Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein

Uncle Sam is hurting for money. Currently the U.S. is facing a staggering $1.6 trillion budget deficit. Add on to that the incredibly expensive, and increasingly insolvent, Social Security and Medicare programs and the picture is even worse. To close the deficit, and continue to fund future obligations, the federal government will almost certainly raise income taxes.

[Read more →]

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Recently I received a couple questions from readers about how I invest my retirement funds. I thought it would be useful to share my answer with everyone. Don’t view my approach as advice on how to invest your retirement money. When investing you need to weigh factors such as your age and level of risk tolerance. As such, what’s best for me, may not work for you. Hopefully, though, reading about my approach will help you to consider some things when determining how to allocate your retirement dollars. Here’s how my retirement asset allocation shakes out:

[Read more →]

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Recently, I received the following question from a Financial Fellow reader:  “At 32 years old, is it worth borrowing money ($3,000 - $5,000) from my credit card to max out my Roth IRA this calendar year if I know I could pay off the borrowed loan within 1 to 2 years time at a relatively reasonable low or fixed interest rate (say 7%)?” Great question! Here’s my answer:

[Read more →]

   Written by J.P. Wicklein
     The following summarizes each of the Financial Fellow articles for November 2008 in two sentences or less.
1)   How to Avoid a Big Tax Refund:  If you wish to increase your take home pay throughout the year, while decreasing your annual tax refund, you can do so by increasing the number of [...]

[Read more →]

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     In the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought it appropriate to make a list of financial things to be thankful for.  Although some of the items listed below are certainly negative they also present a silver lining.

[Read more →]

   Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Ever wonder what tax bracket you’re in?  To answer this question you need to know your taxable income for the year. The last taxable dollar you earned in a year will tell you what tax bracket you belong in. For example, if you had a taxable income of $68,000 during 2008 the last taxable dollar you earned for the year is the $68,000th dollar.

[Read more →]

   Written by J.P. Wicklein

     In 1998, the U.S. Congress created the Roth IRA.  The Roth IRA differs from the Traditional IRA in several ways - the key difference being its tax structure. Whereas contributions to a Traditional IRA are often tax deferred, contributions to a Roth IRA are made with earned income that has already been taxed. Each type of IRA offers its own set of advantages.

[Read more →]