by Michele Cagan | Jul 17, 2025 | Get Help When You Need It, Making Ends Meet, Personal Finance, Protect Your Financial Future, Retirement Planning, You Need to Know This
When you’re dealing with financial struggles, you might need to tap into all of your resources. It can feel really uncomfortable to drain your emergency savings, max out your credit cards, and… finally… start pulling money out of your retirement accounts. That’s the...
by Michele Cagan | Jul 11, 2025 | Do Your Own Taxes, Get Help When You Need It, Making Ends Meet, Personal Finance, Protect Your Financial Future, You Need to Know This
I would never (as a CPA) recommend that you stop paying taxes as a form of protest. Federal income taxes are the U.S. government’s largest source of revenue. So far in 2025, income taxes brought in $1.82 trillion. That’s 52% of total federal revenues! In...
by Michele Cagan | Jun 12, 2025 | Get Help When You Need It, Managing Debt, Personal Finance, Protect Your Financial Future, You Need to Know This
Your credit report holds a lot of sensitive information. It spells out where you live, if you’ve ever been sued, and whether you pay bills on time. Companies sell those reports to businesses that want to check your credit such as: Lenders Landlords Employers...
by Michele Cagan | Jun 12, 2025 | Getting Divorced?, Personal Finance, Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, You Need to Know This
Along with causing emotional and financial upset, divorce can also have an enormous effect on retirement savings. That’s especially true if, within the marriage, there was a significant earnings imbalance. For example, if one spouse earned substantially more than the...
by Michele Cagan | May 5, 2025 | Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Personal Finance, Protect Your Financial Future, You Need to Know This
This blog post was originally written in 2023 during a short time when a small number of banks were failing. The post has been updated to include new and more current information on how to manage your financial anxiety during a banking crisis. Tariffs, layoffs, and...
by Michele Cagan | Mar 6, 2025 | Do Your Own Taxes, Owning Your Own Business, Personal Finance
Note: This article was originally posted in 2017 but has been updated with more current information. Depreciation is the most confusing part of the full home office deduction, but it can substantially minimize your current tax bill. That’s because when you reduce...