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Keep up to date on the latest tax and accounting news and updates to our firm.
Keep up to date on the latest tax and accounting news and updates to our firm.
Do you know your net worth?
Find out why knowing this number is one of the most important financial concepts you'll want to understand. If you own a small business, read about why you should consider hiring your kids for a part-time summer job.
Also find out how a continuous 12-month forecast can help you better organize your finances and tax obligations, and take a look at some of the most popular podcast genres playing over the cyber airwaves today.
Please call if you would like to discuss how this information could impact your situation. If you know someone who could benefit from this newsletter, feel free to send it to them.
Knowing your net worth and understanding how it is changing over time is one of the most important financial concepts that everyone needs to understand. This number is used by banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies and you! Your net worth impacts your credit score, which in turn impacts your interest rates and things as mundane as the amount you pay for auto insurance.
A simple definition
Your net worth changes over time, reflecting how you spend your money. For example, if you have tons of bills and spend more than you bring in, your bank account balances will be lower. If you spend a lot on your credit cards, your debt will go up. The net effect is a lower net worth.
Everyone has a net worth
Yes, everyone. Even a 6-year-old with money in their piggy bank has a net worth. If your child is saving up for a bike, they will convert one asset (cash) into another asset (their new bike)!
Calculating your net worth
Why you should know your net worth
Knowing your net worth contributes to the big picture of your financial circumstances. Here's why it's beneficial to know your net worth:
Knowing your net worth and how to calculate it can help you achieve some of your financial goals. Please call if you'd like help calculating and understanding your net worth.
It’s an audiobook! It’s a radio show! No, it’s a podcast!
Podcasts have taken the world by storm over the past decade. Whether you’re a seasoned podcast consumer or first-time listener, navigating the podcasting landscape can be overwhelming. Here is what you need to know.
Podcast basics
Its beauty comes from its simplicity – the spoken word recorded and uploaded to the internet. It can be as basic as one person reading the top news stories of the day or as sophisticated as a highly-produced, multi-layered story that takes a full-time crew and multiple episodes to narrate. Its low cost to entry and wide reach attracts podcasters small and large to create a vast library of content available in every genre you can imagine.
Unlike over-the-air radio, podcasts are not regulated by the FCC, so anything goes. If foul language and mature subjects are not your thing, carefully read descriptions and reviews so you understand the nature of the content. Many podcasts will also put a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode if it contains mature themes.
Podcasts are also easy to find and use. Simply search podcasts and follow the instructions to use them. The more popular apps for listening to podcasts include Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google.
Popular podcasts
Summer’s almost here, and soon most children will be on their long-awaited summer vacation. If you own or manage a business, have you thought of hiring your children, nieces, or nephews for a summer job?
If you do it right, it can be a win-win situation for everyone.
The kids will earn some money and gain valuable real-life experience in the workplace while your business will have some extra help during summer months when other staff may be on vacation. If it’s a family business, there might even be some tax advantages as well.
If your child is doing a valid job and the pay is reasonable for the work, your business can generally claim a normal tax expense for wages paid. Your child will probably pay no or very little income tax on the wages they earned. And if the child is under age 18 and your business is unincorporated, neither your child nor your business will have to pay Social Security or Medicare payroll taxes in most cases.
To make the arrangement work, follow the following guidelines:
Tax and financial planning is a year-round proposition. In fact, you can benefit personally from a continuous, 12-month rolling forecast, much like a business does.
What is a rolling forecast?
Rolling forecasts let you continuously plan with a constant number of periods 12 months into the future. For example, on January 1, you would plan what your financial picture looks like each month through January 1 of the following year. When February 1 rolls around, you would then drop the beginning month and add a forecast month at the end of the 12-month period. In this case, you add February of the next year into your 12-month forecast.
The month you add at the end of the 12 months uses the finished month as a starting point. You then make adjustments based on what you think might happen one year from now. For example, if you know you are going to get a raise at the end of the year, your next-year February forecast would reflect this change.
How to take advantage of a rolling forecast
By doing tax and financial planning in rolling 12-month increments, you may find yourself in position to cash in on tax- and money-saving opportunities within the next 12 months. Here are several strategies to consider:
While initially setting up a rolling 12-month forecast can be a bit of a pain, once established, it is pretty easy to keep up-to-date as you are simply rolling forward last month into the future. A well-planned system can often be the first sign of future challenges or potential windfalls!
Knowing your net worth and understanding how it is changing over time is one of the most important financial concepts that everyone needs to understand. This number is used by banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies and you! Your net worth impacts your credit score, which in turn impacts your interest rates and things as mundane as the amount you pay for auto insurance.
It’s an audiobook! It’s a radio show! No, it’s a podcast!
Summer’s almost here, and soon most children will be on their long-awaited summer vacation. If you own or manage a business, have you thought of hiring your children, nieces, or nephews for a summer job?
Rolling forecasts let you continuously plan with a constant number of periods 12 months into the future. For example, on January 1, you would plan what your financial picture looks like each month through January 1 of the following year. When February 1 rolls around, you would then drop the beginning month and add a forecast month at the end of the 12-month period. In this case, you add February of the next year into your 12-month forecast.