Jer Blog

This month the Social Security Department introduced a new “retirement estimator” on their website at socialsecurity.gov. Getting a personalized online estimate of your benefits is now easier than ever before.

The online retirement estimator is a convenient, secure and quick tool that lets one calculate how much they might expect to receive in Social Security benefits when they retire. The cool feature of this calculator is that it eliminates the need to manually type in years of earnings information.

To use it, just go to www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. To get an estimate, you will need to enter your first and last name, date of birth, SS number, mother’s maiden name and place of birth. If the information matches their records, then you can enter an expected retirement age and future wages. The estimator combines this information with the information they have on file, to provide a quick and reliable online benefit estimate.

Okay, everything is going up. Gas, groceries, electric, you name it, the price of living is rising so much faster than our pay checks over the last few months.

If you are like most people, you are finding that you are less likely to “fill her up” at the gas station; less likely to buying the extra “junk food” you are accustomed to buying at the grocery store, and you are probably being more frugle with the electric around the house.

It is a no brainer that we need to cut corners, and “tighten our belts” during this economic crises.

Unfortunatley, there are a lot of people that are already stretched to their limits, and have been doing cutbacks long before everything was rising in price. Most people only get paid every other week, and they are finding it is hard, if not impossible, to stretch their money over a two week period. Well, fortunately, there has been an influx in small, realtime loans called “Payday Loans”, that are taking the world by storm…

Americans are buried in debt…

According to the Federal Reserve, consumers had racked up $944 billion in revolving credit debt by the end of last year.

If you run debt up so high that you can only make the minimum payment and you will soon find yourself in a situation that you cannot get out of.

For example, if you have $17,000 of unsecured debt, like credit cards, the first $400 you send in each month won’t even reduce the $17,000, it’s just taking care of the interest. What’s more, if you miss a payment, you may get hit with the “universal default” clause that is included in most credit card agreements - which gives your credit card issuers the right to raise your rates in any way that they see fit. This can cause your interest rates to soar and, in some cases, can double your monthly payments. Penalty rates can run from 19 to 24 percent, and folks with bad credit could see a rate of 29% or more!

In today’s world, there are many topics that can creat a heated debate. Politics, animal rights and foreign policy are just a few. However, one that hits a little more close to home, is the subject of buying versus leasing a new car.

According to a recent survey, approximately 23% of the auto market is made up of leased vehicles. However, this large variance does not dictate which option is better, due to the fact that many businesses lease vehicles.

When considering your next auto purchase, how can you decide which path is the best to take? Here are some points to consider when you are thinking about leasing:

1. Lower payments: Lower payments aren’t the only reason to lease. Leasing also offers purchasing flexibility.

2. A worry-free drive: Drivers who lease do not have to worry about watching the value of their car drop every year or deal with hefty repair bills. At the end of the lease term, they can simply turn in the car and walk away.

Everybody has one these days…

I can remember being one of the few people in my area with a cellphone. It has been 20 years now since I got my first cellphone. 20 years? Yeah, I know. Most people never thought they existed back then. Actually they have been around a lot longer, but were mostly used for government and military purposes. It has been around 20 years since they became mainstream…

I can remember my first phone. It was huge! A good ole’ Tandy from Radioshack, and I still have it. No, I don’t use it anymore, but I am keeping it for sentimental reasons, and because maybe one day it will be worth something…

At any rate, times have definately changed, and cellphones have definately evolved…and so have the bills. This day and age, there are countless taxes and hidden fees that go along with having a phone.

Well, here in the U.S. it’s that most wonderful time of the year…..federal tax season.

It is always a mixed-bag of emotions, as some people look forward to it, as other people dread it. There are so many different reasons why federal income taxes affect people differently; marriage, children, self employment, high income, low income, investments, college, career fields, mortages etc., all are a determining factor on how one approaches tax time.

No matter where you stand, the one goal we all have in common, is deductions! Deductions are tax breaks given to taxpapyers for numerous reasons, and they are one the most highly overlooked extras every year, which I am pretty sure would have nothing to do with the highly complex and confusing IRS code of income, that takes well educated scholars to decipher ;0)

At any rate, here are a few of the more forgotten tax deductions:

The first thing you need to do is set a date and time to devote for gathering up your items that you want to sell. Then decide if you are going it alone, or having other families or family members involved. Also, make sure you have plenty of loose change and one dollar bills on hand. I would recommend at least 5 dollars in nickels, dime and quarters, and at least 20 dollars in one dollar bills. You may want to have a few fives and tens as well.

Now start cleaning out your closets, storage, areas, basements and attics of things you don’t want or need anymore. Don’t throw anything away, as you just don’t know what people may buy. You heard the saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”!