Comments on: Six End of Year Tax Tips and Financial Budgeting Software http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips-financial-budgeting-software/ The blog of the free, simple personal finance solution. Track all your spending automatically, find the best deals, save more money. And save the world. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:48:42 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Justin Dux http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips-financial-budgeting-software/comment-page-1/#comment-28786 Justin Dux Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:08:08 +0000 http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips/#comment-28786 On the subject of leveraging your home, I would add that some people are able to avoid more taxes with a home equity line of Credit(HELOC). I am not an accountant so talk to yours about business deductions from the HELOC. If you are also a business owner, running much of your expenses "through" a HELOC is a form of financing that can give you additional deductions at the end of the year without costing you any inconvienence. On the subject of leveraging your home, I would add that some people are able to avoid more taxes with a home equity line of Credit(HELOC). I am not an accountant so talk to yours about business deductions from the HELOC. If you are also a business owner, running much of your expenses “through” a HELOC is a form of financing that can give you additional deductions at the end of the year without costing you any inconvienence. ]]> By: Bumbiz http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips-financial-budgeting-software/comment-page-1/#comment-15910 Bumbiz Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:34:30 +0000 http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips/#comment-15910 A donation of 10 000 $ is not for ordinary people but there are other options to... A donation of 10 000 $ is not for ordinary people but there are other options to… ]]> By: Jason M. Putorti http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips-financial-budgeting-software/comment-page-1/#comment-13644 Jason M. Putorti Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:41:14 +0000 http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips/#comment-13644 Be careful with capital gains and losses. It's not quite that simple, say you lose $3,000 on a stock, and want to sell it to get a loss on your taxes. If you want to buy that stock again in 30 days, and then say you make back that $3,000, you now have capital gains, whereas before you would have had nothing. Talk to your accountant and understand whether you really need the loss before you pull the trigger. Jason M. Putorti Lead Designer, mint.com Be careful with capital gains and losses. It’s not quite that simple, say you lose $3,000 on a stock, and want to sell it to get a loss on your taxes. If you want to buy that stock again in 30 days, and then say you make back that $3,000, you now have capital gains, whereas before you would have had nothing. Talk to your accountant and understand whether you really need the loss before you pull the trigger.

Jason M. Putorti
Lead Designer, mint.com

]]> By: Drew McManus http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips-financial-budgeting-software/comment-page-1/#comment-13455 Drew McManus Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:10:44 +0000 http://www.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/six-end-of-year-tax-tips/#comment-13455 Lots of people give to charity at the end of the year in the hope of maximizing tax benefit, and this sometimes leads to some rash giving decisions. Most donors don't realize they could get that year-end tax benefit without rushing the decision of what charity gets their donation. That's because most people don’t know about Donor Advised Funds. In a nutshell, a DAF provides you a place to “park” money that you have earmarked for charitable giving. You get the immediate tax benefit, but can take your time deciding which charities will get your donation. Unfortunately, DAFs are out of reach for most people. DAFs usually require a minimum donation of $10,000. Most funds charge management fees, and often the minimum grant you are allowed to make to a charity is $250. I run a company called Bring Light (www.bringlight.com) that delivers the benefits of a DAF without the minimums. Using a Bring Light Donor Account, anyone can realize the benefits of a Donor Advised Fund–-benefits that are usually only available to people who have lots of money to give away. See this blog entry for more info: http://blog.bringlight.com/?p=47 Drew McManus President and Co-Founder Bring Light, Inc. www.bringlight.com Lots of people give to charity at the end of the year in the hope of maximizing tax benefit, and this sometimes leads to some rash giving decisions. Most donors don’t realize they could get that year-end tax benefit without rushing the decision of what charity gets their donation.

That’s because most people don’t know about Donor Advised Funds. In a nutshell, a DAF provides you a place to “park” money that you have earmarked for charitable giving. You get the immediate tax benefit, but can take your time deciding which charities will get your donation.

Unfortunately, DAFs are out of reach for most people. DAFs usually require a minimum donation of $10,000. Most funds charge management fees, and often the minimum grant you are allowed to make to a charity is $250.

I run a company called Bring Light (www.bringlight.com) that delivers the benefits of a DAF without the minimums. Using a Bring Light Donor Account, anyone can realize the benefits of a Donor Advised Fund–-benefits that are usually only available to people who have lots of money to give away.

See this blog entry for more info: http://blog.bringlight.com/?p=47

Drew McManus
President and Co-Founder
Bring Light, Inc.
http://www.bringlight.com

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