October 2012

8 Ways a Paper Scanner Makes Life Beautiful

October 31, 2012

Last week I bought a paper scanner. But it wasn’t just any scanner. It was the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner. And it’s changed my life. Sound a bit dramatic? It’s not. Imagine an organized, type A personality kind of person. Now imagine the opposite of that kind of person. I’m the opposite. [...]

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10 Personal Finance Myths Busted

October 30, 2012

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something–Thomas Edison If you spend any time reading about personal finance, you’ve no doubt encountered a ton of rules. Whether it’s that credit cards are evil or that school loans are ‘good’ debt, these rules all have their place. A problem arises, however, if [...]

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The Lowest and Highest State Taxes (Map)

October 29, 2012

The Tax Foundation recently published a state-by-state study on state and local tax burdens. The study lists that tax burdens by state, including a ranking from highest to lowest state taxes. New York was the “winner” with a state tax burden topping the charts at 12.8%. Alaska has the lowest tax burden at 7.0%. The [...]

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The Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2013

October 28, 2012

Today, credit card companies are literally throwing cash, points and miles at consumers if they’ll sign up for a new rewards credit card. We’re talking bonuses worth hundreds of dollars just for getting a credit card, many of which have no annual fee. I’ve written about many of these deals over the past few months. [...]

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CIT Bank Certificates of Deposit

October 27, 2012

Anytime I find a 12-month certificate of deposit paying more than 1% APY it’s worth talking about. And the one I have today comes from a well-known bank I’ve never heard of–CIT Bank. CIT Bank is an online bank that specializes in certificates of deposit. As a matter of fact, it only offers CD’s. CIT [...]

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5 Things to Know About an Inherited IRA

October 26, 2012

As part of my ongoing series on handling the estate of a loved one, today I want to look at inherited IRAs. My step-mother had a couple of IRA accounts. As you may know, with an IRA, you can select the beneficiaries that will inherit the account when you die. As such, the funds do [...]

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How to Track Your Business Finances Like a Ninja

October 18, 2012

How I track my business income and expenses has changed dramatically since I started my online company in 2007. What was once a painful process with uncertain results (I was always losing something) now takes just a few minutes a month. And the result is penny-perfect accounting that even my tax prepare admires. So how [...]

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Social Security to Increase by 1.7% in 2013

October 16, 2012

Today the Social Security Administration announced the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2013. Beginning in January 2013, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 1.7% increase. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will go up by the same amount beginning on December 31, 2012. To put this increase in perspective, the average recipient will see an [...]

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What is an ABA Routing Number and Why You Should Care

October 15, 2012

This past weekend I set up direct deposit for a business payment I receive each month. The vendor required just three pieces of information: (1) the name of my bank, (2) my account number, and (3) the bank’s ABA Routing number. There are several situations when knowing your bank’s routing number is really important. For [...]

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