Taxes

Student Loans & Politics: Are You Still Paying Yours?

Rita Arens — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:07:33 +0000

When my husband and I got married, we married each other and we married each other's debt. I think we had something like $28k in student loans from my husband when we got together, which we started paying off immediately. Those were the good old days before mortgage and a kid, and we were fortunate to have jobs that paid damn close to what we make combined now, eek, ten years later. If we had to pay those loans off now on top of childcare and all the stuff that comes with rising utilities and food costs and house repairs, we would be in serious trouble. Even back then when everything was (relatively speaking) flush, I lived in fear of being in default of those loans, because what would that do to our credit rating and our ability to buy a house or a car or get a job in the future? Messing with your government loans is serious business: the government can seize your tax returns, garnish your wages and more.

Credit Image: B Rosen on Flickr

Today Obama announced a plan to address student loan repayment while at an event in Denver.

Here's the gist of it from CNN:

The way the Income-Based Repayment Plan works now is that graduates who enroll get charged 15% of their monthly discretionary income to pay off loans, with debt forgiven after 25 years.

Congress passed a law set to go into effect in 2014 that would drop the monthly payment for loans originated that year to 10% of discretionary income and would forgive all debt after 20 years.

And from what I understand after watching the newscast on CNN, Obama wants to speed that up by putting what Congress approved into place next year in 2012.

Blogger Reaction to Obama's Student Loan Announcement

moon cat at LeftinaAlabama is all for it:

The economic benefits of a good education are immense -- to society, not just the student -- but no one should be forced to sign away their paychecks for life in order to secure a college degree.

Professionalstudent wrote on BlogHer.com, calling student loans "The Silent Killer":

In order to finish up my MBA I had to take out yet another loan for 3,000 dollars. Yuck! Nonetheless, I was able to finish school in November 2010 with my Master’s in Business Administration concentrated on Program Management. Ecstatic, I quickly began looking for work. And still, no such luck. In the next few months I will have to start paying back that tedious 70k loan along with my new 3k loan.

But Rachel at Thoughts From a Conservative Mom is very much against Obama's position:

Earth to Obama: Congress is not “dysfunctional”. It’s doing exactly what it was DESIGNED by our Founding Fathers to do: stand as a check against the harmful agenda of an out-of-control Executive Branch.

Updated 4/25/2012

Obama and Romney are taking student loan debates to the people. This morning, the Obama campaign released this video.

Here is Romney's video.

Is speeding up this legislation a good idea or a bad idea? Are you still paying off student loans?

Rita Arens authors Surrender Dorothy and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak. She is BlogHer's assignment and syndication editor.

Want to Start an Etsy Shop? How to Plan for the Year

Rita Arens — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:15:45 +0000

Even though I've never run a business with inventory, I spent several years as a contractor for a large corporation. While doing that, I learned a lot about estimated taxes, expenses, budgeting, etc. I remember thinking it would be way worse if I had material costs and inventory -- things get really complicated then.

Anyone who's ever considered starting an Etsy shop should check out Jason's post about budgeting on the Etsy blog. Jason kicks off his post with the benefits of budgeting:

Planning — A budget provides a vision of where you want your business to be in the future. Use this to create non-financial strategies to reach your financial targets.

Adjusting — A budget will never be absolutely correct. Use it to adjust throughout the year. If your recent results don’t match up with what you wanted them to be, start making different business decisions to reach your plan.

Motivating — When you see those sale numbers that are a challenge, use it as motivation to improve your business.

Credit Image: Etsy Ketsy on Flickr

The Triple Shot Espresso, Tax RE-assesment Day!

PardonMyPoppet — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:03:07 +0000

Remember when I told you I was thankful for tax day? Well…..I may not be quite as thankful now.

We’ve been regularly checking to see when our refund would be deposited to our bank account. Usually it doesn’t take quite so long and we were beginning to wonder. Then, the thin brown envelope showed up in our mailbox this morning. Not the electronic deposit we were hoping for! Turns out the way the tax forms are worded (and the way all the tax programs function), we were double claiming a part of our housing expenses. And not only did we do it for this year (which the government has brought into question), but we inadvertently also did it for last year (which we figured we should probably tell them before they found out 10 years from now and charged us enormous interest!) *Sigh!* Oh well, my brain hurts, and it’s not even 11 AM, but at least we are now squared away with the correct numbers. At least I know I’ll avoid this issue in the future as they said they’ll figure out where the extra number should go and let me know for future years.

What are your tax nightmares? Do you just run and hide at tax season, or pay the big bucks for an accountant to be held accountable?

Warmest regards,

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7 Tax Tips from the Wife of a CPA

anotherjennifer — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:25:56 +0000

I am the wife of an accountant, which means that this time if year is “busy season.” It also means that I function more like a single mom. Typically, at this time if year, my husband works 7 days a week and comes home after the kids are in bed.

I’m not gonna lie. It’s a tough time. I don’t know how single parents do it. By time April comes around, I’m ready to strangle someone.

So, since we’ve past the ides of March, I thought I would throw a few free tips out there for those of you who haven’t done your taxes yet. (What are you waiting for?)

1. If the mention of the words “taxes” or “accountant” make you say things like “I still have to get my stuff ready for my accountant,” stop reading this post and get the darn information over to your accountant now. Seriously. You’re wasting valuable time. We’ll be here when you come back. (Also, I stopped listening after “Oh, your husband must be so busy right now. I need to….”)

Read all of the "tips" on anotherjennifer.com

A Little Bit of Perspective

Momopins — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:07:15 +0000

Like most people, I occasionally find myself in the trap of "Keeping Up with the Joneses". It's so easy to whine about the fact that we can't take that vacation this winter because the windows needed to be replaced, or bemoan the fact that my closet is a shadow of what it once was. In these trying times in our country, so many people are without work, health care, or even a home to live in. That in itself is enough to put things into perspective.

Credit Image: lovstromp on Flickr

The sad truth is that much of the 99% in this country would be considered the 1% in the poorer countries of the world. When I think about it that way, it makes me realize that my family and I have it good-very good. A piece I recently heard on NPR sparked my curiosity, so I did a little research into living conditions around the world. This, in turn, inspired me to compile a short list of things I am grateful for as a parent.

1. Access to clean drinking water - Did you know that "884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people."? Every time I go to put water in a glass for my daughter, I can be relatively sure that what I am giving her won't make her sick-or worse. Not so for far too many people in this world. Here is a truly shocking statistic: "3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease."

2. Access to education for my daughter - My daughter will have the same rights afforded to her, in regard to education, as a boy would. Though it seems much progress has been made in the world, there is still a disparity between the sexes in many countries (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-Asia) "By 2009, the total number of OOS children declined to 67 million. Around 35 million girls were still out of school compared to 31 million boys.

3. Access to sufficient food - I have never known the heartbreak of hearing my daughter cry out from true hunger. Many children in this world-even in our own country-go to bed hungry each night "925 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 percent of them live in developing countries".

4. Freedom of speech/assembly- I need only listen to the news and hear stories of protesters being harassed, beaten, shot at, tortured, or killed in places like Syria or Libya to make me realize how lucky I am in this regard. By and large, the "occupy" protesters in this country have been allowed to gather and protest peacefully. It's easy to take this for granted, but we can call the president or anyone else in government a jerk and not be persecuted for it.

5. Access to healthcare - I am grateful that my family has health insurance. I have been one of the "withouts" at different times in my adult life, but I am fortunate enough to have insurance now-through my husband's employer. The staggeringly high number of people in this country without insurance never fails to make my jaw drop. "The number of people who lacked health insurance last year climbed to 49.9 million, up from 49 million in 2009" I can't imagine how stressful it must be to have a child and not have access to quality health care at a reasonable cost

It's a good exercise to sit down once and a while and take stock in everything I have, instead of focusing on what I want.

Sources:

water.org

web.worldbank.org

wfp.org

money.cnn.com

momopins.com

Tax Day (365 Days of Blessings – Day 119)

PardonMyPoppet — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:28:09 +0000

I am thankful for tax day

I know that sounds completely and utterly insane, but in our house, they day we file our taxes for the year is one of those happy, happy, joy, joy days. Especially when a small mis-entry on a line, unexpectedly nets us a bunch more than we thought we were getting back this year.

I’m also thankful because it means the end of staring at those little boxes, hoping I’ve not missed something important.

The Tax & Financial Implications of Returning To Work

momstowork — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:45:40 +0000

While the majority of women today enter the workforce at some point in their lives, the birth of a child often causes a woman to rethink her career, at least on a temporary basis. Among other concerns, a new mother often must weigh relevant financial concerns, including not only overall household income, but also the costs of daycare, taxes, and other job-related expenses.

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http://MomsToWork.com

Twitter: @MomsToWork