How to Plan Your Income for Retirement

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Planning for retirement is important if you want to cope with life after your days in the office. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 4 out of 10 American workers are saving money for their retirement. Do you want to be part of these smart employees or the lost majority? Here are some of the things you need to know about preparing for retirement.

Setting Financial Goals
Saving is a process that demands commitment. Since retirement is definitely not your only saving goal, you should try striking a balance or prioritizing what is necessary and weighty. For instance, you could comfortably do away with lingering debts and saving for vacations, cars, homes, and lattes.

Saving for Retirement
Retirement involves more than just assessing the amount of saving you need. When planning for retirement, it’s is also important that you pay attention to where you save your money. Find the best investment or saving account. Take time to calculate how much you need to save for retirement as well.

Investing
While saving is simply amassing wealth, investing is the process of multiplying the wealth. Cash is not a great way to store your wealth, and there are thousands of reasons why. Before investing your money in any project, assess the reward-to-risk ratio and the return on investment. Which investments are more diversified, and when do you get in for maximum gains.

What Do You Invest In?
Are you ready to have your retirement saving work for you? Well, if that’s the case, setting up an investment portfolio should not be complicated. Acquaint yourself with principal retirement investment rules. Are you a DIY person, or will you need to hire the services of a financial adviser? If you want to manage your retirement saving yourself, it is recommended that you gather sufficient knowledge on investment strategies. If you will choose to work with a professional, get to know about the related costs.

Building Wealth
Retirement investing is not a phenomenon that occurs in one sitting. It is a process that will change with the dynamics of your employment as you move from one job to another or up the promotion ladder. You will also have to endure changes in the stock markets and meet family obligations. However, that does not necessarily mean that you will have to babysit your retirement investment. There are numerous ways to protect and manage your wealth and savings in the long haul.

Post-PPP Taxes to Understand

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The Paycheck Protection Program loans were a top priority for most struggling businesses due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Although these loans were beneficial to small businesses, most business owners find it hard to understand the tax implications. Below is a comprehensive description of the Post-PPP tax obligations.

Paycheck Protection Program Loans

PPP loans were awarded to small business owners to prevent them from going out of business and to retain their employees. Under the PPP program, small and medium business owners received a loan of up to two-and-a-half times the average monthly payroll. This loan had a cup of about $10 million.

The PPP loan intent was to cover the payroll and other business expenses during the COVID 19 pandemic. If properly appropriated on the approved expenditure, these loans are forgivable. However, if not, repayment of the funds will attract low interest and extended repayment periods. Although these funds have been beneficial to most small businesses and their employees, confusion about the tax implications has arisen.

Tax Implications of The PPP loans

Will the businesses that received the Paycheck Protection Program loan have a different tax situation than the previous years? This question was the concern of most business owners. The possibility that the loans would get considered as the taxable expense was another confusing aspect of these funds.

Although the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was seen by many as a lifeline, experts warned that the legislation could become a tax-laden time bomb. In May 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-32. This notice declared that if PPP loans were not taxable. However, the expenses usually not considered as tax-deductible wouldn’t be deductible. These expenses include utilities and rent.

This declaration threatened to kneecap the most attractive part of the PPP loans. However, Congress came to the rescue when they passed the recent PPP funding through the (C.R.R.S.A.A) Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act. This act reversed the decision of the IRS made on the Notice 2020-32.

The Congress act declared that any forgiven PPP loan would be tax-exempted income. Thanks to this clarification, business owners can now take a Paycheck Protection Program loan and still get the (ERTC) employee retention tax.

The 3 Best Personal Finance Software Options for 2017

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Personal finance software can assist you in managing your finances. The software tracks your transactions and warns you about potential problems. Personal finance software organizes your finances daily, which allows you to relax and avoid stress. Here are the best available personal finance software programs

YNAB

The acronym YNAB stands for You Need A Budget, and the software is designed to help people who are budgeting. YNAB wants users to take every dollar that they earn and give that dollar a job. Users can find out exactly what every spent dollar went towards. YNAB can help you manage your immediate expenses; such as mortgage or rent, as well as your discretionary expenses; such as dining out. YNAB is a good choice for people who have constant expenses.

YNAB only allows you to budget money that you have actually earned, which forces you to plan around the money you presently have and not the money that you’ll receive in the future. YNAB will stop you from overspending by taking money out of another category to cover costs. YNAB encourages people to think of any extra money as finances that can help future expenses. By helping users put money aside for future expenses, YNAB believes that it is enhancing the financial security of its users. YNAB offers free webinars to help people understand how the software works.

Mint

One of Mint’s most popular features is its easy setup. The dashboard makes everything clear, so users can easily transition from one column to the next one. Mint recognizes that most people have flexible budgets, so users can set up a budget that makes sense with their expenses. Mint’s budgeting system allows users to make different categories for every expense that you have. Once you have paid for all of your expenses, the rest of your income goes into a category known as Everything Else.

Mint’s budgeting system lets users clarify when the expense will be due, so you can budget every month until the expense is due. You can set aside money every month to help plan for any long-term financial goals. That money will be taken out of your available budget.

Personal Capital

Personal Capital looks at the total net worth of its users through calculating all of their current assets and then subtracting any liabilities. Personal Capital lets users compare their spending during the current month to spending in previous months. Personal Capital shows users how their investments are doing by giving them a breakdown of their individual stocks, as well as an index of any money that has been accumulated or lost. You can seek a breakdown of your finances in both real dollars and percentages.