet when you take us as individuals, who doesn’t want to pay as few taxes as possible, whether it involves getting a bigger return or owing less?

Got Engaged Recently? Mark This on Your To-Do List

If you got engaged on Valentine’s Day, congratulations! Even if you got engage in recent months and are in the process of deciding all the details of your wedding, from flowers to keepsakes and everything in between, make sure you remember to cover one of the most important things before the Big Day––your and your intended’s money compatibility.

Of course, a successful marriage is one that allows enough room to accommodate each other’s individual opinions, tastes and style. Just because you like to blast Pink in the car while your fiancé prefers to relax to Michael Bublé doesn't mean your marriage will be headed for trouble. However, when it comes to how you handle money––both individually and as a couple––compatibility is critical if your marriage is to thrive.

It Just Makes Cents

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Ben Franklin

That Ben Franklin, he was as good with the financial advice as he was with all the Founding Father business. No wonder his face wound up on our $100 bill. And yes, as Ben said, every penny you save may as well be a penny earned. But you have to save it to earn it!

Yes, saving money should always be an important part of your financial life. We’ve already touched on saving in a more generic sense when we talked about choices for a healthy financial New Year. Well, let’s explore a few more specific ways to save. This time we’ll look at ways to save money on things you do or use every day. There’s nothing tricky or difficult about any of these options. The only thing you’ll need is a good dose of “stick-to-it-ness.” Let’s get started...

New IRA Center Provides Retirement Help

Can you hear it? It’s the steady footsteps of retirement, and it’s gaining ground on you. It could be quite a few paces behind, or it could be looking right over your shoulder. Either way, it’s going to catch up with you sooner or later. Are you ready?

The average American spends 18 years in retirement. That’s quite a few years and can take quite a financial nest egg to subsidize. If you don’t have retirement questions, you should. Questions like:

      How much do I need to save to retire comfortably?
      What are my best options?
      Who can help me?

Be Resolute to Improve Your Financial Health

Ahhh, the festive free-for-all of the holiday season has come and gone. We did our best to control our intake of sugar plums (whatever the heck they are) and outtake of holiday spending, but our best efforts sometimes come up short.

Well, that’s what New Years resolutions are for, right? It’s your chance at a fresh start. So what’s it gonna be? Lose weight? Exercise more? Stop smoking? As you sit in front of a blank personal improvement list masquerading as New Years resolutions, be sure you include a line or two about improving your financial health.

What’s Your Money Personality?

Have you ever wondered why you use money in a particular way? For example, maybe you’re the type of person who overanalyzes every purchase even though you have plenty in savings. Or maybe you can’t seem to say no to your teenager’s request for a new computer when you’re losing sleep over the amount of your credit card debt. Many people find themselves stuck in an illogical pattern with money, but why?

It’s what’s known as your money personality, or a powerful set of ideas formed early in a person’s life that govern spending, giving and investment decisions.

Big Opportunity for IRA Conversions Coming in 2010

The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA) will take effect January 1, 2010, and with it comes changes that could affect how you deal with any IRAs you may have.

As you likely know, there are two types of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), Traditional and Roth. Here’s a short breakdown of each:

When Should You Begin Taking Social Security Benefits?

The oldest Baby Boomer on record, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, turned 62 at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2008, and promptly applied for Social Security. Nearly 80 million people will follow her lead over the next 20 years. But while you can file for Social Security at age 62, does that mean you should?

The timetable for receiving full Social Security benefits has changed to accommodate changing times and funding. When you were born dictates when you’re able to receive full benefits.

Helping the Elderly with Personal Finance

The last time you were at your parents’ home, you discovered unpaid bills. They had forgotten to pay their gas bill for the past two months. You called the gas company and explained the situation, and then wrote out a check for the amount due, so everything turned out all right. But what if you hadn’t noticed the unpaid bills, and it was the middle of winter? Your parents’ heating could have been shut off.

New Job? Options for Retirement Savings

Ahhhhh. Every once in a while you catch yourself drifting off into thoughts of retirement. No alarm clocks, a secluded beach and nothing but time. Then your phone rings and it’s back to work. Not that you don’t enjoy your career; it’s helping you save for the day on that secluded beach. And your retirement saving is going pretty well. So is your career. You just accepted a position at a new company that’s a good step up the corporate ladder. Now, after participating in your old employer’s retirement savings plan for a number of years, you have to make a decision regarding what happens to your retirement savings as you move on to a new job. You have several options:

Celebrating a Big, Fat Tax Refund?

Uncle Sam just sent you a big, fat tax refund. Woo-hoo! It’s time to celebrate! Maybe a new home theatre is in your future. Or a tropical vacation. Not so fast. If you usually receive a big, fat tax refund, it simply means Uncle Sam is enjoying a big, fat, interest-free loan, courtesy of the Bank of You.

Federal Insurance Increases

UPDATE: $250,000 Share Insurance Protection Extended to 2013

The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, signed into law May 20, 2009, includes a provision extending $250,000 share insurance coverage provided by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund through December 31, 2013. Previously, this level of coverage (up from $100,000) was set to expire December 31, 2009. The new law also requires NCUA to use the higher $250,000 standard maximum share insurance amount when making decisions about premiums and administering insurance deposit adjustments.

Does that mean any funds you have at Vantage are insured to only $250,000? Not necessarily. Contact us for more information on how you may qualify for additional coverage through NCUA.

The Assurance of Life Insurance

If something happened to you as the main provider, what would happen to your family? Would your death bring more than just emotional grief? Would your spouse and kids be able to make ends meet financially? Could they pay the mortgage and other bills? Would the kids still be able to go to college?

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