Pittsburgh | John J. Bowman Jr

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April 14, 2020

Money Moves for Retirement

Retirement planning is one of the biggest financial concerns for many Americans. There are many considerations to make when it comes to savings—retirees should be aware of what income sources they will be relying on in their golden years. It’s also important to be aware of how long investors have before they will need to access those savings. Finally, it’s important to think about how long people expect to live in retirement, and what they estimate their expenses will be. These are the considerations that must be made to accommodate the aforementioned concerns.

Retirement Income Sources

There are many sources of income that retirees can utilize. Social security is a program that most people will qualify for, but it typically is not enough to get by. Some workers may also have a pension to count on, although that’s becoming increasingly rare. Thankfully, savings accounts are one area over which individuals have personal control. Annuities are also an option for savers. Many retirees also look to their property holdings, including real estate and collectibles, as key sources for income in their old age.

Compound Interest

One of the most basic but most important lessons about retirement that everyone should know has to do with the power of compound interest. Compound interest is the accrual of money on interest over time. Saving a little bit while young can help workers build up a healthy amount of savings to fall back on during retirement. Additionally, tax-advantaged retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs allow future retirees to put money aside and reap important tax benefits. However, even a standard savings account can be a good way to start saving. The older an investor gets, the more important it becomes to have money set aside in an account that won’t be touched. It’s also a good idea to look into catch-up deposits in tax-advantaged accounts. Sometimes, investors over 50 are able to exceed the maximum contributions allowed to the rest of the public.

Tax Considerations

Tax considerations should be a key guideline when choosing investments. In some cases, the gains made from selling a home are untaxed. Some investments are subject to capital gains taxes, even in retirement. Even tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s can be subject to management fees. It’s a good idea to seek professional advice when it comes to specific investment decisions. Reach out to a local financial advisor with any financial concerns!

March 1, 2020

When Should You Consult an Accountant for Tax Help?

When people are making plans to file their taxes, they may discover that there is a need for an accountant to help them complete the forms. Those who are uncomfortable with filing should seek an accountant that can help them make sense of the tax rules and what they need to do to file before the deadline. Unusual circumstances, such as changes in marital status and career, may call for additional assistance. In such instances, accountants are a taxpayer’s best friend.

Amended Taxes

Inevitably each year, taxpayers file erroneous forms. There may be mistakes and letters from the IRS that indicate that there is income that has not been accounted for, an incredibly stressful situation for everyone involved. If you’ve dealt with erroneous forms in the past, or if you’ve received notice from the IRS that this year’s submissions contain errors, seek out an accountant to help you readjust and refile.

Owing Taxes

Anyone who owes taxes can benefit from involving an accountant in the process. After all, taxpayers may take the standard deduction when they could owe less or no money at all, all because they’re unsure how to itemize deductions. It’s an involved process, one that requires an expert eye. For this reason, professional accountants are there to help; by pointing out any overlooked itemized deductions, accountants can provide a better understanding of the deduction process.

Change of Status

Plenty of things can change in a year, not the least of which is household status. A single person that files as head of household may be unaware of changes in deductions when they get married. If you’re unsure about the best way to file taxes when your marital status changes, consider working alongside an accountant.

First Time Tax Preparation

Filing taxes for the first time can be a confusing process. With all of the paperwork and math required for each form, it’s common for people to struggle to wrap their heads around everything. This situation is precisely what accountants handle regularly. Accountants want to help everyone ensure that all guidelines are followed and numbers are accurate. To pay taxes by the deadline, new taxpayers should schedule early consultations with local accountants.

February 15, 2020

Four Easy Ways to Budget This Month

For some, creating and sticking to a budget is a simple task. For others, it’s a strenuous and seemingly impossible task. The temptation to eat out, splurge on clothes, and throw caution and cash to the wind can be huge, so it’s essential to find ways to stay on track. Here are four ways to create a budget that works and stick to it.

Meal Prep

In addition to various forms of outside entertainment, eating out is a considerable expense. Since most restaurants mark food up—sometimes as much as 300 percent—the only sure-fire way to save money on food is to cook meals at home. However, this is a lot more time-consuming and can be difficult for those without much cooking experience.

Take the time to plan meals, including the cost of ingredients, for at least a week’s worth of meals. Also, include the costs of snacks as well. One way to save on food is to buy in bulk. Look for items that can be purchased in larger quantities and divide up for later.

Set Up Autopay

Another way to stick to a budget is by setting up autopay. Instead of having to pay bills and charges every month manually, autopay lets budget-setters know what they pay and when. The same concept can also help track savings. Just have a set amount of money transferred each month into a savings account.

When it comes to paying utilities, look into budget billing. Customers pay a set amount for power and water. After a set time frame, they’re either refunded the difference or charged for any overages.

Entertain at Home

Simply put, going out is expensive. Everything from grabbing drinks to seeing a movie is expensive these days. Instead of breaking the budget, invite friends over and find ways to create a social atmosphere at home. Cocktails made at home cost half the price when ordered out. The same holds true for take-out. If your group wants pizza and a movie, rent a flick and make homemade pizza.

Track Success

Tracking success is a great motivator, so make sure you keep track of how much money you’ve saved over the month. After seeing positive results, you may feel even more motivated to stick to their budgets.

With a little planning, creating and sticking to a budget is easy. Since everyone has different needs, never compare budget planning. Finally, make sure that the budget isn’t so rigid that it’s impossible to follow. Just be sure to leave some wiggle room for the occasional splurge.

February 1, 2020

Where to Get a Loan Besides the Bank

When it comes to expenses, money can be a point of contention. With the cost of living and the need for appliances and machines on the rise, it’s not always easy for people to come out of expenditures with money in their pockets. For this reason, people often resort to loans to help keep themselves and their families afloat. While many people go straight to their local bank to take out a loan, there are other options that are not considered or even well-known. These are some of those lesser-known places to acquire loans.

A Credit Union

Acquiring a loan from a credit union is sometimes considered a better alternative to getting one from a bank. Credit unions can offer recipients lower fees and interest rates than a bank, which makes paying back the loan a lot easier on the wallet. However, there is a slight drawback to using a credit union. In order to qualify for a loan, people must be a member and meet their requirements. If you’re a member of a credit union such as Members 1st or PSECU, give customer service a call to learn more about how to qualify and what loans are offered.

A Payday Lender

A payday loan is a type of short-term loan amounting to, at most, $500. Often, these loans are taken out to cover unexpected expenses and late bills. Applying for one of these loans is simple; all you have to do is apply online or at a payday loan facility.

While these loans are helpful in the short-term, there are a few drawbacks. To start, these loans must be paid back as soon as the recipient gets their next paycheck. Secondly, payday loans can be very expensive in terms of fees and interest. If the loan is not paid by the due date, the lender might extend it, but at the cost of tacking on additional fees. Think carefully about whether or not your situation calls for a payday loan.

A Pawnshop

There is one massive difference that pawnshop loans have over others; the shop won’t check credit scores or require an application. A pawnshop loan works like this; you take an item such as jewelry or an electronic to a pawn shop. Should the pawnbroker be interested in the item, they’ll offer a loan.

How much the recipient will receive varies on the overall value of what’s being pawned. Pawnshop loans are a great way to get money quickly, but this speed comes at the cost of substantially high interest rates. Extra fees may also be included, depending on the pawnshop.

Loans may be a surefire way of obtaining money, but they are a huge responsibility. It’s important that people consider all the factors of taking out and paying off a loan before making the investment.

John J Bowman Jr Accountant - Pittsburgh PA - Personal Finance Software

January 20, 2020

The Best Personal Finance Software

In the world of personal finance, there are some software programs that stand out from the rest. These programs make it much easier to manage budget and track spending within your household. If you’re looking for software to manage your personal finance, these are the programs you should check out.

Quick Books

If there is one program that has continued to stand out over the years when it comes to personal finance, it is QuickBooks. This software has become the cornerstone of personal financing for people who want to keep up with their household spending. The program allows people to set budgets and get running totals for their spending during the month. Users can see how much they deviate from the budget each month, and plan accordingly to save more in the next month. QuickBooks even offers the ability to compare previous years and see if a user’s spending has increased or decreased. With quick references and an easy budgeting interface, this is a great program for users who don’t want tons of fancy features.

Microsoft Money

Another program that stands out amongst personal finance software is Microsoft Money. This is a program that tends to work well for those that have already utilized Microsoft Excel spreadsheets over the years. Users have the ability to create formulas, track their spending, and create easy-to-manage documents.

The ability to add different categories of expenses becomes much easier with a program like Microsoft Money. It has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for people that are not computer savvy to create documents of their personal finances. This program tends to be one of the favorites for people that like to create documents that can be saved in different formats. These documents can be exported to Excel spreadsheet or saved as PDF files, offering plenty of versatility depending on a user’s needs.

Mint

In the growing age of portable personal finance software, Mint is the finance tool that has gained a lot of attention with the younger crowd. Mint has offered the millennial generation a viable personal finance program that gives them access to an online platform that is not limited to their personal computers.

Mint users have the ability to add their credit and debit cards to track purchases without manually typing in everything that they buy. The Mint app for smartphones allows users to access their financial budgets whenever and wherever they want.

John J Bowman Jr Accountant - Pittsburgh - R&D Tax Credit

January 8, 2020

4 Things You Should Know About The R&D Tax Credit

The Research and Development Tax Credit benefits almost any business, no matter the size, age, or industry. Since 1981, this incentive has offered reimbursement for innovative and highly-technical businesses. Here are four things you should know about the R&D Tax Credit.

It is available for many industries

From aerospace organizations to wineries and vineyards, several industries can reap the benefits of an R&D Tax Credit. Organizations within these industries must pass a four-part test to affirm that their research activities qualify for an R&D Tax Credit. The four parts of the test are:

Technological in Nature – “Activities must fundamentally rely on the principles of physical or biological science, engineering, or computer science.”
Permitted Purpose – “Activities must be performed in an attempt to improve performance, reliability, or quality of a new or existing business component.”
Eliminate Uncertainty – “Activities intended to discover information that could eliminate technical uncertainty concerning the development or improvement of a product.”
Experimentation – “All of the activities must include a process of experimentation including testing, modeling, simulating, systematic trial and error.”

It covers a variety of expenses

With all of the activity that goes on in a given business, it can be difficult to track your direct and indirect R&D expenses. However, taking note of those expenses is essential for receiving the appropriate tax benefits. As a rule, the major expenses that qualify are salaries and supplies and materials. For salaries, employees who work in R&D or directly manage those in R&D are covered. Supplies and materials covers anything from nails to computers.

It offers unique benefits to smaller companies

If your small company has gross receipts for five years or less that average less than $5 million, your company may be eligible for an R&D Tax Credit. This is the case even if your company does not owe any taxes, and the covered amount can reach up to $250,000 of a payroll offset. If your small business does not have credit for offsetting payroll taxes in a given quarter, you can carry that credit into a different quarter. However, to do this, you must not exceed the $250,000 limit.

It undergoes regular updates

The R&D Tax Credit does not behave exactly as it did over a quarter of a century ago. As industries and economies evolve, the R&D Tax Credit does, too. In particular, the removal of the Discovery Rule in 2003 redefined research activities as those that would be “new to the taxpayer” rather than “new to the world.” More recently, the Protecting American from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act ensured that small, mid-size, and startup businesses could benefit from R&D Tax Credits.

John J. Bowman, Jr. is an accountant and tax professional based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter for more blog updates!

November 8, 2018

Essential Saving Tips for First Time Home Buyers

Buying a home is a process that can often take a substantial amount of time, and cost a lot of money. As a new homeowner, it’s wise to expect a number of expenses, in addition to your mortgage and taxes. From closing costs to renovations and new furniture, buying your first home can prove to be quite costly. If you want to make sure you budget properly, and remain in control of your finances throughout the home buying process, here are a few solid tips to follow.

Home Repairs

Unless you’re buying a brand new home, you will likely be faced with a few repairs; if you’re in a fixer-upper situation, your repairs could run you thousands. Older homes face tremendous wear and tear, and you’ll need to spend on different materials and tools to make fixes are or completely replace something. Having a separate budget after closing costs is a great way to ensure that you’ll have the right amount of funds to cover any necessary repairs or renovations. As time goes on, you can use your budget to focus on other things you may want to change in your new home.

Maintenance

Property upkeep is another financial factor to consider when purchasing your first home. You’ll need to set aside money throughout the year to save for general maintenance. Exterior projects such as lawn and landscaping, or interior projects like painting or purchasing new appliances, to mention a few.

HOA Fees

Depending on where you decide to buy your home, you may need to factor Home Owners Association fees, into your budget. HOA fees can potentially add a few hundred dollars to your monthly expenses, in addition to your mortgage and other utility bills. Additionally, it is wise to consider other expenses, like homeowners insurance; which is sometimes required as a first time home buyer or buyers that are using an FHA loan. Never forget to factor in your property tax; depending on your location your property tax cost could vary.

Emergency Fund

Creating an emergency fund is essential when owning a home. It isn’t uncommon for an unexpected expense to come up that may require immediate payment. Plan ahead for things like this, and assure that you can handle a financial emergency. Contribute a percentage of your pack check every month into a separate fund that you don’t use unless you absolutely need to.

February 10, 2018

4 Ways to Make Money During Your Morning Commute

It’s normal to dread your morning commute as you spend time in traffic before arriving at the office for a long day of work. Although it may seem like a waste of time sitting on the bus or train, there are ways that you can earn extra money before arriving at the workplace. If you want to make cash during your commute, there are a few different methods to consider to occupy your time each morning.

Sell Items on eBay

Selling items on eBay.com or Amazon.com is an excellent way to supplement your income and enjoy a fun hobby. You can create a seller’s account and list items that are sitting in your attic or that you find at yard sales. Drop shipping is also available where you purchase items for lower prices on other websites and list them for a higher price. Drop shipping is convenient because you don’t have to worry about having the items in your possession and manually shipping everything.

Sell Your Handmade Goods

Whether you enjoy making knitted scarves or jewelry items, you can sell your handmade goods on Etsy.com without worrying about having to get a business license. Take high-quality photos of each product and write a thorough description that engages the reader to attract more customers.

Write

If you’re good with words, you can make extra cash by writing articles and selling them to clients online. Creating your own blog is also a great way to earn money by attracting traffic to your website when you write posts based on topics that you enjoy and are knowledgable about, which can include cooking or fashion. You can integrate SEO tools to increase your ranking on search engines and make it easier for people to find your blog online.

Take Surveys

According to lovemoney.com, many websites offer gift cards and cash to individuals who take surveys. The websites will also pay you to watch commercials and ads. Each activity that you perform will allow you to earn points, which can be redeemed for money over a period of time. You can use the money to save for an upcoming trip or use for Christmas gifts, which can allow more wiggle room in your budget for your daily expenses.

January 13, 2018

Tips for Saving Money While Traveling Abroad

Traveling abroad is an ideal way to become more culturally sensitive and aware. At any stage of life, traveling abroad allows you to gain skills and experience that can benefit you professionally. The only downside to traveling abroad is that it may prove to be quite expensive. Here are some tips to help you save money while traveling abroad:

Credit Card

The first tip is to make sure that you have a credit card that is going to be able to be used in a foreign country. You are going to need to do some research before you do any traveling internationally since some credit cards offer better benefits than others. Be sure to look at the fine print to see if you will be charged a foreign currency transaction fee.

Contact the credit card company

Next, make sure that you inform the credit card company with all of the dates that you are going to be traveling abroad. This is going to need to be done at least a week before you travel. There is a high chance the credit card company will assume the international purchases are fraudulent and will freeze the account if they are unaware of your travel plans.

Travelers’ check

An often neglected tip is obtaining a travelers’ check. These can offer you a bit more of security if your credit card cannot be used in the foreign country or if your credit card is stolen.

Local Currency

Save some money by exchanging your cash into the local currency as soon as your arrive instead of doing it at the airport. Most airports have a lo of different fees that they are going to charge you.

References

The final tip to saving money when you travel abroad is to make sure that you have created a reference list of the credit card companies. This should include all of their phone numbers.

Stay tuned for more personal finance tips.

Safe travels!

December 20, 2017

3 New Year’s Resolution Ideas to Save You Money

Maybe 2017 was not the best year for you financially. Luckily, you can stop looking at the past and look towards a better financial future in 2018. With the new year brings new goals, and you can make one of those goals focusing on your personal finance or money management.

Invest

A wise way to handle your money would be to invest. As you may have seen recently, Bitcoin has seen a huge rise in their stocks. Although it can be risky, sometimes the investment is worth it in the long run.

Create and Stick to a Budget

Another tip that can really help you with money management is saving your money by formulating a budget. Proper money management is an extremely important finance characteristic to have. Not only is it good to know how to save money for obvious reasons, but it can also be a saving grace for you in case of an emergency.

Impulse buying can be very dangerous. It can lead to you being in insurmountable debt and regretting days if not hours later. Preparing a budget can assist you with saving a great deal of extra cash while steadily maturing in your spending habits.

Save Money By Breaking Bad Habits

A great way to kill two birds with one stone is to save money by breaking bad habits. Create a jar that you will have to place money in each time you perform an action you are trying to quit. Anytime you have an urge to swear, break your diet, or have an urge to smoke a cigarette, put a certain amount of money into your jar. This will help you break free of your bad habits while simultaneously improving your financial situation.

Personal money management and financial woes are something everyone wishes they could live life without, but everybody at one point or another has to conquer. Make sure 2018 is a financially freeing year by trying these New Year’s resolution ideas and see which one works best for you!

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