Before the housing bubble burst in 2008, you could find high yield savings accounts that were paying rates over 5.0 percent. Today? These same banks are paying less than .10 percent. So where are you supposed to put your money? Is there anywhere else you can put your hard-earned cash and generate a modest return? Here are several suggestions. Social Lending. Consider a social lending site like LendingClub, a peer-to-peer loan network that allows you to

With the onset of COVID-19, small business banks are more nervous about potential loan losses than ever. Here are several tips for your business to maintain a great working relationship with your lender. These same tips can also be used if you want to plant seeds with your banker for potential future loans. Produce timely financial statements. Your lender may require you to produce financial statements over the duration of your loans to ensure that you

No one likes surprises from the IRS, but they do occasionally happen. Here are some examples of unpleasant tax situations you could find yourself in and what to do about them. An expected refund turns into a tax payment. Nothing may be more deflating than expecting to get a nice tax refund and instead being met with the reality that you actually owe the IRS more money. What you can do: Run an estimated tax return

If you are working from home for the first time in 2020, you may be wondering if your home office is tax deductible. The bad news? If you’re working from home for an employer, you normally can’t deduct your home office expenses. Here’s a quick look at the basic requirements to be able to deduct your home office expenses, along with some suggestions for how to qualify for the deduction if you’re currently working for your

As an owner of a small business, you’ve proven that you’re a self-starter by operating a successful private enterprise. Of equal importance is applying your skills towards saving for your future. Here are some of the most popular tax-advantaged retirement vehicles for small business owners in 2020 and some tips on saving for retirement. Options if you’re not currently enrolled in a plan For small business owners not currently enrolled in a retirement plan, here are

Scammers are targeting people looking to make money while stuck at home. While there are plenty of legitimate opportunities to earn extra cash, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says to steer clear from the following money-making scams: At-Home Medical Billing Businesses. Many medical billing business opportunities are worthless. Their promoters don’t tell the truth about earnings potential and fail to provide key information. Envelope-Stuffing Schemes. Offers that promise quick and easy income from stuffing envelopes at

Raising prices can be fraught with risk during good economic times. So what happens if you try to raise prices during bad economic times? As Hamlet would say, “Ah, there’s the rub.” If you raise prices, you risk losing clients to competitors. If you don’t, decreasing revenue or rising costs can capsize your company. So what’s a small business supposed to do? The Art of Pricing Raising (and, sometimes, even lowering) prices can be a balancing

Estimated average Social Security retirement benefits starting January 2021 All retired workers in 2020 $1,523/mo All retired workers in 2021 $1,543/mo Did you know? You can increase your Social Security retirement benefits by 5-8% when you delay applying until you’re age 70. 1.6% cost of living adjustment for Social Security retirement benefits and SSI payments begins with the December 2020 benefits (payable in January 2021). The 2021 maximum Social Security retirement benefits a worker retiring at

When it comes to money topics, you’re always hearing how to save more. But even with the best of intentions, you can run into trouble when you try to save too much. Here are four ways that savings can get in your way and how you can correct them. Savings that turns into spending. Buying something on sale to save money is still spending. Focus on the amount of money you have to part with, instead

This year’s pandemic highlights the importance of having enough money set aside in an emergency fund to cover six to nine months of key expenses should you lose your job. But how do you build an emergency fund if you don’t have any extra money? The easiest way to accomplish this is by reducing your expenses. Here are some creative ways to increase your cash flow by cutting your spending. How much you need First, determine