Starting this year, New Jersey is requiring all residents to have health insurance. Even though the Federal government has gone in the opposite direction, there are a handful of states that have their own mandates or are considering a mandate. What are some of the requirements, exceptions, and penalties regarding this new law? Requirements: The […]
Debt
Small Business, Large Profits
All small business owners want to increase sales, open new locations, obtain more customers, add employees and grow, grow, and grow some more. It sounds good, but is it really necessary? Is there an alternative? Necessity: It is necessary to grow your business as the alternative isn’t too appealing. You have financial obligations and people […]
8 Red Flags That Could Trigger an IRS Small Business Audit
My colleague, Brad Paladini, has granted me permission to post this article that was originally posted on his blog: Last year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audited just over one million returns. That’s a lot less than the 1.74 million returns they audited in 2010, but it’s still no fun for the millions of taxpayers that had […]
Be Careful When Making Online Payments to the IRS
We usually recommend that taxpayers make their tax payments online to the IRS and states. Here are the benefits, but a few caveats to watch out for: Benefits: When making payments online, your payments are generally credited on the day that you make the payment. Additionally, you can clearly apply your payments to a prior […]
Is It Better to Pay Off Debts or Invest?
Almost everyone has some sort of debt and economic data shows that this is the case. Between mortgages, student loans, credit cards, business debts, and auto loans and leases (yes, a car lease is debt), many people find themselves allocating large portions of their income towards debt payments. When you are in a position to […]
So You Want to Flip Homes?
Buy a house, put in a few improvements, and then sell it for a much higher price. Do it again and again. It sounds so simple, but here are a few pointers to keep in mind if you want to succeed with house flipping: Experience: If your experience in real estate is performing repairs on […]
5 Financial Truths
There is a lot of information out there about finances, and it’s hard to figure out what is exactly true or not true. Always seek the truth, especially from someone that is not trying to sell you something. Here are some examples: College: We are led to believe that all of our children must go […]
IRS and NJ Taxation Highlights
Yesterday I attended a continuing professional education seminar with speakers from both the IRS and the State of New Jersey. Here are some highlights after all of the recent Federal changes and also many New Jersey changes that most people are not aware of: Your paycheck may be under withheld: After the new Federal […]
Does Money Really Matter? 3 Different Views
People tend to fall into 3 different categories of how they view money, which ultimately impacts how they manage it. How important should it be to you? Love of money/materialism: Thus is the most extreme view whereas you practically worship money. Earning more and obtaining more just to earn more and have more. It can […]
How and Why to Strengthen Your Personal Finances to Increase Profits
Most people view their business to be a completely separate entity from their personal finances, and rightly so. This is generally true from a legal, tax, and accounting standpoint, whereas your business operations and finances should be separated from you personally. However, most small business owners are completely dependent upon their business to support them, […]