Although there are many advantages to being self-employed, losing this benefit is a definite drawback.  Luckily, there are some retirement savings plans available for the self-employed, as laid out in the thorough article I’ve linked to.

Basically, here are the retirement plans the article covers:

• SEP IRAs – “Simplified Employee Pensions,” this savings plan allows you to make tax-deductible contributions.  Limits are 20 percent of your self-employment income, or $45,000 — higher than the contributions normal employees can make to their IRAs.
• Keogh Plans – Similar to the SEP, but more like a corporate retirement plan.
• Solo 401(k) – Intended for freelancers and others who work “solo,” this plan allows you to save more than a traditional 401(k) would.  Contributions are tax deductible.
• Roth IRA – To be used in addition to one of the above plans, contributions to this plan are NOT tax deductible, but on the flip side that also means that withdrawals won’t be taxed.

Growing old is expensive.  Not only do you have to worry about supporting yourself, but you also have to plan for medical care and related expenses such as stair lifts and lift recliners for your home.  If you are self-employed, don’t make the all-too-common mistake of neglecting your retirement — read this article on retirement options for the self-employed, and start saving for your retirement today!

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One thing I’ve learned is that generic brands aren’t always the same as the brand name medication. A common problem is that side effects are stronger with generic brands. For example, if you normally get hgh then you may have stronger side effects of hgh if you go with a generic brand of the product. Another problem is that the generic drugs may be less effective than the brand name. That was a problem recently with a generic drug for the brand name antidepressant Wellbutrin.

Most generic drugs are fine to take but it’s best to double check with your doctor before doing so. Of course, none of this helps me since the meds I need aren’t available in generic form yet but I’m hoping that the science on that will come through for me sooner rather than later.

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That’s the bad news. The good news is that if you are fortunate enough to have a decent health insurance plan, you should find that a majority of your costs are covered either in full or to a great extent. The only challenge with many insurers is they will cover the costs associated with the lower end devices.

What does this mean to you? If your health plan will only cover a device at the lower end of the cost scale, you are most likely going to have to pass on some of the smaller, amazing technologically advanced hearing aids that are on the market.

At the end of the day, however, as long as you can get some restoration of your lost hearing, you’ll be in a better place physically and emotional security will be yours. So don’t worry. It will all work out for the best.

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Of course, getting money for the sake of having money must make financial sense. If you are simply going to put a down payment on some toy or other item that is not truly necessary to your continued existence, you may want to think twice; or 3 times before signing the papers. Something that may not be required right now: a new jet ski.

If however you need to make repairs to your car and you just don’t have enough cash to cover the costs, then it can totally make financial sense to consider cash advances. If you cannot get to work and earn your paycheck then you will be broke.

If, with the assistance of an advance, you are able to get your car or truck fixed and are able to continue working and earning your paycheck, then you will have made a wise financial move. Just stay disciplined, pay back your advances, and work towards being able to afford monthly payments on a new, healthy automobile!

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Getting used to not being able to do the things you have always been able to do before and maybe the things that you even took for granted because they were so obvious and so simple would be hard enough without having to worry about how you are going to afford to even survive from now on. It can be absolutely devastating to have to face a sudden and long term disability just that in itself, let alone having to deal with everything else like money.

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Let’s talk about your own health insurance first.  If you are self-employed and have to buy your own health insurance because you can’t get it via a group plan anywhere else, you can deduct it on line 29 of your 1040.  The exception is bolded because it’s worth repeating — you only get this deduction if you can’t get health insurance another way.  For instance, if your spouse has a group plan and you can be covered under it, you don’t get this deduction for the months when that was available — even if you choose to buy your own health insurance anyway.

For example, if you buy your own health insurance, but then your spouse gets a job and you eligible for coverage under his or her group plan in July, you can only deduct your individual plan’s premiums for the first six months of the year — even if you chose to continue your plan.

There is also a mildly complicated way of determining the maximum deduction available to you, which you can read about in this article on the health insurance deduction.

On the other hand, if you have employees and get a group plan for all of you (including yourself), you deduct that as a business expense on Schedule C.  Now your health insurance is considered a cost of doing business, because it’s part of the benefits package you offer your employees.  This cost is entered into Schedule C, line 14.

The latter deduction also applies to any other benefits you offer your employees: dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, etc.  So if you offer dental insurance so that your employees can afford to go to the best Washington DC dentists, you can deduct that expense as the cost of doing business.

Now, there are some other, non-business related health care deductions you can get on your taxes — for instance, if you spend more than 7.5 percent of your income on health care, you can deduct the amount over 7.5 percent from your gross income on Schedule A (but you have to itemize to do so).  So if you required a lot of sedation dentistry in DC, kicking the amount you spent on health care during the year above 7.5 percent of your income, you may have a tidy deduction you can use to reduce your tax liability.

There are so many tax deductions that people don’t take because they don’t know about them.  Be sure to do your research and know what you can and can’t deduct, so that you don’t end up paying more in taxes than you should!

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Money is on everyone’s mind these days. We all want to do what we can to save as much money as possible without having to completely sacrifice all of the fun from our lives. Luckily there are always things we can do to save money. We can even still go on vacation if we’re smart about it!

Here are some basic tips for saving money on a vacation to Orlando, Florida:

• Look for deals on theme parks. If you’re planning to go to the most popular destinations then you should look online for deals in advance.
• Stay in an Orlando Villa instead of at a hotel. Florida villas are often a more affordable housing option for people visiting Orlando.
• Choose one or two nights to eat at restaurants. The rest of the trip, eat food that you’ve packed for yourself. This saves a lot of money.
• Fill some of your time with free activities. You don’t have to spend money the entire time that you’re there. Look for free concerts, parks and other events that don’t cost money.

By making smart choices during our vacations, we can still travel even though we’re trying to save money.

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The first thing we did was look into debt consolidation. We figured if we could pay off our credit cards and the two small personal loans that we have, one monthly payment would be much easier to handle. And we would be saving money by only dealing with one interest rate.

We’ve also gotten a payday loan a couple of times to help us while waiting for my husband’s paycheck. It’s nice to be able to pay our mortgage and car payment on their due dates even when there may not be enough money in the bank.

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As you consider the many types of options you have from stranger owned life insurance to a standard product on the market, you need to know what is right for you in particular. A good way to know this is to simply work with a professional in the industry to gather information. Find out what is right for you and what is not. If you are not sure what your net worth is, then have these professionals help you to calculate it. The key here is just to get into the right life insurance premiums so that you can count on a regular level of protection.

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