As a smart consumer, you have likely heard that it’s a good idea to get your credit report every year from all three services: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You’ve probably also seen the ever-present “Free Credit Report” commercials on the television (unless you TiVo everything and skip past the commercials!) – so you may be wondering: is that the place to go to get the credit reports? While the service in the commercials will likely provide you with the reports you need, since that service is a “for profit” venture, you’re also likely to get more than you bargained for along with your reports. There are a lot of add-ons that can mysteriously show up, like hidden fees, credit score monitoring, identity theft protection, etc., all of dubious benefit. The Real Answer The ONLY authorized source for requesting your credit reports from all three agencies FOR FREE, with no strings […]
January, 2010:
IRS Guidance Regarding Filing Status
The IRS recently issued Tax Tip 2010-03, which provides taxpayers with guidance on determining filing status for 2009 tax returns. For additional information, you can review IRS Publication 501. The text of IRS Tax Tip 2010-03 follows. Eight Facts About Filing Status Everyone who files a federal tax return must determine which filing status applies to them. It’s important you choose your correct filing status as it determines your standard deduction, the amount of tax you owe and ultimately, any refund owed to you. Here are eight facts about the five filing status options the IRS wants you to know in order to choose the correct filing status for your situation. Your marital status on the last day of the year determines your marital status for the entire year. If more than one filing status applies to you, choose the one that gives you the lowest tax obligation. Single filing […]
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2010 IRA MAGI Limits for a Filing Status of Married Filing Separately
2010 IRA MAGI Limits for a Filing Status of Married Filing Separately Note: for the purposes of IRA MAGI qualification, a person filing as Married Filing Separately, who did not live with his or her spouse during the tax year, is considered Single and will use the information on that page to determine eligibility. For a Traditional IRA (Filing Status Married Filing Separately): If you are not covered by a retirement plan at your job and your spouse is not covered by a retirement plan, there is no MAGI limitation on your deductible contributions. If you are covered by a retirement plan at your job and your MAGI is less than $10,000, you are entitled to a partial deduction, reduced by 50% for every dollar (or 60% if over age 50), and rounded up to the nearest $10. If the amount works out to less than $200, you are allowed […]
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2010 IRA MAGI Limits for IRAs – Single or Head of Household
2010 IRA MAGI Limits for a Filing Status of Single or Head of Household Note: for the purposes of IRA MAGI qualification, a person filing as Married Filing Separately, who did not live with his or her spouse during the tax year, is considered Single and will use the information on this page to determine eligibility. For a Traditional IRA (Filing Status Single or Head of Household): If you are not covered by a retirement plan at your job, there is no MAGI limitation on your deductible contributions. If you are covered by a retirement plan at work, if your MAGI is $56,000 or less, there is also no limitation on your deductible contributions to a traditional IRA. If you are covered by a retirement plan at your job and your MAGI is more than $56,000 but less than $66,000, you are entitled to a partial deduction, reduced […]
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2010 Year MAGI Limits for IRAs – Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er)
2010 IRA MAGI Limits for a Filing Status of Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) Note: for the purposes of IRA MAGI qualification, a person filing as Married Filing Separately, who did not live with his or her spouse during the tax year, is considered Single and will use the information on that page to determine eligibility. For a Traditional IRA (Filing Status Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er)): If you are not covered by a retirement plan at your job and your spouse is not covered by a retirement plan, there is no MAGI limitation on your deductible contributions. If you are covered by a retirement plan at work, and your MAGI is $89,000 or less, there is also no limitation on your deductible contributions to a traditional IRA. If you are covered by a retirement plan at your job and your MAGI is more than $89,000 but less […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
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Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
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Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.