Sponsored by cabi Last week, I had the pleasure of attending my seventh cabi Scoop. While the fashion show was amazing, and the spring line stunningly gorgeous, the thing that really impressed me is the tools that cabi gives their Fashion Stylists to be successful. You see, this year, unlike past years, I got to […]
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It can sometimes be challenging to get a tax filing software that suits your needs and budget.
You want a tax software that offers not only valuable tools, but also has different plans to suit unique needs, has reliable customer support, and is compatible with various devices like PC, smartphones, and tablets.
All these should come at a competitive price. H&B Block is one such software. Let’s see what it has to offer and see how it stacks up against its top competitors so you can decide if it suits your needs.
H&R Block’s software is a frontrunner in the crowded market for tax filing software, topping our list of the best tax software.
H&R Block has been in the tax filing business since 1955. Its popularity can be attributed to the fact that it combines simple tools and valuable guidance when delivering its services. Whether it’s your first time filing taxes or you’ve been filing for years, you’ll find H&R Block useful. The software interface is straightforward and user-friendly.
There are four versions of H&R Block software to choose from, depending on your tax situation. The free version is one of the best on the market. It allows you to file the new Form 1040, and also lets you claim the following:
The free version also allows you to file Schedules 1-6. However, if you want to itemize your deductions, are a freelancer, a landlord, or run a small business, then an H&R Block’s paid version would work better for you.
The paid versions offer awesome choices. They may not be sophisticated as some of their competitors like TurboTax, but they get the job done without any issues.
While H&R Block is not the cheapest software on the market, it’s also generally not the most expensive.
Freelancers, contractors, and landlords can save considerable amounts of money when filing with H&R Block. This company also has a network of physical locations spread across the country to ensure they offer top-notch customer service.
Despite its numerous valuable features, H&R Block may not always suit your specific needs. We’ve compiled a list of some H&R Block alternatives, based on features, customer support, pricing plans, and other factors to help you choose a better software for your needs than H&R Block.
File your taxes with H&R Block>>
TurboTax has been offering tax services since the mid-1980s and is a serious rival to H&R Block when it comes to popularity, attributed partly to the fact that it offers a user-friendly interface and straightforward, step-by-step guidance during the tax filing process.
TurboTax also offers a free filing option, which lets you file your federal tax return and one state return free of charge. The free version, however, only allows for simple tax returns with form 1040.
If you would like to itemize your deductions, you’ll have to sign up for a paid plan. There are three paid versions, ranging from $39.99 to $89.99 for federal tax filing. You’ll need to pay $39.99 for every state filing.
Both TurboTax and H&R Block offer excellent, easy-to-use software.
They’re intuitive, straightforward, and like H&R Block, TurboTax’s free version supports Form 1040 filing with some tax credits. Most filers will find the Deluxe plan sufficient for their tax situation. However, it’s about 25% more expensive than H&R Block’s Deluxe plan.
Fortunately, you get a few more features for the extra cost. When it comes to customer support, both H&R Block and TurboTax offer the best options on the market. However, H&R Block could work better for you if you want person-to-person guidance whenever you encounter serious issues with your tax return.
This is because they have several physical locations spread across the country. It’s worth noting that TurboTax has an excellent offering for filers who prefer getting assistance online.
TurboTax may not have any physical locations, but it gives its customers access to tax experts. However, you will have to pay additional fees for that access, with four expert packages that correspond to its four plans.
File your taxes with TurboTax>>
TaxAct is another awesome tax filing software that you can use in the place of H&R Block. Here’s a rundown with a few points worth considering:
Both applications allow you to file your state taxes, in addition to federal taxes, but you’ll have to pay extra. However, TaxAct charges a few dollars less for state filing. E-filing, which lets you send your return to the IRS, is free for both providers.
While TaxAct is generally cheaper than H&R Block, you may still find significant savings with H&R Block’s free version as it supports the regular Form 1040 and Schedule A.
When it comes to features and ease of use, H&R Block could be a better choice for you. Nonetheless, both TaxAct and H&R Block offer intuitive interfaces that can make sense of things, provide guidance where necessary, and ensure the process runs smoothly and logically so you can finish quickly.
When it comes to customer support, H&R Block can be a great choice if you feel nervous about filing your tax returns online. It’s also a much better choice if you prefer face-to-face support when you face serious challenges related to your tax returns.
This is because H&R Block has over 12,000 physical locations across the country. It would help if you realized, however, that the software doesn’t automatically provide access to free in-person advice. TaxAct, on the other hand, doesn’t have any physical locations, but it has much to offer filers who have no problem with getting advice online.
If you are eligible for a refund, both TaxAct and H&R Block can have the IRS deposit the funds directly into your bank account or send a paper check via mail. However, if things get complicated with the IRS, H&R Block would be a better option because its audit defense add-on is more powerful and less expensive.
If you find that both H&R Block and TurboTax are expensive for you, then you might want to check what TaxSlayer has to offer.
TaxSlayer is a more cost-friendly tax filing software compared to the other two options. With its affordability, though, come some limitations.
The major setback of TaxSlayer is that it only supports Schedule C files. That means if you are a C Corp, S Corp, or a Multi-member LLC, TaxSlayer’s basic packages won’t work for you.
If your tax needs are simpler though, and you aren’t too particular about It allows you to file both your federal and state return for free. It also has paid versions, which are way cheaper than H&R Block.
In fact, it offers greatly affordable pricing for taxpayers with simple and more complicated tax situations.
Its pricing starts at $17 while that of H&R Block starts at $29.99. At the opposite end of the spectrum, H&R Block’s most high-end plan costs $119.99 while TaxSlayer’s cost $57.
File your taxes with TaxSlayer>>
The best tax filing software for you depends on your tax situation and what you’re looking for in terms of tax support.
H&R Block is a solid competitor against TurboTax when it comes to pricing and features.
If you prefer filing your taxes online but would feel more confident knowing you can find help from a human at a physical office if you get into trouble, H&R Block is a great option.
However, if you are new to filing tax returns and need guidance to navigate through tax forms, you would be better off with TurboTax.
If you need a cost-friendly software at the expense of sophisticated features, you can choose TaxSlayer.
It’s all about your goals and needs. Keep those in mind, and pick the best software for you.
The post H&R Block Alternatives appeared first on Good Financial Cents®.
How much do you know about your website?
It may sound like a simple question, but you’d be surprised how many people aren’t able to answer it. Sure, you probably know everything about the layout, design, content, and navigation on your site. But I’m referring to your website’s performance.
Here’s the thing: Unless you’re bombarded with sales, signups, or comments on a daily basis, it’s difficult to know what’s happening on your website. For those of you who have a new website, you’re probably wondering if your site is even working.
Now, let’s get back to the initial question about how much you know, though this time I’ll be more specific.
As you can see, these questions are a bit more in-depth. The knowledge required to answer these goes far beyond being able to regurgitate the titles of your last few blog posts.
But this isn’t something you can track or measure by hand. You’ll need to take advantage of online tools and resources. That’s why you need to set up a Google Analytics account.
If you’re using WordPress, you can integrate Google Analytics with your site to view all of these insights without having to leave your WordPress administrative dashboard. The solution? Plugins.
It doesn’t matter if you’re website is new or old. It doesn’t matter if you have an ecommerce site or blog. Every website can benefit from Google Analytics plugins. So check out my list to determine which plugin is best for your situation. I took the time to research and identify the best Google Analytics plugins for WordPress.
Formally known as GADWP, the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP by ExactMetrics is definitely one of the most popular options. This plugin has more than one million active installations.
With the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP, you’ll be able to use the latest Google Analytics tracking code to monitor your WordPress site. This is great for those of you who don’t want to manually insert the tracking code. Once installed, you’ll be able to view all of your Google Analytics statistics from the WordPress dashboard. This makes things much easier for you.
You’ll be able to track key stats in real-time, such as:
The plugin also helps you track specific events on your site. Some of these include emails, downloads, page scrolling depth, and affiliate links. You can even create notated HTML elements that allow you to track custom events and actions.
One of the key features of this plugin is the front-end viewing option. As an administrator, you can set up your reports on the front-end of any page on your site. You can also allow these front-end viewing permissions for other people who work on the website like editors, authors, and contributors.
Some of the most popular reports you can view with the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP include:
Why is this information so important? The data allows you to learn more about the browsing behavior of people on your website. You can use these insights to create a customer persona that improves conversion rates.
Just like Google Analytics, the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP plugin is also free. So it’s a great option for those of you are looking for a free Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. Overall, it’s a top option for any website.
More than two million WordPress websites are using the MonsterInsights plugin. I love this plugin because it’s so easy to install and use. You can get the plugin configured in just minutes.
This is much simpler than having to manually add your Google Analytics code, set up your event tracking, configure your ecommerce tracking (if applicable), and deal with the learning curve of Google Analytics.
MonsterInsights simplifies everything for you, directly from your WordPress dashboard. You can enable specific Google Analytics features with just one click. There is no coding required.
The plugin provides you with extensive reports about your website. I’ll go through each one briefly and list the benefits.
Audience Report
You could learn that the majority of your traffic is coming from men in the United States between the ages of 25 and 34. These users are browsing from mobile devices.
Behavior Report
If you identify specific outbound links on your website that are very popular, you can use that as a potential partnership opportunity. You’ll also be able to focus on referral channels that are driving the most traffic.
Content Report
The content report shows you the top performing landing pages. You’ll see the visits, average duration and bounce rate for each page. Based on these results, you can optimize those pages to drive conversions.
Ecommerce Report
Obviously, this report is specifically for ecommerce websites. It’s useful information that will help you increase conversions and revenue.
You can’t go wrong by installing the MonsterInsights plugin. The only catch is that it’s not free. Pricing starts at $99.50 per year. But if you have an ecommerce site, you’ll want to go with the pro version that’s $199.50 annually. MonsterInsights even has a plan for agencies and developers, which costs $499.50. That’s not bad considering you can use it on 25 sites.
Like the other plugins we’ve seen, Analytify also eliminates the need for you to manually add your Google Analytics tracking code to your site. All you need to do is install the plugin and authenticate it with one click to automatically add the code. This is a relief for those of you who are hesitant to add code to your WordPress site. Without any coding experience, even a simple copy and paste can be a bit intimidating.
Analytify has all of the standard Google Analytics reports and statistics. You can view all of them from your WordPress dashboard. What makes this plugin stand apart from other options are the extras. They offer premium add-ons for things like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads integrations.
Depending on the type of website you have, you may want to show website visitors your statistics as well. For example, let’s say you have a business directory site. The companies that are listed on your site would want to know certain metrics. So you can enable front-end viewing reports.
The Analytify WordPress plugin is great for ecommerce businesses. They have enhanced ecommerce tracking. You’ll know how many visitors added items to their shopping cart and also gain insights for when people are leaving the cart. This information will help you reduce shopping cart abandonment by optimizing your checkout process.
You’ll also see things like:
Another reason why I recommend this plugin is because it provides you with automated email reports. You can gain deeper insights for specific campaigns, posts, and pages.
The shortcodes offered by Analytify allow you to integrate your data into custom templates.
Furthermore, you can manage your UTM campaigns with Analytify as well. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this or want to learn more, refer to my guide on how to track your leads with UTM parameters. It’s nice knowing that you can monitor those campaigns directly from this WordPress plugin.
Pricing for Analytify starts at $39 for one site. Add-ons are purchased separately. Those all fall within the $19 to $49 range. Analytify also offers an all-in-one bundle for $129 per year that includes your Analytify install and every add-on. This is the most cost-effective deal if you’re planning to purchase add-ons.
Google Analytics already offers insights for event tracking that allow you to monitor specific user interactions with content on your website. Think: clicks, downloads, flash element or AJAX embedded element interactions, video plays, and gadgets. Events are made to help you monitor custom metrics that aren’t based on something simple, like page views. Just because someone navigated to your homepage, it doesn’t tell you if they scrolled to view your pricing table.
Neat, right?
The only problem is these events can be tough to manually set up and configure with Google Analytics.
Without a plugin, you’ll have to some extra work based on the type of event that you want to track:
Then you’ll have to write commands. When it’s done, it will look something like this:
Here’s another example:
Again, it’s complicated. Even the Google Analytics developer page with these instructions says, “tracking outbound links and forms can be tricky.”
The WP Google Analytics Events plugin simplifies this process. You can do all of this without having to worry about any coding.
So if you want more detailed information with how users are interacting with specific pages on your website, you’ll want to install this plugin. It’s much easier and less complex than the standard coding process for event tracking. You can download and install the WP Google Analytics Events plugin to your WordPress site for free.
In case the name didn’t give it away, the Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics Plugin for WooCommerce is designed specifically for ecommerce sites. Google Analytics recently launched a new feature for enhanced ecommerce statistics. That’s what this plugin focuses on.
I like this plugin because it’s so fast and easy to install. Once you install it, you’ll be able to track the behavior of your website visitors across your entire ecommerce site. You’ll learn about everything they do from the home page to the product views, all the way to the thank you pages.
These are some of the detailed reports you’ll get:
The plugin tracks product impresses, clicks, and add-to-cart rates on every page. If you don’t want to bounce back and forth between your WordPress dashboard and Google Analytics dashboard, this plugin will let you view everything from one place.
Every website can benefit from Google Analytics. (You’ve already installed, right? If not, do it now. Right now. Go. Install it now.)
But you can simplify your insights by getting all of your reports and information directly from your WordPress dashboard. All you need to do is install a plugin. So what’s the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress?
For those of you who want a free all in one plugin, you should consider Google Analytics Dashboard for WP. If you’re a developer, have an agency, or want added reports for an annual premium, you should look into MonsterInsights.
Ecommerce websites would benefit from plugins like Analytify or the Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics Plugin for WooCommerce.
Maybe you don’t want all of these features, and you’d rather focus on something specific, like event tracking. If that’s the case, WP Google Analytics Events will be your best bet.
No matter what type of website you have, I know there’s a Google Analytics plugin for you on this list.
There are some great personal finance books out there. But who has time to read them all?
Sure, there are audiobooks. But some are so dry that not even being stuck in a car can get you to press play.
That’s where podcasts come in: bite-sized, digestible chunks of knowledge that you can get through in one or two commutes. Then, you can move on to the next topic.
They’re great when you need a break from books. But there are so many out there. How do you know which ones are worth your time?
That’s what we’re here for.
As a podcast host myself, I’ve listened to hundreds of finance podcast episodes and rooted through the good ones and the not-as-good.
If you’re just starting to get your finances in order — and you’re looking to spend less, pay off debt and learn where to save — here are the best personal finance podcasts. Our list is sure to cover every personality, preference and time constraint.
This is a fun podcast hosted by real-life best friends Joel Larsgaard and Matt Altmix. They start every “How to Money” episode by opening a bottle of craft beer before diving into a widely relevant personal finance topic.
Instead of interviews, you can expect useful conversations between friends that won’t make you feel like a third wheel. They cover everything from frugality and deals to real estate investing, so you’re sure to glean some tips from every episode.
Every week, personal finance coach Whitney Hansen interviews experts in the topics of career development, paying off debt, saving money and more. She also releases bonus episodes every Friday with five tips to help listeners with a variety of money topics.
Hansen is great at breaking down seemingly complex topics like credit scores, money mindset and investing. If you want to learn the basics of personal finance, “The Money Nerds Podcast” will be right up your alley.
Chris Browning talks about personal finance topics in “about the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn,” as the “Popcorn Finance” slogan goes. Some episodes turn out to be three or four bags of popcorn, but you won’t care, because the content is so good and Browning’s voice is so soothing.
Seriously, he should rename this thing “Pot Roast Finance” and just talk to us for three hours every week.
Each episode is a conversation with a different guest on a unique personal finance topic. Some are classic interviews; others are fun debates or bonus content from past guests called “quick pops.” If you’ve got a short commute or get bored easily, “Popcorn Finance” is for you.
If you’re still convinced that no podcast about money can hold your attention, you haven’t listened to “The Stacking Benjamins” yet.
Joe Saul-Sehy and his band of accomplices — most notably a guy identified only as OG and his mom’s neighbor Doug — release three hilarious episodes every week about timely money topics and new technology.
Every show is funny and will “accidentally” teach you about personal finance topics through interviews that introduce you to new financial apps. There’s even irrelevant trivia that you’ll wait for in every episode.
For families with young children, “Marriage, Kids and Money,” hosted by Andy Hill, is the show for you.
Hill does a mix of solo episodes and interviews about personal finance topics relating to married couples and parents. And if you’re tired of thinking about your marriage and kids, you can find some straight money subjects that everyone can learn from.
This podcast has topics you won’t find on many other shows, so browse the archives — even if you’re single and childless, especially if you don’t plan on staying that way forever.
Each episode of the “Afford Anything” podcast will inspire you to think beyond what conventional wisdom tells you about personal finance.
Host Paula Pant talks to experts and industry stalwarts and gets them to open up a side of themselves you won’t hear on other podcasts. Her show is a great listen if you want to hear engaging conversations about money, how to spend it and how to optimize it.
If you’re looking for a side hustle, look no further. Nick Loper’s “The Side Hustle Show” has featured all of them — or at least most of them — in its over 300 episodes.
Every show is an interview with someone who’s started a successful side hustle about how they did it. Loper also answers questions about topics that help side hustlers grow and scale their businesses.
If you’re looking to make money outside of your full-time job, subscribe to his podcast right now.
Jen Smith is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder and co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast. She and her husband paid off $78,000 of debt in less than two years on two less-than-average salaries. She gives money-saving and debt-payoff tips on Instagram at @modernfrugality.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.
What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Book buying habit
2. Lifestyle inflation and workplace lunches
3. Spending in line with values
4. Why did taxes change?
5. Research materials after major project
6. Why not buy rental properties?
7. Weird cooling strategy
8. Financial success on average income
9. Cold basement tips
10. Cheap Kindle books
11. Roth IRA enough to retire?
12. A good quote
Over the last month, we’ve received an enormous amount of snowfall here in central Iowa. We currently have roughly two feet of snow in our yard, with another several inches expected later this week.
With that much snow, simply clearing out the snow to make the driveway passable and to keep the sidewalk clear (city ordinance) becomes a real task, one that would take multiple hours without a snowblower handling most of the work.
Our snowblower has been such an interesting purchase. There have been winters where we haven’t used it at all. There have been other winters (like this one) where we use it multiple times a week for months.
Looking back, I think it was a good purchase for us, but if you’re not going to live in a snowy area for more than a year or two, it’s more cost effective to just pay someone to clear the snow for you. There will be some winters with minimal snow, after all, and even winters with a lot of snow don’t pay for a snowblower in one season.
On with the questions.
I’ve read your articles regularly over the years and they have made me think not just about money but about my life itself – what I value and what constitutes meaningful experience and so on. I had a few different things to say to you. First, I think a lot of immigrant families live the way you suggest – they spend less than they earn, they cook at home and they form community networks. Something about not having resources to fall back on makes one more careful as it were. Also I wanted to tell you about my struggle. For most things I’ve reassessed and cut out the inessential things that I bought by default and moved to frugal choices without seeing a major difference in my quality of life. But I can’t seem to stop buying books! I love reading and I’m raising two daughters. I want them to grow up in a house full of books. We go to the library often but we also have a lot of books at home. I’m super selective about what I buy, and often buy second hand. Even then there are enough worthwhile and meaningful books out there that I end up buying. I read a lot to my daughter and read a lot myself, so these books are not exactly being wasted. At the same time I do know that we could easily save much more money if I could stop buying books. What I’m trying now is to have a hobby budget and stick to it, as you suggest.
– Marya
Regarding your comments about immigrant communities, I spent several years working with a collection of people who were freshly immigrated to the United States, and I couldn’t help but notice how tight and supportive that community was. They helped each other out constantly. People new to America had an instant social network around them. They had people to care for them when they were sick. They had a professional support network. They had endless people nearby when they needed to borrow something. It was so obvious how useful and valuable all of this was. It allowed the participants to work harder and more efficiently than people without such support in their lives while also having a richer personal and social life.
Since then, I’ve tried to borrow and emulate aspects of what I learned from them, to my own personal and professional and financial benefit.
As for books, I’m somewhat in the same boat you are. Even with my heavy library use over the last decade, I still own more books than I really should. Part of the reason for that is that I often receive books as gifts (and I sometimes pick them up for reference material for The Simple Dollar), but it still comes down at least in part to my occasional choice to buy new ones without really cycling out the old ones.
I agree with you regarding the desire to have shelves full of books at home so that a child grows up in a home with lots of books available. For us, we decided that once a bookshelf was full of books, we really needed to slow down and adopt a “book goes in, book comes out” approach so that the collection didn’t continue to grow. This forced us to acquire books at a slower rate. A “hobby budget” also helps a lot in terms of putting a cap on overall hobby spending.
There’s this group of people at work that go out for lunch every day together. They go to chain restaurants like Applebees and thus probably spend $10-15 a day for lunch.
One of them says that they do it for “professional advancement” and “networking.” I think it’s just lifestyle inflation justification.
Reason? I brown bag it each day and eat with a group of six people at work. We all hang out at the table in the break area and eat lunch together and chat for a good half an hour. I get the same “professional advancement” and “networking” and I spend like $1-2 a day for lunch rather than $10-15.
It’s a good idea to eat with some people at work as it does help with professional advancement, but that doesn’t mean dropping $15 on lunch every day. That’s just lifestyle inflation.
– Jan
I basically agree with Jan’s point. When I worked in an office environment, I had lunch every day with a few people. Most of the time, it was lunch eaten at the office. I used to bring leftovers or soup each day and the guy I ate with most of the time usually brought a sandwich. We might go out to eat once every other week at most.
I built a really strong professional relationship with those people. We didn’t need to go out to lunch every day to do this.
I strongly encourage people to eat lunch with their coworkers or professional mentors, every day if possible. That doesn’t mean that you should go out for lunch every day. The act of eating lunch with someone doesn’t mean going out for lunch every day – they’re not the same thing. A $15 lunch at a restaurant every day does not equate to “professional networking,” as you can get that with a much cheaper lunch.
I love your recent articles on the idea of getting your spending in line with your values. In some book I read recently there was a section in which the author and his partner made lists of the ten things that makes them each happy on a weekly basis and basically cut back on everything else. In the process they realized that there was a ton of stuff they were spending money on that weren’t on either of their lists. Why spend lots of money on stuff that wouldn’t even crack your top ten things that make you happy for the week?
– Jane
That’s exactly it! I just don’t see the point in spending much money on stuff that doesn’t bring you consistent happiness and fulfillment. If you sat down and made a top ten list of things that bring you happiness on a weekly basis, why would you spend much money on non-essential things that aren’t on that list?
Try it. It’s a good exercise. Make a list of ten things that make you happy in a given week. Make one for this week that just passed, then a week from now make a list for that week. Make a few of them, and then compare them. It’s fine to spend money on things that consistently pop up. It’s a pretty big waste to spend anything beyond the minimum on things that don’t pop up.
The only things on my list that involve spending extra money is coffee (which I prefer to make at home, so it doesn’t cost much), books, and tabletop games. My books and tabletop games come out of a hobby budget. Nothing else is really worth spending a lot of extra money on with any sort of frequency.
As for the book you’re referencing, I think you’re referring to a portion early on in the book Playing with FIRE, which I’m currently reading.
My husband and I make roughly the same salary every year with just cost of living increases. We have done so for the last 15+ years. My husband always does the taxes in Turbotax and we end up with a pretty reliable regular tax return. This year we’re suddenly paying in?! He did them twice?! What has changed?
– Amy
The big change that has happened is that the 2017 tax law changes are now in effect. What those changes did in a practical sense is that they caused many employers to start taking less out of each paycheck for taxes.
So, let’s say you normally have a tax bill of $10,000 and, over the course of previous years, your employer pulls $12,000 out of your check over the course of the year. When you file your taxes, you’d get a $2,000 return.
The changes to the tax laws, in part, were intended to try to get the amount employers take out of checks closer to the amount people actually pay in taxes.
So, this past year, your employer might have taken out only $9,000 from your checks over the course of the year. That means each month, you’re actually bringing home $250 more than before. However, when it comes around to tax time, you don’t get a refund and you now owe $1,000, as your employer only took out $9,000 for you and you owe $10,000.
If you go back and look at your 2018 paychecks versus 2017, I’m willing to bet that they’re noticeably bigger, more than would be accounted for by a cost of living raise. That’s what happened to your tax refund – you already got it in the form of slightly bigger paychecks.
About 12 years ago my sister was diagnosed with ALS. I spent the last decade doing all of the research I could to figure out how to help her with this awful disease. I found some ways to slow it down but she passed away a couple of years ago. I now have boxes and boxes of research material that consists of research papers and books and journals and notebooks. It’s all sitting in our garage and I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t even know how to recoup any value from any of this stuff.
– Denise
If you’re looking at getting value out of the accumulated research material, it’s honestly likely not going to have a ton of value except to another person who is also investigating ALS. You may want to find an online ALS community and see if any of them are interested in this material and send it to them. Medical researchers likely have access to all of the papers, anyway.
You may have individual books in there that have value. Consider pulling them out and selling them individually. The individual research papers and volumes of academic journals likely have little secondary value, because the people that would want them almost always already have access to them.
I wanted to note that I contacted Denise directly after reading this and suggested that she share all of her research notes online by creating a website containing all of them, linking to source materials as much as possible. There may be a lot of valuable information in her notes for other families hoping to defeat ALS.
Seems to me that rental properties are an incredibly powerful use of one’s money. If you buy a rental property and charge enough rent to pay the mortgage, you wind up owning a house in 15 years that you can either sell or continue to rent out. Why not just get a free house in 15 years?
– Jamie
This is a very optimistic look at rental property ownership that ignores a bunch of factors.
For starters, it assumes that you’ll always have someone renting the house that pays the rent reliably and doesn’t do any damage to the property. It assumes that there is minimal maintenance cost and whatever maintenance is done can be done easily by you. It doesn’t include the cost of property tax or insurance. It doesn’t include inevitable major costs like the furnace, AC, major appliances, etc.
None of those things are merely things you can just assume. They’re all significant costs, some of which you can’t avoid at all and some of which can only be avoided with luck.
Consider this alternate scenario. The property only has a renter in it 70% of the time, and each “good” renter only stays for a year. Every second renter you have is a “bad” renter that stops paying rent after a month or two and eventually has to be evicted after a few months of non-payment. Some of those renters damage the property – maybe they cooked meth in the back bedroom or something. The furnace fails in year three. The AC fails in year five. The washer fails in year six and floods the house with water. Property taxes go up significantly.
In that scenario, you’ve likely lost money on the house, invested a ton of time and energy into it, and you’re still on the hook for all of those mortgage payments. It’s been an awful investment.
The truth is that property rental usually winds up in the middle of these two scenarios. With some luck, it’s on the better end of the spectrum. It tends to be a better deal for individuals willing to invest a lot of time and sweat equity into fixing up the property and maintaining it, but that comes down to a personal preference – you’re giving up free time to make the investment a little better.
When I was growing up, on a hot day my mom would fill up a bathtub with cold water and said it was a “heat sink” that would keep our house cooler. Does this actually work?
– Adam
It would probably make the bathroom feel cooler, but it wouldn’t have much of an effect on the house as a whole. In fact, just letting it sit would likely make the house feel warmer because it would increase the humidity in the air as the water in the tub evaporated.
It’s not a bad idea to take a cool bath on a hot day to cool off, but don’t just pour water to let it sit. It won’t help and it’ll probably just make things more humid inside.
That being said, the reverse often does help in the winter. One of the advantages of making a big pot of soup on a cold day, for example, is that it adds heat and humidity to a house that’s very likely cold and dry. However, the soup itself is an added benefit and you want your house to be a little more humid if it’s dry in the winter (which is often the case with a typical furnace).
It feels like right now in America you can’t make financial success happen on an average income. There are too many basic expenses that have to be covered. By the time you pay for rent, food, utilities, getting to work, etc. there’s nothing left, even if you do nothing fun.
– Kelly
Sarah and I have been within $10K of the average American income for a family of five almost every year over the last decade. In that time, we managed to pay off all of our debts including a home mortgage and save a ton for retirement. It can be done.
The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is that you have to be able to say no to an awful lot of temptation. There is spending temptation everywhere – big stuff, small stuff, forgettable stuff. My belief is that people spend a lot more on non-essentials than they think they do because so much non-essential spending is utterly forgettable and quickly forgotten, leaving you just an empty bank account wondering what happened and believing that financial success is impossible.
Don’t get me wrong – it is very tight if you’re making a below average income, especially as you start getting down toward minimum wage income. The thing that everyone needs to watch out for, though, is “invisible” spending. It’s real and it really adds up.
Last May we moved into a new house and set up a family room in the basement. During the summer it was great because the basement was always a few degrees cooler than the main floor. During the winter it’s awful because the basement is always several degrees cooler than the main floor. It’s freezing down there! What’s the best strategy to fix this? Insulation? Space heating?
– Jeremy
We have a similar problem, but it’s only really noticeable on extremely cold days where it’s substantially below freezing. On those days, our basement can get quite cold.
Cold basements are mostly caused by ground level cold. If the ground outside is cold, it’s going to make your basement cold. There’s almost no way to avoid this – even tons of insulation is only a partial solution.
Our actual practical solution is to have a space heater for the basement that we plug in on cold days where it’s needed. Another practical solution is that, if we’re going to be spending all day in the basement, we close all of the registers on the main floor and upper floor of our home so that all of the warm air flow goes into the basement. Aside from that, the realities of thermodynamics limits what can actually be done to help this problem.
Got a Kindle for Christmas but all books are expensive. The Kindle Unlimited program seems to be 90% junk. How do you get good books on the Kindle without paying almost as much as you do at a bookstore?
– Aria
I watch the Kindle Daily Deal page pretty closely. While a lot of those books aren’t of interest to me, there are usually a few books a week for $1.99 or less that are interesting to me.
I also use Overdrive to check out ebooks via my local library for free. They just disappear when the checkout period is up. Unfortunately, I’ve had books disappear when I’m in the middle of them, but I can usually just check them out again (though I have to go back to the end of the waiting list).
Those two options keep me in plenty of books to read!
If a person just maxes out their Roth IRA each year, is that enough to retire on at age 65?
– Brian
There are a few assumptions wrapped up in this question. The big one is whether this person is starting at a young age. Also, is this person married or ever going to get married?
Let’s say you have a person starting at age 25 and is going to be single throughout their life. The income limit for contributing fully to a Roth IRA is $120,000 a year, so we’ll assume that as a steady income for the next 40 years. We’ll also assume a cap of $6,000 a year in contributions until age 50, then $7,000 a year thereafter up until age 65, and we’ll assume an annual average return of 7% per year. Yes, that’s a lot of assumptions, but you have to make a lot of them to answer a question like this!
If those are your assumptions, the account will have $1,265,743 in it at age 65. If you adopt a 4% withdrawal rate, that means you’ll be able to take out $50,630 a year. That would be on top of your Social Security income and any other earned income. Of course, that money won’t go as far at that point, but on the other hand, it’s likely that annual contribution amounts will also go up over time to counterbalance that.
My belief is that if you start at age 25 and contribute the maximum amount each year to a Roth IRA, you should be in pretty good shape at age 65 to retire, even with no other retirement savings. You probably won’t be able to fully match your salary, but you should have more than enough to live comfortably on, especially when there are no career costs involved.
Was reading my devotional this morning and saw a quote that made me think of your writing on The Simple Dollar.
“It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don’t have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn’t be hunger or thirst.” – Epictetus
– Stan
Great quote! It speaks a deep truth.
If you spend all of your time wanting what you don’t have, you’re never going to be happy. Happiness comes from what you have, not from what you don’t have.
That doesn’t mean that goals aren’t valuable – they give you something to aim for. However, the best goals tend to be improvements in yourself, not improvements in what you have. The better you are as a well-rounded person, the more likely it is that your life will naturally have great things in it that are sources of happiness.
Be happy with what you have while making yourself better and you’ll find that life is usually pretty good.
Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.
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