Variable Universal Life insurance or in short VUL is sold by insurance agents as a smart investment to unsuspecting people. The pitch usually goes like this: You invest in VUL. The money in the policy grows tax deferred. You get to choose what you invest in, stocks, bonds, international, you name it. It’s like a […]
Commutative Law of Multiplication
Commutative Law of Multiplication is a fancy way of saying when you multiply two numbers, it doesn’t matter which number you put down first and which number you put down second. a * b = b * a This basic law of arithmetic is taught in the second grade in elementary school. Yet it is […]
Tax and Inflation Penalize Savers
I bought some EE savings bonds in May 2002. Today is the first day I get to redeem them without penalty. Each $100 saved back then is now worth $118.40. This is one of my worst investments in the last five years. My return on these EE savings bonds is 3.44% a year over the […]
TurboTax Online Data Exposed
User stratton on the Bogleheads forum posted this news report from an NBC TV station in Washington, DC: Glitch Gives Woman Access To Others’ Turbo Tax Information Apparently TurboTax Online had a security hole that allowed a user to pull up tax returns from other users with the same last name. She was able to access tax […]
Which Vanguard Money Market Fund?
I mentioned in my simplifying finances post that I use a Vanguard money market fund instead of an online savings account for my short term savings. I use a Vanguard money market fund for simplicity and because it gives me a higher yield after tax. Vanguard offers 4 taxable money market funds and 6 tax […]
Tax Deduction Denied
I started doing my taxes last weekend. I’m not ready to file yet, but I just wanted to see where I stand. When I compared my first run with my 2005 tax return, I noticed that although my income was higher in 2006, my total itemized deduction was a few thousand dollars less than that […]
Tax Software: E-File or Mail?
This is part 3 of my posts about tax software. Other parts in this series: Part 1: Tax Software: Online or Desktop? Part 2: Tax Software: TurboTax, TaxCut, or TaxAct? Part III: E-File or Mail? In previous years, both TurboTax and TaxCut included one free Federal e-file rebate in their deluxe edition and up. This […]
Tax Software: TurboTax, TaxCut, Or TaxAct?
This is part 2 of my posts about tax software. Other parts in this series: Part 1: Tax Software: Online or Desktop? Part 3: Tax Software: E-File or Mail? Part II: TurboTax, TaxCut, or TaxAct? Which one do you choose among the 3 major tax software packages, TurboTax, TaxCut or TaxAct? It will depend on […]