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

As long as your articles of incorporation meet these five requirements, and you pay the $125 filing fee, your application should be approved. Setting up a corporation is the easy part though — now that you have a small business of your own, you may need small business financial advice to avoid the pitfalls many… Continue reading Setting Up A Corporation In New York State

If you have recently changed jobs, you’re probably familiar with the W-4 form, where you declare how many exemptions you have, for things like having dependent children, being married, or holding multiple jobs. These allowances are meant to offset the amount of tax withheld, based on approximately how much tax you will be able to… Continue reading Employer Income Tax Withholding: The Basics

If you follow the stock market coverage on CNBC or Bloomberg, or read the Wall Street Journal, you’ve probably seen references to the VIX, especially in politically and economically volatile times like the 2008 financial crisis or last year’s election. While it appears in charts and tickers like a stock or exchange-traded fund, the VIX… Continue reading Investing in Volatility: Understanding the VIX

You’ve probably seen the advertisements: “Start your own business!” “Be your own boss!” “Become a part of something great!” Or the bumper stickers and even vehicle wraps advertising Mary Kay or Herbalife. Maybe you’ve gone to a friend’s house for a dinner that turned into a sales pitch, or noticed the catalogue in the office… Continue reading Multi Level Marketing: Too Good To Be True?

The idea seems simple enough at first: anyone can become a member of the merchant class, without ever having to physically even see their product. Commodity futures originally developed as a way of making the market more stable, guaranteeing future prices (hence the name) for staples like wheat, corn and cattle. Every futures contract required… Continue reading Are Futures In Your Future?

According to a recent survey conducted by LegalZoom, just 41% of Americans had a last will and testament, and only 9% had a living will. Death isn’t something anyone particularly wants to think about or plan for, but it’s essential for your loved ones to know what to do if the inconceivable does happen sooner… Continue reading Why Everyone Needs A Living Will

It’s every car owner’s worst nightmare: you wake up one morning, ready to go to work, and there’s one less car in the driveway than you expected. You call the police to see if it’s been found stolen, but they let you know it’s being held at Bubba’s Towing and Wrecking, three months delinquent on… Continue reading Don’t Fear The Repo: How To Rebuild