Business News

How many retirement plans and accounts do you currently have? Are you sure? It’s easy to lose track, especially if you have changed jobs or opened IRAs in tax seasons only to have forgotten about them later. Knowing the location and value of your retirement assets is an important part of retirement planning. To simplify your efforts, consider consolidating those assets with IRA rollovers.

Suppose you are considering two investments.  One is tax-exempt and the other is taxable.  Which should you choose?
Make the Comparison

It’s like surfing.  You paddle out into the ocean and watch for a good wave.  You join everyone else floating on their boards, positioning for the best way to catch the “big one.”  You’re ready.

For many Americans the equity in the family home used to be an easy source for borrowing to pay for unexpected medical bills, pay for a divorce, or to help survive a job layoff.  Now that the housing bubble has burst, leaving little or no equity in most homes, many people have found that they have no source to tap into in times of catastrophe.  As a result they most often find themselves in overwhelming credit card debt paying double-digit interest rates.

The markets don’t always behave the way we’d like them to: Geopolitical turmoil, natural disasters, interest rates and world events can have a profound effect on market movements. If recent market volatility has you concerned about the economy, you are not alone; this is a confusing time for many investors. Some have decided to stay the course, while others are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to rebound. However, since no one can predict how the markets will perform, it’s important to develop an investment strategy that can help you stay on the right track to meeting your long-term financial goals. Here are some strategies that you can implement today, that may help to manage risk during these uncertain times.

Be positive, be adventurous, you may be surprised.  This is the year to ask for special consideration for paying your taxes or to look for financial treasures in the recent tax law changes.  If you have been financially impacted or circumstances prevent you from paying your debts in full, the federal government has been given a lot of flexibility this year to work with you.  Be positive, be adventurous. 

The City of Santa Clarita Film Office announced today that the month of January 2009 was the most successful to date, with the office overseeing more film days and reporting a higher economic impact for the month than any other January on record since the office’s inception in 2002. 

When you own a small business, you need a good accountant.  Many accountants these days are also the best advisors when it comes to small business setups.

In fiscal year 2008, the IRS collected $56.4 billion through collection, examination and document-matching efforts.  That figure is a dramatic increase from 1999, when the government had $32.9 billion in enforcement collections.

The most dramatic figure in the recent numbers comes in the staffing column.  The agency collected nearly twice as much last year as it did in 1999 with fewer enforcement staff members, 20,722 in 2008, compared to 22,543 in 2007 — suggesting the government is becoming more efficient even as it becomes more aggressive.

With the state of the economy, it is now even more important for everyone to protect themselves by carrying uninsured motorist coverage.  Why? 

Basic investment strategies tell us to manage the allocation of our investments.  We don’t want our investments to be concentrated in one type of security.  Long term our return on investment will benefit from a balanced portfolio.  With significant fluctuations in stock values many of your portfolios are ‘out of balance’ and need to be reallocated to benefit from the future recovery.

Business owners aren’t in business to lose money.  So there’s not much to like about a non-profitable year.  For a shareholder in an S corporation, however, a down year can have an upside — the corporate loss may give rise to a personal tax deduction.
Standing between an S shareholder and the loss deduction is a tricky tax computation known as “adjusted basis.”  Under the tax law, a shareholder’s loss deduction is limited to the shareholder’s adjusted basis in his/her corporate stock and in any debt the company owes the shareholder.

The tax laws allow us to use credits, which can increase a refund or reduce tax owed on a return.  The important thing to remember about a credit, versus a deduction, is that a credit is dollar for dollar off your taxes, whereas a deduction reduces the amount of income subject to tax at your tax rate.  For example, if someone owed $4,500 on their return, before credits, and then qualified for a $1,000 Child Credit, their taxes would be $3,500 ($4,500 to $3,500). 

I made a pact with my son years ago that I would listen to the music which he likes, if he’d try the older stuff that I’ve loved since being a teenager.  Thus, I recently attended the Metallica concert at the Los Angeles Forum.  What’s Metallica got to do with job search?  It’s not so much what did happen, as what didn’t.

Deciding whom to designate as a beneficiary for your IRA might seem like a no-brainer—you probably want your money to go to someone near and dear to you. But is the person (or people) you’re thinking of actually the one(s) you named on the IRA beneficiary form all those years ago when you opened the account?

Many successful professionals don’t have the time, information, or know-how to effectively manage their finances and plan for the future. Finding someone to help is very important, but the process can involve significant risks. All too often, we hear stories of less-than-scrupulous individuals who end up taking advantage of clients. To help you on your search, here are some essential guidelines for selecting a financial advisor.

To begin, make sure that you are a “go-getter” who is well known for being able to work well on his or her own. A number of people are the kind of worker that really thrives when they have someone managing their daily activities. If this sounds like you, then a home based business might not work to your advantage. In order to make the best of such a venture, you need to have drive and incredible decision-making skills. If you do possess these skills, then you should proceed.

California labor laws state that if you are injured during the course and scope of your employment, your only remedy is to receive workers’ compensation benefits.  However, there are exceptions to this rule.