More tax benefits for higher education
One way the government encourages behavior that it sees as beneficial is by offering tax breaks. They offer a mortgage interest deduction to encourage homeownership. They offer deductions to encourage charitable giving. And, they offer tax credits for some college expenses. We wrote about the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) in an earlier post. Here we’ll talk about another education tax credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). Like the AOTC, the Lifetime Learning Credit is a tax credit – not a deduction. This means that the credit directly reduces your tax bill rather than reducing the amount of taxable income. [...]
Didn’t qualify for federal aid…? Consider this!
Most people know that they should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year that their student is in college (see this post for more info). The FAFSA will be used as the application for federal student loans and to determine your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) – [...]
What’s next for you?
So, your son or daughter has finished up their applications. You have the list of schools divided up into top choices, middle choices and safety schools. You’re making plans for the holidays and soon you’ll be making plans for graduation. Looking back, you’ve attended countless games, recitals and performances and [...]
What to consider for Open Enrollment
Fall is open enrollment time for many companies and for some people, open enrollment is stressful. Like most financial decisions, your choice of benefits should be based on your personal financial situation or your family’s financial situation. I see people get tripped up every year when they listen to the [...]
Learning from FIRE and financial freedom
I attended a great conference earlier this month where I had the opportunity to talk to a group of folks who are part of the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. We had some interesting discussions and I’ve thought a lot about those conversations since then. Many [...]
Paying for College – What you need to know
Most families won't have the funding set aside for the full cost of a 4 year degree when their students are ready for college. If you're like most families you will be looking for ways to pay for college without going broke. If your student is in high school it's [...]
Money lessons from Vegetables – Or How your garden is like a portfolio
There are lessons learned in the vegetable garden that you can apply to your investment portfolio. And lessons learned from investing that you can apply to your garden. The Joy of Gardening The Joy of Gardening I used to have a manager who said that gardening was simply a way [...]