Posted by Madison Backhouse on January 7, 2012
If you thought your money woes ended last year when you settled that credit card debt, think again.
Avoiding 1099-C tax problems |
What you should know: Have you negotiated with a creditor to pay less than you owe on a credit card debt? The IRS considers forgiven or canceled debt as taxable income. What to do: Experts advise consumers to seek tax advice before negotiating credit card debt settlements to avoid a “surprise” tax hit from cancellation of debt.
For many consumers with debt problems, after the debt collector leaves their lives, the taxman arrives.
Months after successfully resolving credit card debts, consumers have received 1099-C “cancellation of debt” tax notices in the mail. Why? The U.S. Internal Revenue Service considers forgiven or canceled debt as income. Creditors and debt collectors who agree to accept at least $600 less than the original balance are required by law to file 1099-C forms with the IRS and to send debtors notices as well.
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Posted by Sophie Egge on January 5, 2012
For young investors these days, there are a wealth of indicators out there that may dissuade them from almost every long-term investment vehicle available. We are told that Roth IRAs can be a bad investment. We see the stock market turning into a roller coaster that is no more predictable than the outcome of the European debt crisis. We hear that any collective savings fund, most notably Social Security, will be long dead and buried by the time we reach retirement. We realize that real estate may no longer be the most prudent investment. And we know that the growing popularity of CDs and Treasury bills translates into lower rate, even long-term.
So what to do? Where to invest? For those of us who are in our twenties and entering the working world under the cloud of economic recession, we certainly want to start putting our savings aside and investing in our future. But every investment vehicle has some glaring faults at the moment.
If we’re investing long-term we want to be thinking long-term, so perhaps a better question would be: which of these currently-unappealing options will recover well and provide the best combination of low-risk and high-return over the course of decades?
History tells us that the answer to this question is an investment in the stock market. E
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Posted by Madison Backhouse on January 1, 2012
Debt was a common theme in the top national business stories of 2011.
Standard & Poor’s cut America’s pristine credit rating because of the nation’s growing debt. The European Union faces austerity measures, political turmoil and financial uncertainty because of too much sovereign debt. Futures brokerage MF Global Holdings declared bankruptcy after making a disastrous bet on European debt.
The nation and the world paused to memorialize Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and snapped up copies of his biography published after his death. Here’s a look back:
MF Global collapses: The bankruptcy of the New York-based futures brokerage created an uproar with the shocking disclosure that as much as $1.2 billion in customer accounts was missing. Brokers are required to keep client money separate from their own investments. MF Global, led by former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs chairman Jon Corzine, declared bankruptcy after making a disastrous bet on European sovereign debt.
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Posted by Sophie Egge on December 17, 2011
What’s a few extra dollars here or there when holiday sales offer such a banquet of deals? It can’t hurt to blow the budget once a year. After all, you won’t have to pay down those credit cards until January, right?
Wrong! No matter how caught up you get in the holiday-spending spirit, you should never compromise your budget and financial health. Here are six common ways holiday shoppers waste money, along with practical solutions to avoid such overspending.
Mistake 1: Not Comparing Prices “The Lowest Price of the Season!” is a popular slogan for retailers as they endeavor to woo you with promises of the best deals. However, some retailers inflate prices to make discounts look better than they actually are. Before you bite, research regular prices across several retailers using sites like PriceGrabber.com.
Mistake 2: Paying for Shipping Mid-December is fast approaching and the closer it gets, the more nervous online shoppers get about their gift orders arriving in time for Christmas. Enter Fre
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