Invest In Yourself – Your Career, Future Income Stream, Education And Training

The advice often given to young couples starting off in life is “Not to buy what you cannot afford”. The same basic advice should be heeded by many. If you cannot afford it- then do not buy the item. But what of investing in your own future in terms of an investment in your personal education or training as well as investments in your own personal career. Is this not getting ahead in life? Is this not money well spent? Even if you have to borrow and go into debt is this not money well spent? If at the end of the day , year or decade you will be much further ahead in position , salary as well as benefits in addition to “job” and “personal” satisfaction is this not money, time and effort well spent and allocated. ? Indeed it is and can well be. In the case of your education a dollar borrowed now will result in better jobs- that you will most likely find more challenging and enjoyable , and have a lot more financial reward than a job on the status scale – say as a bus driver or a technician doing oil jobs at your local Wal-Mart. In the case of a vehicle or car loan it may be a godsend. If your vehicle is not reliable – then how can you show up on time, keep your job without an image and reputation of reliability? Not only do you want to keep your employment and income associated with the job but also the job references from your employment superiors for use with other employers for better positions and pay, or for promotion within your present organization. You may even run into a case of promotion within your present firm to another branch office or plant. Not having reliable transport may limit your promotion offerings and flexibility. In addition, if you take out a loan to purchase that vehicle, you may well have upscaled and upgraded your car or SUV, from the models that you most likely would have purchased. By doing so, and driving a higher grade auto model, you may well appear as a more established, senior, more experienced and established employee as well as individual. Fortunately or unfortunately in life most comes down to appearances and perceptions. There may be a much better and / or better paying job but its way across town, or in an area not served by the bus transit system. Or it may be the case that there is bus service - but if devours a good two to three hours a day of travel time. Good bye to your personal social life. You may have all the money in the world – the wealth of Bill Gates Himself and yet no time or energy to enjoy it. So much for all that pay of that new wonderful job. A real step foreword as they say. It is always a case of reward versus cost or cost versus benefit. It is a case by case analysis. In addition you should think of additional or add on costs. Do not stretch yourself too thin – financially. A course at university may not be offered in your calendar year – you will have to complete your schooling fully at a later date than expected. A course may be full – ditto for time delay. Or you may even have to repeat a course or change plans along the way necessitating longer time duration of studies. Leave a buffer of funding both for yourself and as well with the agency that provided the loan – be at bank, savings and loan, credit union or even parents or relatives. Don’t break the bank so to speak at the first step. The same analysis of benefit versus costs prevails in the car / transport / job scenario situation. Many people will drive across town for a bargain to save a dollar and spend $ 10 on gas costs in the process. Incorporate the price of gas into your final net salary not as an aside. Lastly and most importantly – always pay your bills. Never take on more than you can chew, or in this case afford. Before making that commitment for a loan or undertaking always evaluate carefully before signing on the bottom line. It’s not only a matter of convenience. Your credibility itself is on the line, in addition to your personal honor and integrity and reputation. Pay your bills on time – even earlier than required. This applies to all loans – whether they are for rent, mortgage, utility bills, bank loans, charge card payments or student loans. If you cannot pay in full, then at least pay a bit above the minimum payment. If you are really stuck then contact the lender. Explain the situation honestly. Make a commitment and follow through. Remember the whole point of the exercise was your self improvement – an investment in yourself. To not take the exercise seriously is to shortchange yourself and your future opportunities as well as income stream in the future. To borrow for yourself and personal gain make prudent sense.

How Your Bookkeeping Can Boost Your Tax Deductions

One of the keys to bringing your tax strategy full circle is your bookkeeping. It's one thing to know what's deductible and how to maximize your business deductions, but unless that gets reflected in your bookkeeping, it's as if the tax planning never happened at all. Use this checklist!

One of the keys to bringing your tax strategy full circle is your bookkeeping. It's one thing to know what's deductible and how to maximize your business deductions, but unless that gets reflected in your bookkeeping, it's as if the tax planning never happened at all. Use this checklist!
Use this checklist to make sure your bookkeeping is maximizing your travel, meals and entertainment deductions.
____ Get reimbursed for business expenses you pay for personally. Ever been to a restaurant that only takes cash? Or taken a taxi that only accepts cash? Or misplaced your business credit card and had to use your personal credit card? These are just a few examples of when we have to pay our business expenses with personal funds. It's easy to miss these expenses so keep an envelope handy and put all of your receipts in this envelope. Then you've got it handy when you complete your expense report.
____ Code meals that are 50% deductible to a separate account to keep them distinct from other expenses that are not subject to this 50% rule. Many times I see just one meal account in the chart of accounts. The problem with this is that while meals are generally only 50% deductible, some meals are 100% deductible. The mistake that I see most often when I review a prospect's prior year tax return, is all meals are treated as only 50% deductible (because they are all coded to one account) and there is no strategy to identify meals that are 100% deductible.
____ Code meals that are 100% deductible to a separate account to make sure these are deducted in full and not combined with meals that are only 50% deductible.
____ Code your entertainment expenses to a separate account from meals and travel.
____ Code your travel expenses that are not meals and entertainment expenses to a separate travel account. Too many times I have seen an account named "Travel, meals and entertainment" (it happens to be a default account in a popular bookkeeping software) and everything gets lumped into this account. Business travel is 100% deductible so separate it out as part of your bookkeeping system. Otherwise, you will have to sort through that account at the end of the year, or worse, you may forget to sort through that account and everything in the account is treated as only 50% deductible!
____ Use the memo section in your bookkeeping software to make notes about who, what, when, where, how much and the business purpose of your travel, meals and entertainment expenses. This is a great way to strengthen your documentation.
How does your bookkeeping match up?
Proper bookkeeping will boost your tax deductions, particularly for travel, meals and entertainment. This is an area where deductions are regularly missed and not properly documented, but once you know the rules and use my system, you'll find more and more deductions!
** Important Tip! **
Keep your bookkeeping current! What does current mean? One easy way to make sure you are staying current is to review your Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statements once a month. Do this review when you receive your monthly bank statement. Simply reconcile your bank statement and then review your financial statements.
Knowing how to maximize your deductions for travel, meals and entertainment is a key part of a successful tax strategy.