For each of the past 10 years, I have used TurboTax online to do my taxes. It's simple, makes filling out my taxes easy, and automatically carries my information forward from year to year.
Every year I have managed to find referral links or codes to reduce the cost of using the service. In recent years, I have been somewhat amazed at the varied levels of discounts that can be had, simply by finding the correct links. In most cases, no validation or verification is required either - you simply need to have the right link.
To simplify the process for others who might be interested, I am listing a small sampling of the links that I found this year
10% from my local bank (link removed - these are available through nearly every bank though)
15% from ADP
http://turbotax.intuit.com/microsite/home.jsp?priorityCode=3468344608&cid=all_probus_aff_3468344608&_requestid=109256
25% from Fidelity (This link does require proof of a Fidelity account via login)
http://personal.fidelity.com/planning/tax/tax_content.shtml
25% from USAA
http://turbotax.intuit.com/microsite/home.jsp?priorityCode=3468339893&requestId=&cid=all_usaa&_requestid=7998
30% from Chase
http://turbotax.intuit.com/microsite/home.jsp?priorityCode=3468340361&cid=all_chase_aff_3468340361&_requestid=109228
35% from T Rowe
http://turbotax.intuit.com/microsite/home.jsp?priorityCode=3468339796&cid=all_trowep1_aff_3468339796&_requestid=22321
I personally used the 35% link from T Rowe, and did indeed receive the appropriate discount.
One other important point - if you do your taxes in multiple sessions, be sure to use one of these links the very last time when you submit the taxes and pay. If you do not use the link at that time, you will not receive the discount. You should be able to verify before ever authorizing the credit card payment that you will receive the correct discount.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The End
I'm sure nobody will be horribly disappointed to see this, as I haven't exactly had a tremendous number of posts, but as of today I am not planning to update this site any longer.
I actually had several additional topics I intended to add, but I never seemed to make the time for that to happen.
Now, however, the economic and financial screw-up (no, I didn't say crisis) has pretty much killed any remaining ambition. If these people who are supposed to be driving our financial future and the politicians who are supposed to be guiding and overseeing them can't see these mistakes coming until far too late, I don't have much faith in the current systems.
Perhaps we will transition to a more worthwhile place. We will stop overspending, cluttering, and living on credit. We will value hard work and proportional gains. We will realize that we need to make sure that we have a solid and stable economic and moral base before (or preferably in lieu of) pushing our ideals and dominance on other parts of the world.
Perhaps at that point I will again have the ambition to try to demonstrate what makes sense financially for people. I think we will have to put in some hard work and wait a while before that will happen.
I actually had several additional topics I intended to add, but I never seemed to make the time for that to happen.
Now, however, the economic and financial screw-up (no, I didn't say crisis) has pretty much killed any remaining ambition. If these people who are supposed to be driving our financial future and the politicians who are supposed to be guiding and overseeing them can't see these mistakes coming until far too late, I don't have much faith in the current systems.
Perhaps we will transition to a more worthwhile place. We will stop overspending, cluttering, and living on credit. We will value hard work and proportional gains. We will realize that we need to make sure that we have a solid and stable economic and moral base before (or preferably in lieu of) pushing our ideals and dominance on other parts of the world.
Perhaps at that point I will again have the ambition to try to demonstrate what makes sense financially for people. I think we will have to put in some hard work and wait a while before that will happen.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monitor Your Credit Report
There are ads all the time saying that you should monitor your credit report. This is very sound advice. However, as with many things that are a benefit to people, others will find a way to try to use that to their advantage and take your money.
Up until only a few years ago, credit reports were these hidden secrets, only accessible to lenders and other similar institutions. You were expected to keep these records pristine, but of course you weren't actually privy to this record of YOUR information.
In 2003 however, the federal government instituted requirements that state that you are entitled to 1 free credit report every 12 months from each of the big 3 (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) credit reporting companies as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
Since this has existed for nearly 5 years, the fact that you are entitled to this may not be newsworthy to you. However, here are a few specific points I would like to make:
Following these steps, you should be able to always be up-to-date on your credit report, without needing to pay anyone for the "privilege" of managing your own information.
Up until only a few years ago, credit reports were these hidden secrets, only accessible to lenders and other similar institutions. You were expected to keep these records pristine, but of course you weren't actually privy to this record of YOUR information.
In 2003 however, the federal government instituted requirements that state that you are entitled to 1 free credit report every 12 months from each of the big 3 (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) credit reporting companies as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
Since this has existed for nearly 5 years, the fact that you are entitled to this may not be newsworthy to you. However, here are a few specific points I would like to make:
- The only site you should ever visit to obtain these reports is https://www.annualcreditreport.com. Even the actual sites for the credit reporting companies will attempt to get you to pay for this free information (your information).
- Even on this site, make certain that you always just click that you want the free report. At no point should you enter a credit card number, or pay any amount of money. There is no credit card necessary to verify your identity, or for any kind of trial.
- Spread your benefit throughout the year for maximum benefit. You are entitled to 1 report from each agency every 12 months. Thus, rotate quarterly through each of them. I setup a calendar reminder for January, May, and September to get my report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion respectively. There is no sense in obtaining all 3 at once, as they should all report nearly identical data.
- Once you get the report generated, choose the "print your report" to keep a copy around for your records. I personally save the report in PDF format and store it with my other electronic records.
Following these steps, you should be able to always be up-to-date on your credit report, without needing to pay anyone for the "privilege" of managing your own information.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Health Care Plan Elections
As much as possible I intend to have the advice I provide here be based on my own personal real-world experience. I think this is in most cases the only way for me to know for certain how things work, and it also goes a long way toward "backing up the talk". Not coincidentally, this is one of my largest issues with using a financial planner -- but I'll save that discussion for another time.
While working on my yearly health care plan elections this past week, I realized health care elections are a place where a large amount of yearly expense dollars are decided with much less than the appropriate amount of thought or calculation.
A fundamental problem with managing money is when people use anything other than pure mathematical and logical analysis. Letting emotions or "feelings" guide your money is almost certainly a recipe for disaster. However, health care plans are sufficiently large and convoluted enough that most people, myself included in the past, just take them at face value. In my personal case I have the choice of 2 plans. One is a PPO (preferred provider organization) and the other is a major medical plan.
Most would assume that the major medical has bare bones coverage, and that you should only choose it if you are single and healthy, and don't expect to be at the doctor for small things. Essentially, treat it as the liability-only coverage on an automobile. You (and by "you" I mean me before I started by analysis) would absolutely assume that if you were going to have known, large expenses such as having a new baby that PPO is the only way to go. The numbers don't lie though, and in this case they tell me that most of the time major medical is the way to go.
The main kicker here is the drastically different premiums for the 2 policies. You might have slightly better coverage and lower deductibles on the PPO plan, but you get socked with a more than doubled premium. That is money you are out no matter what. The other subtle point that is easy to miss is when calculating how bad your out-of-pocket (OOP) could be, it should be noted, at least with my plan, that out of pocket calculations don't start until after you have met your deductible. Thus, a true OOP maximum is the sum of your premiums + plan OOP maximum + deductible.
I created a spreadsheet to calculate the break-even point, where it made sense to switch to PPO. It turned out for my plan to be at around 55,000 in medical bills. I'll take the gamble that I won't hit that, and I filled out my plan to be major medical.
You can see my spreadsheet here (you'll need a Google account). It should be quite simple to tailor it to your specific plan as well. If you have a Google account, you'll be able to either directly edit the spreadsheet from within Google Documents, or save a copy (in a format such as Excel), and work on it off line. Unless I find something different, this will be my preferred method of including spreadsheets and other documents on this blog.
UPDATE:
Another truth about finance -- double-check all of your figures. I had started with a hard-coded value in my spreadsheet for co-pay percentage, and later changed it to reference a cell...or so I thought. My original co-pay numbers were far too low, skewing my results.
All of my above thoughts are still valid. However, it now does make sense for me to use the PPO plan, given that I know that I have substantial hospital bills coming this year. The break-even point for me now is around $8,500 in bills.
I have updated the spreadsheet for those interested.
While working on my yearly health care plan elections this past week, I realized health care elections are a place where a large amount of yearly expense dollars are decided with much less than the appropriate amount of thought or calculation.
A fundamental problem with managing money is when people use anything other than pure mathematical and logical analysis. Letting emotions or "feelings" guide your money is almost certainly a recipe for disaster. However, health care plans are sufficiently large and convoluted enough that most people, myself included in the past, just take them at face value. In my personal case I have the choice of 2 plans. One is a PPO (preferred provider organization) and the other is a major medical plan.
Most would assume that the major medical has bare bones coverage, and that you should only choose it if you are single and healthy, and don't expect to be at the doctor for small things. Essentially, treat it as the liability-only coverage on an automobile. You (and by "you" I mean me before I started by analysis) would absolutely assume that if you were going to have known, large expenses such as having a new baby that PPO is the only way to go. The numbers don't lie though, and in this case they tell me that most of the time major medical is the way to go.
The main kicker here is the drastically different premiums for the 2 policies. You might have slightly better coverage and lower deductibles on the PPO plan, but you get socked with a more than doubled premium. That is money you are out no matter what. The other subtle point that is easy to miss is when calculating how bad your out-of-pocket (OOP) could be, it should be noted, at least with my plan, that out of pocket calculations don't start until after you have met your deductible. Thus, a true OOP maximum is the sum of your premiums + plan OOP maximum + deductible.
I created a spreadsheet to calculate the break-even point, where it made sense to switch to PPO. It turned out for my plan to be at around 55,000 in medical bills. I'll take the gamble that I won't hit that, and I filled out my plan to be major medical.
You can see my spreadsheet here (you'll need a Google account). It should be quite simple to tailor it to your specific plan as well. If you have a Google account, you'll be able to either directly edit the spreadsheet from within Google Documents, or save a copy (in a format such as Excel), and work on it off line. Unless I find something different, this will be my preferred method of including spreadsheets and other documents on this blog.
UPDATE:
Another truth about finance -- double-check all of your figures. I had started with a hard-coded value in my spreadsheet for co-pay percentage, and later changed it to reference a cell...or so I thought. My original co-pay numbers were far too low, skewing my results.
All of my above thoughts are still valid. However, it now does make sense for me to use the PPO plan, given that I know that I have substantial hospital bills coming this year. The break-even point for me now is around $8,500 in bills.
I have updated the spreadsheet for those interested.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Something New
I've been kicking the idea of this site around for quite some time, and somehow I finally found the motivation to make it happen tonight.
As you can read in my background posted on the side of the site, financial working have been a fascination of mine for many years. I have researched some aspects quite thoroughly, particularly in areas that relate to personal finance. Much of this has been to improve my own family's financial well-being, and other has been out of pure curiosity.
Over the years, I began to find myself very often either discussing or advising others on things I had read or seen. Eventually, this advice spread to the point where I realized I should really consolidate my ideas online. With any luck, perhaps I can find a larger audience who can benefit from this, and hopefully I have some ideas that are actually of value.
You'll notice there are no ads of any kind on this site, and there never will be. I think doing so would compromise the goals I have for the site. I'm sure being a financial site there are many credit card companies and such who would pay quite well for ad space, even without a lot of traffic. I'm not interesting in ruining my credibility for that though. I will try to make perfectly clear if there is ever an instance where I think there is any conflict of interest in something that I post.
As I say at the top of the blog, don't expect frequent updates. Instead, I would like to provide well-researched and pertinent topics on a less frequent basis (mostly due to my own time commitments). I would like to consider this more of a resource, rather than a news site. I will try to use labels to provide for quick access to specific topics, and there is a search feature as well.
Discussion is always very welcome. If something doesn't seem accurate, or there is a question about a topic, either comment or drop me an email. I will look into it and provide an update on the site, if necessary.
Enjoy!
As you can read in my background posted on the side of the site, financial working have been a fascination of mine for many years. I have researched some aspects quite thoroughly, particularly in areas that relate to personal finance. Much of this has been to improve my own family's financial well-being, and other has been out of pure curiosity.
Over the years, I began to find myself very often either discussing or advising others on things I had read or seen. Eventually, this advice spread to the point where I realized I should really consolidate my ideas online. With any luck, perhaps I can find a larger audience who can benefit from this, and hopefully I have some ideas that are actually of value.
You'll notice there are no ads of any kind on this site, and there never will be. I think doing so would compromise the goals I have for the site. I'm sure being a financial site there are many credit card companies and such who would pay quite well for ad space, even without a lot of traffic. I'm not interesting in ruining my credibility for that though. I will try to make perfectly clear if there is ever an instance where I think there is any conflict of interest in something that I post.
As I say at the top of the blog, don't expect frequent updates. Instead, I would like to provide well-researched and pertinent topics on a less frequent basis (mostly due to my own time commitments). I would like to consider this more of a resource, rather than a news site. I will try to use labels to provide for quick access to specific topics, and there is a search feature as well.
Discussion is always very welcome. If something doesn't seem accurate, or there is a question about a topic, either comment or drop me an email. I will look into it and provide an update on the site, if necessary.
Enjoy!
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