personal finance

Diversify To Reduce Risk … Not Rewards

Diversify to Reduce Risk … Not Rewards

Talk to most any financial planner, and within the first five minutes he’ll mention diversification, then keep going. Most people expect he means something like “don’t put all of your money into one stock,” which is good advice … but incomplete. Diversification does mean divvying up your investments among a variety of types – it’s a good way to protect your portfolio from major pendulum swings in the economy and the financial markets. Since you’ll be holding a lot of different securities, when the price of one drops, it may be offset by an increase in value of another. For…

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What If My Taxes Get Audited?

What if My Taxes Get Audited?

Tax audits are among the most common financial fears, but they don’t have to be – especially with your CPA by your side. Truthfully, though, unless you make more than $200,000 a year, your chances of getting flagged for audit are pretty slim. And with IRS budget cuts severely limiting their ability to even check returns for accuracy, you can bet that the odds are in your favor. In fact, less than 1% of all tax returns filed in any given year get audited. If your return does get singled out, you’ll most likely be able to handle the matter…

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Beware The Latest IRS Impersonation Scams

Beware the Latest IRS Impersonation Scams

“This is the IRS. Records show that you owe a $1,556 tax debt, that must be paid immediately or you could go to court or jail. For your convenience, you can send the funds on an iTunes gift card to this address…” If you’ve gotten a call like that, you’ve been the target of an IRS impersonator. Or maybe you’ve gotten an official looking email from the IRS, informing you of an outstanding tax debt due to a mistake in your tax return. The email instructs you to send a check made out to “IRS” within the next thirty days…

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Don’t Fall Prey To Tax Identity Theft

Don’t Fall Prey to Tax Identity Theft

Millions of Americans have already fallen prey to tax identity theft, and it looks like the problem is growing fast. In fact, one survey found that during the 2016 tax season, nearly 60% of CPAs had at least one client who had fallen victim to this fraud. What’s even more alarming: Most of the victims had no idea that the theft had occurred until they went to file their own returns. Here’s how the scam works: A criminal gets a hold of your basic personal information, including your social security number. Then he goes to the IRS website to get…

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