If you are in the market for a home right now, you’re probably asking yourself if you should go for a fixed or variable-rate mortgage. How do you find an answer? Fortunately, it’s not all that difficult to make the right choice. First, a little background. Variable or adjustable-rate mortgages (also known as “ARMs”) used […]
Archives for January 2012
The 5 Best Side Jobs You’ve Overlooked
It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior in high school or a senior citizen at the Social Security Office. It never hurts to have a few extra dollars in your pocket. Here are five of the best side jobs to help you achieve just that: 1. Cut Hair Everyone with hair has one common problem […]
Rental Real Estate Tax Loss – How to Avoid an IRS Audit
If you own rental real estate, the government is thinking about you…and not in a good way. The Government Accountability Office reported that 53% of taxpayers with rental real estate misreport when they file their tax returns. That means many property owners overestimated real estate tax loss. The bottom line is that owning rental real […]
Don’t Buy a Leveraged Stock or Commodity ETF Before You Read This
You might be interested in buying a leveraged stock or commodity ETF. These are funds that magnify market returns. A leveraged fund might perform twice as well (or poorly) as a typical fund. If you are concerned about inflation you might look for commodity ETFs to shield you against that problem. And if you are […]
How to Maximize Your IRA Income
Sooner or later, you’re going to start drawing IRA income. Once you start that process, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most money you can. There are two basic principles you need to understand in order to achieve just that: 1. Tap into your taxable accounts first. If you want to invest for […]