Category: Finance

What is the average tax refund? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has good news to pass along–finally! The average refund is an impressive $3,000. While it will not exactly enough to help fulfill your dreams of buying a yacht, an extra $3,000 can go a long way. When you receive your refund as a check… Continue reading 10 Investments You Could Make with Your Tax Return This Year

Many times, you will see triple net leases, and occasionally double net leases where the tenant is responsible for all the maintenance, tax costs, insurance and utilities. The landlord may have some remaining responsibilities – say the roof and structure, but by and large, the landlord can focus on being a financial owner rather than… Continue reading Common Metrics for Valuing Real Estate

Could it be a scam? If it’s a phone call, or an email, then absolutely, it’s a scam. However, if it’s a letter, then it may be legitimate. Make sure though that you check the content against the content on the IRS website, and make sure that you are using the IRS website to verify… Continue reading So you just received an IRS 5071c letter. What do you do?

Ok so you own securities in a bankrupt company. If they’re stock, you’re probably going to be wiped out. If you own bonds, you are a creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings. Depending on how the proceedings go, you may get shares or bonds in the company. Or you may get cash as the company sells… Continue reading What do you do when you own bonds or stocks issued by a bankrupt company?

Kickstarter and GoFundMe have made huge waves and created a new road for projects to take to get funded. A lot of bright individuals have had the idea to create similar sites for investments. Real Estate has been a natural target market for this because the large dollar sums and lack of liquidity in many… Continue reading Crowdfunding Real Estate?

Large companies continually change the composition of their balance sheets to use their capital as efficiently as possible and to maximize their profitability. While small business owners can’t issue billion dollar bonds at 2% interest, there are a few things that small businesses can structure their assets. Read more:

It’s a commonly quoted statistic that nearly half of American families have no retirement savings. For many people facing retirement, their homes may be the only asset they have to help fund their post career living expenses. Over the last few years there have been a lot of stories about reverse mortgages where retirees sell… Continue reading Reverse Mortgages for Retirees – Boon or Bane?

Donating money to charities can be a great way for a family to make an impact on their community, and to create a lasting legacy.  Charitable donations can also make sense as a way to eliminate tax liability. Many times, when a family is considering a donation to charity, the donation they will fund the… Continue reading Donor Advised Funds and Foundations

They say that when you’re a hammer, all the world’s a nail. It seems like life insurance salespeople will try to sell you life insurance as a solution to almost any problem you may have. We’ll give you a bit of a quick primer on some of the various ways life insurance is used. These… Continue reading Life Insurance: The Usages

If you’re a small business owner who has a significant income, minimizing your taxes can do a lot to improve your income. There are a number of different shields people use – depreciation, and business expense deductions for example, we won’t go into these, instead in this article, we’ll talk about setting up other companies… Continue reading Side Businesses and Tax Deferral