Using the closing numbers of the DOW as a measure of your financial fitness may not be as reliable as you might think. In Ron Lieber’s article, Time to Assess Your Financial Fitness, he shares a list of personal markers which may yield a more accurate view of your money’s growth. In the end, he offers this closing statement, “Aiming higher when it comes to saving is almost always a worthwhile goal. But building a safety net beneath you ought to be a higher priority in the new year.”
I Here By Resolve, Not to Resolve
What are your resolutions for 2015? Maybe one of them should be to not have any. How does that statement make you feel? Are you ready? Dare to dream!
Why My Only Goal For 2015 Is To Have No Goals At All by: Claire Jordan
Forms, Number Crunching, Taxes, HELP!
Exemptions, penalties, reconciling… What do you need to know to accurately complete your tax forms this year? If you received a subsidy from the Affordable Care Act or were without health insurance for more than three consecutive months, there will be new tax forms which could bring the need for more serious number crunching. For example as a subsidy recipient, if your income changed, you may be re-paying part of what you were given. Taxes can be stressful in an average year, so make sure you have plenty of time to research and complete all of your forms. And don’t forget that accounting professionals (as myself, debra@nw-cpa.com) are here to help you!
Affordable Care Act’s Tax Effects Now Loom for Filers
Blurred Lines
Quick, make a list of all the jobs you’ve held to this point. Ever worked two jobs? One in the decidedly white-collar sector while the other was in the more blue-collar service industry? In her article, Your Professor, Your Waitress, Brittany Bronson explores the current need for “survival” jobs along with many career choices. As a professor at the University of Nevada and a waitress on the side, she has firsthand experience. Her main concern is that showing her students that she must have a second job is destroying the facade of success I present as one of their university mentors.
Governmental Step Child?
What do you feel when I say IRS? They rank about like Biblical tax collectors in most circles and after their scandalous conference spending along with $2.8 million in bonuses to tax-delinquent employees, it stands to reason. But another spending cut for the IRS may worsen the already growing issues in the areas of enforcement and customer-service functions that have occurred since the last reduction in funds. I mean, who enjoys listening to hold music for an hour just to find out how to properly complete section T-1 on Tax Form IDK WUM 44EZ?
Analysis: Spending bill’s IRS cuts could harm tax enforcement
Accountant/Gallery Owner/Musician
What do you wish you could do if you had the time? Ever thought about making it part of your daily routine? These young professionals are doing just that and finding great excitement and fulfillment. Kind of sounds like a lot of work!
The Lives of Millennial Career Jugglers
Equal Pay for Equal Work?
Does your company have practices in place to examine the pay gaps between men and women? Do you have any idea if the man in the cubicle next to you makes more for the same work? Many companies are beginning to take a serious look at these inequalities using special programs that compare a list a variables. Some even offer their managers a salary calculator for use during hiring. The glass ceiling manifests in many ways and at different levels depending on the company. Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kotex and Huggies diapers, built an analytics team over the last few years, which includes regular pay equity reporting. But the team also identified points where women were hitting a glass ceiling…
Vigilant Eye on Gender Pay Gap
They’ll Never Let It Go and We Wouldn’t Want Them To
Disney tends to make more off of the branded merchandise than the movie itself, wild huh? “We create products that extend the storytelling — the emotional connection that the consumer has when they’re seeing the film carries on in the three-dimensional world,” says Josh Silverman, the executive vice president for global licensing. And they hit the jackpot in a big way with Frozen. Spanning the ages and the sexes. So, do you have an Elsa, Anna or Kristoff at your house? Or would you secretly like to be one of the characters yourself? I’m sure Disney can help you with that.
How Disney Turned ‘Frozen’ Into a Cash Cow
You Got Your Art Gallery In My Accounting Office!
Ideas
abound in our current media/internet driven society and it doesn’t take much to make your business look and feel legit. This trend has opened the door to just about everyone with an idea, no matter of age. Alexis Ohanian, co-creator of Reddit attests to the fact that all you really need is an idea and an internet connection. I’ve got an art gallery in my accounting office space. What will you create?
Be a Creator and Change the World Says Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit
Save Now, Save Later
Up for a challenge? Then give “No-Spend-November” a try. Be part of this new trend and see what it can do for you. The woman featured in the article says it saved her finances and even helped her get on the path to saving for various goals. Just imagine if skipping the takeout for a month could free up the cash to pay-off a credit card or finance that trip you’ve been wanting to take? Would you be willing to try it? You know you want to, so get thinking and stop spending!