Money501 -

• Are US Income Taxes Illegal
  

  You've probably seen programs advertised that say they can show you how to not pay anything in income tax. Many of these programs make statements that the US income tax is illegal and as such it is unenforceable. I've heard people claim that they don't pay any taxes and that the IRS leaves them alone because the IRS knows it is legal for them to not pay tax.

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• How to Make $82,400 Tax Free
  

  The US taxation system is generally designed to tax everyone on money they make from any source inside or outside of the US. In some cases you can end up paying double tax on foreign source income because it is taxed in the foreign country and again in the US. However, there is a provision that will allow you to earn $80,000 without paying tax to the US government.

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• Personal Health Insurance
  

  For many people, the primary reason they work for someone else is because of health insurance. The fear of not being able to afford medical care, keeps people from starting their own business, retiring, or doing what they really want to with their life.

  The reason for this concern is because of the high cost of insurance. Most people who look into getting their own health insurance get a quote, discover that the fees are very high, and stop looking. In this article we are going to examine several ways to get insurance that is less expensive.

  High Deductible

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• Income and Quality of Life
  

  Salary should be part of what you look for in a job, but if you just focus on how much you will be making you are setting yourself up for problems. If you make $60,000 per year, but live in an area where the average house costs $500,000 per year you may be better off taking a job for $30,000 per year where you can buy the same size house for $80,000. Most people tend to look at their yearly income, but forget to pay any attention to their living expenses. You'll be able to pay off a $80,000 house off much quicker on a $30,000 per year salary than trying to pay off a $500,000 house on a $60,000 salary. On top of that if the real estate market takes a dive, the $500,000 is likely to lose a whole lot more value than the less expensive house.

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• Benefits of using Credit Cards
  

  Credit cards can get a lot of people in trouble. The interest rates are high and undisciplined shoppers can acquire a huge amount of debt very quickly. However there are many benefits in using a credit card for your purchases. For example: credit cards can be one of the most useful tools in tracking your expenses. They way they work is beautiful and simple. You make a purchase on your credit card, the charge is sent to the bank, the bank approves the transaction, and the bank posts it on a website or makes it available for you to download into your personal financial software.

  You can't beat the ease of use for record keeping. It almost happens automatically. For people who pay the balance at the end of each month there is no expense for this service. In fact with the reward programs available on most cards, banks basically pay you to use the card.

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• Keeping Track of Your Finances
  

  One of the most important steps in controlling your finances is simply tracking where your money goes. You can’t manage your money unless you understand where it is going. Many people don’t track their expenses unless they are under financial strain. When finances are tight people tend to allocated money to different categories and then try to stay within the amount allocated. This is commonly called a budget.

  Keeping track of your finances when you are not in a financial bind has many benefits. For one you can get a good view of your spending as it is instead of trying to control it. Understanding your spending habits can be very insightful. You may find that you are happy with how you spend your money. It is also possible that you’ll find some areas where you are spending more than you really feel is necessary. For example, many people find that they spend much more on eating out than they realize. Once they realize this, they may decide that investing in a grill for their home is better use of their resources and more in line with their priorities. It is also possible to discover that you aren’t spending as much as you’d like in certain areas. Savings and charitable giving are two areas that come to mind, but you may find that your spending doesn’t reflect your true interests and want to allocate more money to certain activities.

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• Tax Free Retirement
  

  The government wants you to save for retirement. To encourage this, they offer you special tax incentives to save. There are several savings methods that allow you to put money into savings for retirement without requiring you to pay tax on that money. As an example, consider $2,000 that you earn and stick in your checking account. When you earn $2,000 the government will take about 30% in taxes. Most of this money is taken out before it goes to your paycheck, so you never see it. So when you earn $2,000 you actually only get $1,400.

  If you put $2,000 in certain retirement accounts however, the government doesn’t take their 30%. So when you earn $2,000 you get to keep put the entire $2,000 into savings. When you go to take it out at retirement, you have to pay taxes on it, but since your are likely to be in a lower tax bracket when retired, you’ll pay much less in taxes. Also, by putting the entire $2,000 into a savings account now, you get the benefits of compounding interest on an extra $600 which is pretty significant.

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