I have a policy that I never answer my cell phone if I don't know who's calling me.If a call is actually from someone I know, they'll leave a message and I'll get back to them.But 9 times out of 10 it's a tele-marketer or scammer of some sort.So why bother answering? It can't lead to anything good, right? The IRS Calls Me I got a call a couple months ago that I … [Read more...]
An Investment Gone Bad
This site often seems like a brag-fest to me.Many of the posts are about how I did this well or did that well.Of course, I have had my successes and they are worth learning from.But as we've seen now and then, I've also made a lot of mistakes.Fortunately these have been limited in number and not that large. But they do happen and are just as worthwhile to learn … [Read more...]
My Income Tax Preparation Process
I am knee deep in tax stuff this time of year. How about you? Are you done with taxes or do you still have them left to complete?I thought I'd take a break from the mind-numbing work to share how I prepare for mine.As you probably know, I use a CPA to do the hard work. And I have some good reasons why I do.The highlights of my process:I track EVERY expense and … [Read more...]
Big Tax Savings due to Early Retirement
Now that I'm retired, lots of things have changed, of course. One of them I have been expecting is the taxes I will pay.Not only am I earning about one-third of my former income each year, but I'm not doing it from earned income.On the tax-paying side, I won't have a job deducting income taxes for me, so there are implications there as well.To get a head start on … [Read more...]
More Reasons to Use a CPA for Taxes
One thing I love about running a blog is the great comments. ESI Money already has several readers who have left numerous insightful and helpful comments. Their thoughts posted on this site are a blessing to me.One such comment was left on my post titled Why I Use a CPA to Do My Taxes. It offered both great advice as well as the personal experience of an expert, two things … [Read more...]
What I Did with My Tax Refund
Now that tax time is over, we can all step back a bit and relax.Even though I use a CPA to do my taxes, it's a stressful and busy time for me. I can't imagine how bad it is for people with complicated taxes who do their own returns. Ugh.Anyway, I thought we'd talk about a "fun" tax topic today -- tax returns.I know getting one is not the objective (after all, who … [Read more...]
Why I Use a CPA to Do My Taxes
When it comes to financial issues, I'm generally a do-it-yourself guy. I don't need a financial planner because I'm my own financial planner. I don't need an investment advisor because I'm my own investment advisor. And the list goes on.I figure that if I know how to do something, why do I need someone else to tell me how to do it? Besides, no one cares more about my money … [Read more...]
