Summer’s a time when you can kick back, relax and read a bit more. In that vein, I’d like to recommend some enjoyable and informative articles I’ve come across recently. Get a taste here, and stop by the authors’ sites for the full versions.

Could the Free Market have Ended Racism?

Let me state, I am not a fan of racism (As a matter of fact, some might call me a “liberal.”)! I don’t think the free market is enough to end racism but read on to hear a fascinating discussion at The Amateur Financier:

“ ‘The free market, as usual, will address the problem.  It punishes racists.  A business that doesn’t hire blacks will lose customers and good employees.  It will atrophy while its more inclusive competitors thrive.’ (John) Stossel raises an interesting point: could the free market have ended discrimination without government intervention?  Or were the government actions like the Civil Rights Act and its prohibitions on employment discrimination a needed remedy to the segregation era?”

2010 Tax Brackets; Which Income Tax Bracket am I in?

No one is enthusiastic about paying taxes, that being said…. the more you understand about the system, the more likely it is that you will KEEP MORE OF YOUR CASH! Read on about this important issue at The Oblivious Investor:

“The Federal income tax is referred to as a “progressive tax.” Of course, it’s not progressive in the same way that a social movement could be said to be progressive. What the term means in this case is that, as your taxable income increases, so does the rate at which you are taxed. People will often make statements such as “I’m in the 25% tax bracket.” For example, as you can see in the table below, a single person with a taxable income of $40,000 would be in the 25% tax bracket. People frequently misunderstand this to mean that all of the person’s income is taxed at a rate of 25%. In reality, the person’s overall tax rate will be much lower.”

The TAO of the Intellect

Loved the title, and the content gets you thinking… just not too much! Read more at Early Retirement Extreme:

“Another very human trait is to weigh recent information more than historical information or worse, weigh it higher than  “what is not seen”. The latter causes an enormous amount of confusion. One might almost say that the entire field of economics is dedicated to solve this problem (the broken window fallacy), at least after a couple of beers.”

Six Tips from Yorkshire’s Top Thriftiest Grannies

Who wouldn’t want to read this post? The grannies have the best tips; here’s a sneak peek, read more at Miss Thrifty:

“TOP TIP 4 – Pack junk mail into the empty cardboard toilet roll tubes and use them as firelighters.”

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt 

I agree with MOST of the content here… but read on and see what YOU think. Young and Thrifty has a great writing style, enjoy….. 

“Yes.. I mentioned the “D” word. Debt. Just letting that word roll off your tongue makes you feel like you have halitosis. Well, get that tongue scraper and Listerine out, because as surprising(and somewhat crazy) as this may sound, there is such thing good debt AND bad debt.”

Crank up your Savings Goals at Smarty Pig

Right now, get a (relatively) high yield at this unique goal-oriented savings site as discussed at Free From Broke.

“Whether you want to save up $500 for back to school shopping, or $5,000 for a family vacation, it is possible to use SmartyPig to reach that goal.  The concept is fairly straightforward, and works simply.”

Could you Give it all Away?

The uber-wealthy Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing just that? Join the discussion at Beating Broke:

“At the real bottom of this is a more important question.  Why do we build wealth?  What purpose do we give our lives that we strive to attain wealth.  In Warren Buffetts case, I think you could argue that he has always seen it as a challenge.”

Buying Blogs, Selling Blogs: How I Built my Blogging Business

Sam at the Financial Samurai is somewhat of a “rock star” in the personal finance blogging world as founder of the Yakezie Network. This guest post on his site is a real peak inside the “business of blogging.”

“This is a guest post written by Mike, a young financial planner / web entrepreneur who is pursuing his dream of running his online business. You can follow his progress at The Financial Blogger and read his other financial blogs at Green Panda Treehouse and Intelligent Speculator. 3 years ago, I was told by many bloggers: “You will never make money blogging. And if you do, $200/month will be your highest peak ever”. Three year ago, The Financial Blogger was averaging 500 visits per month and I was ecstatic when I made my first deal of $10 for a link. Three years later, I now run three financial websites, bought 2 of them and flipped a blog within a year.”

My Teen-age Son, the Cell Phone, & a Bill for $1,055.20

Len Penzo dot com is one of the most hilarious personal finance writers around. He DOES NOT DISAPPOINT with this uproarious post about his son’s adventures with texting & a new cell phone:

 ”I can’t remember the exact day he first requested his own cell phone, but I am quite certain the first letters he learned in school weren’t A-B-C.  They were A-T-(T). When Matthew turned 12 last year, we decided it was finally time to grant his wish.   The only condition was that he had to pay us $25 per month to maintain his account.  Knowing that he could easily earn $40 per month by simply mowing the lawn and doing chores around the house, Matthew readily agreed – and so we got him his phone.”

CARNIVAL of Money Stories 2 featured my article this week; Reduce Stress Get Rid of Dysfunctional Money Behaviors-Part 2. Read my article as well as other money stories at this informative round up.

“Overcome a Passion for Procrastination (in dealing with financial matters). ‘Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.’ Christopher Parker

This young actor hit the nail on the head! Avoiding and procrastinating seem fine, for a while. Later- the price you pay for procrastination is quite HIGH. Charge away with the credit card; if you don’t have the cash to pay it off every month, you are walking on a treadmill of pain.”

ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Today, and every day, LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

What do you think about this summer reading? Agree, disagree, join the discussion……leave a comment.

Categories: Taxes, Carnival

A carnival of tax tips sounds like an oxymoron!  Believe it or not, even tax tips can be fun!

If you want the latest TAX info in one place visit the  DON’TMESSWITHTAXES site!

Listed FIRST is my “feel good” article and it is  a good motivator for getting your taxes done. 

Other posts include:

13 deductions you don’t want to miss

Evaluating a Roth IRA

How to File Your Taxes for Free

16 Ways Not to Blow your Tax Refund

and many more useful posts!

If you’ve never been to a PERSONAL FINANCE carnival before, now is a great time to visit and brush up on your tax tips.

“A festival marked by merrymaking and processions.”

Definition of carnival

I would like to invite you to a PERSONAL FINANCE Carnival. There will be lots of personal finance information and tips, and for those of you interested in more money and a better life……..IT WILL BE FUN!

What is a PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVAL?

It’s a place where lots of authors publish articles about personal finance topics.

In one LOCATION you can get information about TAXES, CAREER, REAL ESTATE, CREDIT, DEBT, FRUGAL LIVING, SAVING, BUDGETING, INVESTING, FINANCE, and MONEY MANAGEMENT.

Why should I go?

• To learn 101 MONEY MANAGEMENT MYTHS
• To get some cash from Tips to Make Money on Craigslist
• To Get Rid of Debt Once and for All
• To gain access to a wealth of tips, information, and ideas to improve your finances and your life!

How long will it take?

• As long as you want!
• You choose the articles you are interested in.
• Read the posts at your leisure, and come back at any time.

Where is the CARNIVAL?

• It’s right here.

What are you waiting for?

Go have fun at the carnival!

Categories: taxes, goals

“I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible.”
Milton Friedman

All I can say about this quote is “ME TOO.” Yet I also really like some of the stuff taxes pay for, like roads, national parks, social security, education, etc. So I guess my recommendation on this matter would be to cut all taxes that I don’t like, and keep the ones I like!                         

Main Topic

I have a lot of taxes to complete; our personal family federal, state, and local, my daughter’s, and my corporation’s business tax preparation. I usually tackle this overwhelming annual project by breaking it down into bits. And I try to get the worst ones done first.

Additionally, this year I finally achieved something that I’ve wanted to do for several years. I passed the 2 qualifying exams to volunteer as a tax preparer for low income families. So, on top of all these personal tax returns I must do, I assist others a couple of hours per week with their taxes.

 I like to give back, but I’m also pretty selfish, so I don’t want to do any volunteer work that isn’t interesting and fun for me! And that’s why I chose the tax prep.

So here’s the summation, I have a lot of tax returns to do!

I know that everyone reading this also has to do their own taxes or pay a professional to do them.

 And most of us look at this annual ritual with disdain.

Practical Application

Aside from the benefit of doing something unselfish (for a change), the volunteer tax prep informed me of  INCREDIBLE TAX CREDITS THIS YEAR. Because we are paying some college tuition for our daughter, we got to take advantage of the American Opportunity Grant and got a very nice TAX CREDIT! We also qualified for another credit called Making Work Pay! These credits made the tax preparation a little less painful this year.

A tax credit is the equivalent of FREE MONEY!

So, what is the personal finance task to do NOW in order to feel great?

DO YOUR TAXES NOW AND YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!

Here is why…… You will have gotten them out of the way and they won’t be hanging over your head. Thus, more time for other activities!

You’ll see that you probably qualify for some really cool tax credits this year. If you bought a house or new car, you will probably get even MORE CREDTS.  

Action Step:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it for all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Start your tax prep today. Just do a bit today. And then do a bit more every day until you are finished!

Write and tell me if you started your tax prep and/or finished it. DID YOU FEEL GREAT OR NOT? If you finished and didn’t feel great, feel free to blame me!