Save & Invest Even if Money Is Tight For millennials, today is the right time. If you are under 30, you have likely heard that now is the ideal time to save and invest. You know that the power of compound interest is on your side; you recognize the potential advantages of an early start. There is only one problem: you do not earn enough money to invest. You are barely getting by as it is. Regardless, the saving and [...]
Financial Fraudsters Preying on Boomers & Elders If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you are in or near retirement, it is a safe bet that you would like more yield from your investments rather than less. That truth sometimes leads liars, scammers, and fraudsters to pitch any number of too-good-to-be-true “investment opportunities” to retirees. Given all that and the classic money scams perpetrated on elders, you have good reason to be financially skeptical as [...]
Guarding Against Identity Theft Take steps so criminals wont take vital information from you. America is enduring a data breach epidemic. The latest annual study of the problem from Javelin Strategy & Research, a leading financial analytics research firm, says that 16.7 million people across the nation were impacted by I.D. theft in 2017 an all-time high.1 The problem is getting worse much worse. Last year, 30% of U.S. consumers were alerted about data breaches by firms [...]
Good information from Bottom Line Personal's interview with Adam Levin, JD: Protect Dead Relatives from ID Theft Dont assume that the risk of having your identity stolen lasts only as long as you are alive. More than two million dead Americans become victims of identity theft each year. To an identity thief, the recently deceased are ideal targets. Unlike the living, the dead never notice that they are being victimized and dont take steps to stop these crimes. There is [...]
What Are Your Odds of Being Audited? They are low, unless you show the I.R.S. some conspicuous “red flags” on your return. Fewer than 1% of Americans have their federal taxes audited. The percentage has declined recently due to Internal Revenue Service budget cuts. In 2016, just 0.7% of individual returns were audited (1 of every 143). That compares to 1.1% of individual returns in 2010.1,2 The rich are more likely to be audited – and so are the [...]
