Don't get in the habit of giving interest-free loans, update your W-4

Just finalizing my family's 2007 Federal and State tax returns using my TurboTax software, I realized I was due a refund, accepting the fact that I lost the opportunity to collect interest throughout the year on my overpayment. If you find yourself collecting a refund this year, take the time and analyze your W-4. To complete this analysis, you should be prepared to forecast your salary and the deductions that you expect in the coming year, most tax software packages have this featured built in….By updating your W-4, you will create additional savings $'s depending on the amount. I would open a new savings account to help you manage this process, prefer to use the ING Direct account.

Here are some calculations that show you how much you savings you can create:

Assumptions:
- Assumes deposit at the end of the month, to link with your pay cycle
- Interest is earned at the end of the month, using 4% per annum
- Pay your tax bill at the end of March in the following year

For a refund of $1,200, you will earn $35
For a refund of $2,400, you will earn $69
For a refund of $3,600, you will earn $104

Here is a copy of my calculations



Another small step to your future financial success and take the few minutes to update your W-4.

Duh!.....Rookie Mistake

As a follow-up to my last post for purchasing Turbo Tax Premier 2007 on Ebay, I realized that I made a rookie mistake. I actually had bids on two on-going Ebay auctions for the software and ended up winning both. I was so excited to capture the savings on the software that I failed to go back and delete my previous bid on a seperate listing.....

And no, I am normally not that bad when it comes to purchasing items online. In the last few weeks, I have been unsuccessful in winning any auctions for this software, always losing at the last moment. That is why I was submitting bids on multiple listings, hoping to win one.....

So with that said, I would rather just sell the extra copy of software to one of my readers at a discounted price, including shipping....So here is the deal if you are interested...

To the first person that sends me an email stating that they would like to purchase my extra copy, they will have 2 days to submit a paypal payment to etstockideas@gmail.com for the amount of $45, I will send you one newly sealed version of Turbo Tax Premier 2007. I will not charge you any shipping, $45 is the total price...

If I don't receive any interest by the end of Feb 2008, I will list this software on Ebay...

It is that time of year again...Tax Time

So it is that time of year for me to organize all of my tax info and prepare for the enjoyable process of completing my personal tax forms with the use of Turbo Tax, my software of choice. As a finance professional, I have completing my taxes for the last 7 years or so. I have also helped some of my family members in their quest to meet the April 15th deadline.

Normally, I would drive to the local Best Buy store to pickup the CD version of TurboTax Premier. Entering this year, I have noticed that the software (Federal + State) is retailing around $74. Even though this charge is tax deductable in the tax preparation fees, I decided to try and find the best available deals for the software.

Reading up on some of my favorite blogs for some market research, MyMoneyBlog posts a link to receive a 25% discount for the TurboTax Online product. Click this link if you are interested:

Link to Turbo Tax Online Discount

Doing this for as long as I have, I have grown accustomed to installing the software and having it readily available in the future, if needed. So understanding my preferences, I go to Amazon.com and here are the latest deals:




But I like to take my potential savings a step further, I have been reviewing some of the closed auctions on Ebay and noticed that you can probably close a deal for around $50 which includes shipping....So I should have my software any day now and will also deposit $11.55 into my blog savings account (difference from my Ebay price and Amazon price).

Author Disclosure: I do not own shares of any company mentioned in the above article.