We've teamed up with the Dallas-Fort Worth Financial Planning Association to answer your financial questions.
February 2010
Recent Posts
What Should I Sell To Provide For My Required Distribution? Higher Education Tax Benefits for Series EE Bonds Loan Mitigation Rules and Procedures Making work pay credit - 2009 Income Taxes Asset Allocation in Retirement
dallasnews.com
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February 18, 2010
Question: In 2009, my company laid me off in March. I got a W-2 for January through March. With the work that I had done while employed during that time, will I be able to take the EITC credit? Click below for answer
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The entry "Earned Income Tax Credit" is tagged: Earned Income Tax Credit February 17, 2010
QUESTION: This year I will have to take my first RMD for my traditional IRA. Should I sell stocks that have gained or lost for the distribution? P. W. Click below for answer
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The entry "What Should I Sell To Provide For My Required Distribution?" is tagged: IRA , IRA Withdrawals , required minimum distribution , RMD February 16, 2010
Question: My daughter is a full time student and has Series EE savings bonds Jo Ann Click below for answer
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The entry "Higher Education Tax Benefits for Series EE Bonds" is tagged: benefits , Higher Education , Tax , U.S. Series EE Bonds
Question: I was laid off from my job in 2009. I applied to my mortgage bank for a loan mitigation. After 6 months my bank turned my request over to a loan mitigation processing company. The loan mitigation company reviewed my application and determined that I do not qualify for a loan mitigation according to Fanny Mae rules. They will not explain why I do not qualify and are reluctant to give me written notice. Is there any way to get access to the rules? Thank you. Click below for answer
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The entry "Loan Mitigation Rules and Procedures" is tagged: Foreclosure , Mitigation , Modification , Mortgage , Refinance February 15, 2010
Question I am using TurboTax to file my taxes and generally don't have a problem understanding the interview questions but not on this issue. My wife and I both work. I answered the questions on the interview noting that neither of us received SS, railroad or veterans benefits from Nov 2008 - Jan 2009. TurboTax shows my wife and I are eligible for $689 in Making Work Pay Credit. It goes on to say that most people already benefit from this credit by lower federal income tax deductions on payroll. I work for a major company but have no idea if my company has already figured the tax reduction in my withholding or not and I don't know how TurboTax would know that either. Based on what I entered it says I'm eligible for the credit. Is there something I'm missing here or just more of the government handing out money to us we will eventually have to pay back with higher taxes? Thank you Confused in Rockwall
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The entry "Making work pay credit - 2009 Income Taxes " is tagged: IRS , Making Work Pay credit
Question: I know that the limit for an HSA contribution for 2009 was $5950 and I contributed the full amount.
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The entry "HSA Question" is tagged: Heath Savings Accounts
Question: I'm getting close to retirement (within 1 year) and I am confused about asset allocation. I sometimes think I currently have my 401k allocated very aggressively for my age. I have always considered social security and the pension I will receive to be part of my "overall" portfolio, although I realize that these 2 parts are not anything I can self direct or re-allocate. As a result, I've kept my 401K allocation roughly 80-20, (equities-bonds). I'm diversified in my holdings with domestic and international stock funds. Should I be considering the pension and SS this way? Why or why not? Thank you in advance and I'm really enjoying the "Your Money" section in the paper. This type of information is in desperate need in my opinion. -Bruce "Click below for Answer"
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The entry "Asset Allocation in Retirement" is tagged: asset allocation , Retirement Income February 14, 2010
Question My wife and I would like to reduce the amount invested with our FA to save on annual fees. She currently bills us at .90 against our total. This costs us roughly $6000 a year plus we still have to pay load fees etc. on actions taken. About 1/3 of our account is in an IRA which we heard we can remove from the account without penalty but we don't know if the information is true. Nor do we know how to go about actually doing this. We have had an account with our FA for a bout 4 years and feel we want to control some of our own money. Can you help with a suggestion to go about this.
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The entry "Move money without penalty???" is tagged: Financial Advisor , investment fees , load funds February 13, 2010
Question I have an IRA with KBS REIT. I paid $10 per share for 1900 shares and it was worth $19000. In November 2009 I received a statement saying shares were now $7.00 and value $13000. My financial advisor said not to worry, but I am worried. Should I take my money out or stay in this investment? Additional Question: I know you haven't had time to reply but this is my second request. My question is should I roll over what's left into something else, or leave it there as my advisor says. Thank you. Sara, Senior Citizen
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The entry "Worried about my REIT Investment" is tagged: investment , REIT , retirement
Question I read your (Pamela Yip) column regularly but there is a topic that no one seems to want to address. There are many of us in this economy that have had to dip into or completely exhaust their retirement savings. My future retirement, should I do nothing to recover, will rely on my monthly SS check and renewals from my insurance agency. I will be 65 this month, and am earning at a good level again now and I want to start to contribute at least $500 a month into some vehicle. I am healthy and can continue to operate my insurance agency for the foreseeable future. The savings plans I've investigated pay a whopping 1-2%. Do you have any advice to those of us that are starting over instead of retiring? Thanks. Marc
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The entry "Starting over instead of retiring" is tagged: budgeting , financial planning , saving
Question ref: http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/a/21808_taxcredit.htm
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The entry "Question re: $6500 Tax Credit for repeat home buyer" is tagged: home buyer credit , tax credit , taxes
Question My wife and I have not been good stewards of our finances over the last 20 years. We pay our bills, but, ever since I was unemployed for 9 months two years ago, (I'm employed now), we are paying right on the due date, or a few days late. We have called our mortgage company about modifying our loan, but, we make too much money. We have a high debt to income ratio and we just cannot seem to get ahead. What can we do to put ourselves in a better financial position?
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The entry "How to improve our financial position" is tagged: budgeting , financial planning , savings
Question I was laid off from my job in 2009. I applied to my mortgage bank for loan mitigation. After 6 months my bank turned my request over to a loan mitigation processing company. The loan mitigation company reviewed my application and determined that I do not qualify for loan mitigation according to Fanny Mae rules. They will not explain why I do not qualify and are reluctant to give me written notice. Is there any way to get access to the rules? Thank you. John
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The entry "Loan Mitigation" is tagged: loan modification , mortgage February 11, 2010
Question: I have several CD's that I need to move into something that has a better return. Do you have any suggestions? Also, what is the best way to help my grandchildren save for college?
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The entry "Savings" is tagged: Annuities , CDs , investments , savings
Question: My husband and I are both retired with a combined income of over $50,000 from pensions. We have no debt, and we have over $200,000 in CD's. Also, we have about $40,000.00 in Pioneer Mutual Funds. He is 72, and I am 70. Also, we keep about $30,000 in checking accounts. Is there any better place for our money that we put in CD's? Is there any safe annuity? --Linda "Click below for Answer"
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The entry "Financial Planning" is tagged: investments , retirement February 10, 2010
Question: I had a $9,000 IRA at a bank. I withdrew the IRA on it's maturity date and would like to reinvest it in another IRA w/ a mutual fund company. I still want to contribute my $6,000 for this year. Can I transfer the $9,000 without paying taxes and without affecting my contribution this year? Click below for answer
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The entry "How to Properly Transfer an IRA Tax Free" is tagged: IRA Transfer and Contributions
Question: Good Morning- Click below for answer
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The entry "Penalty Free Distributions From 401K and ESOP Plans" is tagged: 401K , Age 55 , ESOP , Penalty , Taxes February 9, 2010
Question: I am retired, 61 years old and living on a pension. I did some consulting work this past year for several small businesses and earned $5000. I have not received any tax forms from these businesses and I don't expect to. How do I report this for tax purposes? What expenses can I deduct? Can I put $5000 into my IRA and avoid all taxes? --Dave "Click below for Answer"
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The entry "Money Question" is tagged: IRA Contribution , taxable income February 5, 2010
Question: On page 19A in Sundays paper appears an ad for First Fidelity (tax & Insurance). Rates are 4.50apy for a liquid account and 4.06 for a CD/CD IRA. In a previous ad these rates were FDIC insured. In light of what other banks are paying, are these rates too good to be true? Thank you,
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The entry "CD rates and FDIC" is tagged: CD , FDIC , FDIC insurance , Interest rates , Rates
Question I am a Single 59 year-old resident of Texas and was unemployed the full year 2009 and received $20,700 in unemployment compensation in 2009 and had $1,875 in federal income tax withheld from this compensation.
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The entry "Tax Return Help" is tagged: 401(k) , income tax , IRA
Question This year I will have to take my first RMD for my traditional IRA. Should I sell stocks that have gained or lost for the distribution?
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The entry "RMD's from IRA" is tagged: IRA , rmd , selling stocks , stocks February 4, 2010
Question: I am currently unemployed, receiving benefits, and working part time after being layed off a year and a half ago. About four years ago, under similar dire circumstances, I took out a $10,000 loan from HFC at a ridiculous rate (about 27%) in order to pay off back property taxes, catch up on my mortgage, etc. I now find that the $256 mo. note is almost impossible to cover. I got a temporary 6 mo. reduced payment , but no longer. My once good credit has crashed after two layoffs, missed mortgage payments, late HFC payments, etc. I'm not the type to let anything go into collection, but it seems that having a 7-year bruise on my credit might be the only way to go. Should I contact them & tell them that I don't want to take this step but that I'll have to if I can't get my rate reduced? Thanks so much for your help...Bill "Click below for Answer"
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The entry "Past Due Loan" is tagged: bankruptcy , debt reduction
Question: I will be retiring at age 55 in April 2010. I have a 401k that I can Thanks --Zoe "Click below for Answer"
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The entry "Retirement Plan Distributions for a 55 year old" is tagged: Retirement Plan Rules; Taking money from Your Retirement Plan February 3, 2010
QUESTION: I am currently working for a Texas school district under the Teacher Retirement System and am qualified to purchase an additional year of service credit at the time of retirement if I pay the full actuarial value. If I retire in Dec. 2010 at 65 years of age with 29 years of service credit, I have figured that I should be able to purchase an additional service year for $17,150 which will increase my pension by $130 per month using option 1 (100% payment to spouse if I predecease him). Is this a wise investment for me to make? My pension should be $3,764/mo (without the additional purchased year) and my husband's social security is about $1,200/month. We have about $300,000 in savings. Our home is mortgage free but needs a lot of work! Thanks so much for your help! P. C. Click below for answer
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The entry "Should I Purchase Another Year of Service?" is tagged: Annuity , Service Credit , Teachers Retirement System , TRS February 2, 2010
Question: We are 59 and need help with our large debt. My husband is currently unemployed and we have only $30,000 in savings. I have about 65,000 in mutual funds. We have 2 kids in college and have taken a lot of student loans. We have a lot of debt on credit cards. Click below for answer
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The entry "Where to get help with large debt problem" is tagged: budgeting , college loans , consolidation , credit cards , Debt reduction , mortgage , spending |