Tax Carnival Ecstasy – June 18, 2013

Welcome to the June 18, 2013 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we start with an article by Jason Hull on tax accountants for your business. John Schmoll has a great post on retirement planning and saving for college together. Bill Smith takes a look at the online sales tax proposals that have been made. And we have an article on fake charities popping up after the recent events in Boston and how to protect yourself. Hope you like all the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, and like on Facebook.

Bill Smith's gold medal
Bill Smith’s gold medal (Photo credit: Waikiki Natatorium)

filing

Jason Hull presents Tax Accounts for Your Business posted at Hull Financial Planning, saying, “Don’t forget that if you own a business which is treated as a partnership for tax purposes, you’ll be personally liable for the taxes at the end of the year!”

retirement

John Schmoll presents Retirement Planning and Saving For College: Can They Co-exist? posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Retirement planning and saving for college are both items that take years to save for. While it may not always be easy to balance the two, it can be possible to do so without sacrificing the other.”

John Schmoll presents How to Invest in Stocks When You Do Not Know Where to Start posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Investing in stocks, or anything in the market, can be overwhelming for many. The key to overcoming that fear is knowing where to start and educating yourself so that you can set up an investment portfolio that’ll help you grow your wealth and reach your long-term retirement goals.”

tax law

Bill Smith presents Implications Of Passing A Senate Bill Enacting An Online Sales Tax posted at 2011 Tax, saying, “Congress is currently moving forward with a Senate bill that could place sales taxes on buyers who place orders for items housed out of state.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents TaxCaster: The Mobile Tax Calculator For Taxpayers posted at 2009 Tax, saying, “Tax calculators are popular tools for consumers these days. Before filing one’s taxes, a person can take advantage of a calculator.”

Bill Smith presents After The Events In Boston And Texas, Charity Scams Are Common posted at 2009 Taxes, saying, “When you use TurboTax to file your taxes, you may notice that you can write off the money that you gave to charities.”

tips

Cherry Liu presents 30 Blogs Featuring the Most Reliable Tips for Estate Shoppers posted at House Sitting Jobs, saying, “Real estate laws, taxes and investment options constantly change to reflect the state of the economy, which is why the smartest investors know stay ahead of the game.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter

Technorati tags: tax carnival ecstasy, blog carnival.

Planning For Early Retirement

Retirement planning is something that people usually do to prepare for old age. But did you know that it’s also something that you can do early on? Early retirement is an option for some but not many fully grasp its concept. Even though it seems impossible, do note that many have made this happen. Expatriates are among those that have retired early and are now enjoying life.

Before you opt for early retirement, think hard and ask yourself – do I really want to retire at an early age? For those of you who find it impossible to achieve given your circumstances in life, don’t push it. Maybe early retirement isn’t for you and you can always retire at an early age anyway, like most people do. But if you feel like it’s right for you and that it’s achievable at the same time, you can consider it as an option.

Once you have set your mind for early retirement, the next thing you have to do is plan for it. Early dream retirement planning starts with managing your finances properly. Try to live a minimalistic life and only buy what you need. Do not indulge too much on things that you want because that would be detrimental to your plans of retiring early. Living a minimalist life doesn’t mean taking your health for granted though. You must try to keep your body fit and healthy at all times to prevent most illnesses associated with poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle. The last thing you want to happen is waste away all the money you saved for retirement on medical care.

If you have kids, instill in them the value of saving money and being independent early on. Along with early retirement, save money for their education as well. If you want to retire early, your kids should also develop a sense of personal responsibility and independence at an early age. Besides, you will be more at peace with yourself if you are able to raise kids that aren’t too dependent on you finance-wise.

Also part of early retirement planning is deciding what you’ll do by the time you retire. Decide whether you’re staying in your home country. Most early retirees, however, leave their country and migrate to countries with lower costs of living and have higher value for the money they saved. There, they can set up their own businesses or simply enjoy the rest of their lives free of burden.

5 Retirement Planning Myths You Should Be Aware Of

Retirement planning is difficult for everyone. It is even more difficult if you don’t plan accordingly or you lack the right information. Unless you are fabulously wealthy, there is no sure-fire plan that works perfectly. However, you can make your retirement planning a lot easier by avoiding these common myths.

You’ll Have Less Expenses

Even if you pay off your home and cars by the time you retire, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll spend less money comparatively speaking. Remember, you’ll also likely be living on less income than you earned while you were working. So, you may have fewer bills, but you are also likely to have less extra money to deal unexpected expenses. Things like home and car repairs are inevitable, so it’s a good idea to have some kind of financial cushion.

You Can Relocate

Many retirees have a dream that they’ll sell their home and relocate to an area where the cost of living is lower and/or the climate is better. You can’t possibly predict what the housing market will be like when you retire. You may get far less for your house than you anticipated or the kind of home you want in your new location may be beyond your means. Another problem is that retirees who move away often stretch their budgets frequently traveling home to see friends and family.

Medicare Will Help

Medicare coverage changes on a yearly basis. It’s inevitable that your health care costs will go up as you age and you can’t count on the fact that Medicare will cover everything. Even now, there are routine things like eye exams that Medicare doesn’t cover. There are also many expensive prescription drugs that Medicare doesn’t pay for as well.

There is No Perfect Number

No matter how good your financial advisor is, there’s no guarantee that he or she will be able to help you predict the exact amount of you money you’ll need to live to a certain age. For one thing, financial advisors can’t predict inflation. Secondly, people often underestimate how much money they actually spend. The best idea is to save as much for retirement as you can possibly afford.

It Can Wait

Many people put off retirement planning because they don’t think they’ll live that long or they feel like they need the money more now than they will later. This is a slippery slope. The earlier you start planning for your retirement, the more you’ll be able to enjoy your golden years. Experts universally agree that the later you wait to start saving for retirement, the more likely it is that you’ll encounter serious financial difficulties when you get older.

The best plan for saving for your retirement is to start early and save as much as you can. There’s no way to predict the future. Even if you have to make modest cutbacks in your budget now, it will be worth it to know that you’ll have some security when you get older and have less earning potential.

 

 

About the Author: Tony Smith is a full-time writer with a great understanding of the need for early retirement planning. He enjoys writing about personal finance, credit repair, and tips for getting bad credit loans for those with poor financial histories.