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H&R Block At Home Review

January 31, 2013

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Jon

H&R Block is one of the world’s largest tax service providers with offices all over the country. The H&R Block at Home tax software is the online version of sitting down with one of their tax pros. Now you can get your tax return done without ever leaving your house.

I should preface this before we start. I’ve been a loyal user of Turbotax for years. So I could easily say it’s not worth the effort. But I’ve been digging through this online software for a few days. While I don’t think I’ll switch, because I’m comfortable with what I use, H&R Block at Home does have some nice features.

Besides, with online tax software, you don’t pay until you’re done. If it doesn’t work the way you want, it’s hard to figure out, or you have problems with it, just stop, head down to their tax office, or use a competitor. Continue Reading…
Intro To Stock Index Weighting Methods

January 29, 2013

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Jon

Index-based ETFs and index funds are popular choices for investors these days. The low costs and simplicity are a big selling points. Not to mention the fund marketing blitz reminding us how often actively managed funds fail to beat the S&P 500 index. But do you know how that underlying index works? Is it built to be a good investment strategy? Or should alternative index weighting methods be used?

A stock index is used to measure the performance of a group of stocks. To do this a weighting method is used, which puts more emphasis on weighting on stocks that meet specific criteria. In turn, those stocks represent a greater part of the index.

Since index funds are built to track a specific index, a fund uses the same weighting method on the stocks it owns.

Most of the major market indices are based on a market cap weighting. In the past few years, several fund companies started offering alternative weighted index funds. But it all started with a price-weighted index. Continue Reading…
Happy Hour: An Apple Falls And Facebook Graphs

January 25, 2013

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Jon

Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.

An Apple Falls

Everything’s working out just as I predicted. Apple, the biggest headline grab ever, missed on sales numbers. I’m not surprised really. I’ve been negative on the stock since before it achieved #1 market cap status. Which was about the time euphoria drove the stock to record heights. Calls for $1,000/share and $1 trillion market cap, was the rage. Everyone wanted to own Apple.

Now the pundits are calling for change. Seems good ‘ole Tim Cook isn’t really worth that big bonus he was given last year. The stock was driven by new product sales. Funny, I don’t remember any new products introduced in 2012. I saw a smaller iPad and the typical minor annual upgrades. Cook’s excuse was supply problems (the area he specializes). There were two potential bright spots: Continue Reading…
How To Save More Money Now

January 22, 2013

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Jon

We just ended the biggest instant gratification decade of our lives. Every financial borrowing tool was built to feed our immediate wants, if we paid for it later. Literally.

Excessive credit card use was an obvious offender. But the best was no money down mortgages. Who needs to save with zero down loans. But that period didn’t end well, for good reason.

Saving money is the foundation of a successful financial plan. The hard part is knowing where to begin. That is why most people need a plan to save more money.

So let’s get rid of the confusion, keep things simple, and get started now. Because once you’re started, saving money only gets easier.

Saving Confusion

Saving money has very different and distinct meanings. Continue Reading…
Happy Hour: Outsourcing And A Debt Ceiling Hiatus

January 18, 2013

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Jon

Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.

Smart Outsourcing

This is the most intelligent thing I came across this week. Apparently, a Verizon developer outsourced his own job to a Chinese consulting firm. That in itself isn’t brilliant. He did it for a fraction of what he was paid. Instead of coming into work and working. He sat in his office and watched cat videos, shopped online, trolled Facebook and went home. It’s not the most exciting way to spend the day but hey…bonus points for thinking outside the box.

It doesn’t say if the developer still has a job, but it’s safe to say he uncovered a glaring amount of excessive costs. The first being his job. I doubt he’s the only overpaid employee. If you walk into your boss’ office declaring a way to save 80% on payroll costs, I guarantee they will sit up and listen. The guy probably deserves a promotion for this. Continue Reading…
TurboTax Review: Tax Prep Made Easy

January 17, 2013

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Jon

TurboTax is one of the most popular online tax preparation and filing services around. During tax season, it’s nice to use great tax software that makes finishing your return as quick and painless as possible.

I’ve used TurboTax to do my tax returns for over a decade now. Back when the only option was to buy the software in a store, I was using it. That was before the internet, by the way. Of course now, TurboTax offers online tax software and makes those dreaded tax returns that much easier to finish and file quickly. But how does it stack up against the competition?

With TurboTax, you’ll find a range of products that fit the easiest tax return to the more complicated ones.
Continue Reading…