Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Each year my taxes get a little more complicated.  I’ve gone from a 1040EZ to a 1040 with a Schedule A and D. This year I added the complication of a limited liability corporation (LLC). I decided it was time to get professional help; I hired an accountant to do my taxes.

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I came across a video recently that does an excellent job of explaining what the credit crisis is and how it came to be. The video uses simple, easy to understand animation. Check it out!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Last Monday President Obama signed the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 into law. There’s a substantial amount of aid in the bill that will benefit states and various interest groups. That said the bill also contains a lot for the average American.
 

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Last week I wrote an article comparing high interest online savings banks.  Since then, a few online banks dropped their interest rates (see table).  Falling interest rates are nothing new. The interest rate on my ING Direct savings account has been on a steady decline for the last 2+ years. It’s gone from an APY of 4.50% all the way down to 1.85%. The last two months alone have seen the APY drop almost 1.00% over the course of four rate adjustments.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I just moved in with my girlfriend.  A couple days prior I accepted an offer on my condo from a potential buyer (more on that in a future post). As soon as the sale of my condo is finalized I’ll begin splitting the cost of my girlfriend’s mortgage with her. For the most part we plan to divide our living expenses right down the middle.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     The American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 was passed by both houses of Congress on Friday night. The last remaining step is for President Obama to sign the bill into law. After negotiations between the House and Senate, the homebuyer’s tax credit was set at $8,000. Further, availability of the tax credit was reduced. Here are the details:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Periodically I think about ways to make more money.  One idea I consider every now and again is getting a second job. Currently, I work 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday at my primary job. If I took a second job I could reasonably work another 20 hours a week. My new, 60-hour work week would look something like this:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Last week I wrote an article on the $15,000 homebuyer tax credit passed by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee as part of the economic stimulus package. Since then, details of the Senate’s $15K homebuyer tax credit have emerged. Here’s what we know:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Several years ago I decided to shift my savings account from my local, brick-and-mortar bank to an online bank. I did so to take advantage of the higher interest rates paid by online banks. Since they don’t have the overhead associated with their brink-and-mortar competitors, many online banks will offer customers a higher interest rate. Here’s a closer look at the three, major online banks:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     The U.S. Senate just voted to authorize a $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers of new, or existing, residences. (The tax credit is equal to 10% of the home’s value up to $150,000.) I can’t begin to emphasize what a huge deal this is. For many potential recipients of the tax credit it’s like the government saying, “If you buy a house, you don’t have to pay federal income tax this year.”

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