Keeping track of personal finances can become like detective work when there is scant evidence of items such as an old bank account or a receipt for a safe-deposit box. This situation arises most commonly for executors of estates or for someone who is taking care of financial matters for an ill or elderly friend or relative.
Miscellaneous
The IRS is Here to Help
To help struggling taxpayers who owe back taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently unveiled a series of new steps to help people get a “fresh start,” to use the phrase invoked by the IRS Commissioner, with their tax liabilities. The general idea is to recognize the challenging economic environment the country faces while also keeping the tax revenue flowing in at acceptable levels. The focus is on changes to the tax lien system and other collection tools already used by the IRS that will make paying taxes a little easier on taxpayers.
Yet Another Hazard on the Golf Course
Hazards to a golfer’s health and safety that come most readily to mind involve swinging clubs and golf balls in flight, usually on unintended flight paths. But the sport also has other dangers lurking, including the garden variety slip and fall. When James, a golfer, sued a golf resort recently over such a mishap, his claim was dismissed, essentially because the particular risk at issue in his case should have been apparent to him and, as such, it was up to him to avoid it.
Hiring A Lawyer? Important questions and considerations.
This video considers some of the reasons for hiring a lawyer and discusses some ways to evaluate lawyers that you interview.
Financially Speaking, Keep It Simple
In theory, we are all in favor of saving time, labor, and space, not to mention avoiding the stress and anxiety that can come from leading complicated and
disorganized lives. In the realm of personal finance, these are all good reasons to resolve to become more simplified and organized, but saying and doing are
two different things. It may help move the process along to break the job up into some very specific things that you can do in addition to making an overall
change in attitude toward your finances. Minutes spent doing this ahead of time could save hours and many dollars later.
Direct Deposit
Don't Lose Your Charitable Deduction
For you to claim a federal income tax deduction for a charitable donation valued at $250 or more, you must obtain from the recipient of the donation a
“contemporaneous written acknowledgment” letter. Failure to obtain such a letter can result in a disallowance of the deduction by the IRS.
The acknowledgment letter, which may be in the form of a thank you letter to you as the donor, should include the following information:
Chalk One Up For The Little Guy
Nate Thoma is not a lawyer, but he is a soft-spoken, yet confident, small investor in Washington Mutual, the big bank that was seized by the federal government
in 2008 and ended up in bankruptcy. As for so many other investors, Nate’s stake in the bank was wiped out. Nate became something of a folk hero during that
tumultuous period when big banking institutions were failing and the little people always seemed to get the short end of the stick as the messes were being
cleaned up.
Nate’s big moment came when, after he had spent untold hours analyzing the Washington Mutual case, the federal bankruptcy judge let him have his say–and at
some length–in a hearing that culminated in an investigation of trading by some very large hedge funds and in the rejection of a bankruptcy plan for the bank.
Social Media In The Workplace
The prevalence of social media, including postings that are meant for employment-related topics in particular, has led to an increase in litigation on the subject between employees and their employers. The scenarios leading the parties to the courtroom are as varied as one might imagine. A company fires a worker over her criticisms of the boss that she posted on Facebook. Repeated attempts by a manager to “friend” a female employee on Facebook eventually leads to allegations of sexual harassment. A disappointed job applicant sues when a job offer is retracted after a hiring manager turns up something about the applicant on Twitter that the manager finds disturbing.
Borrowers, Lenders, And Processing Payments
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is a federal consumer protection law that regulates the real estate settlement process, including the servicing of loans and the assignment of those loans. RESPA places a number of duties on lenders and loan servicers, including requirements that borrowers be given notice by both a transferor and a transferee when their loan is transferred to a new lender or servicer, and that loan servicers respond promptly to borrowers’ written requests for information.
FDIC Insurance Update
Last summer, a law was enacted that raised the standard maximum deposit insurance amount (SMDIA) to $250,000. The law made permanent a previous temporary increase to $250,000 from the former maximum limit of $100,000. The new permanent maximum limit should especially benefit consumers who figure to have more than $100,000–such as in multi-year certificates of … Read more