(Disclaimer: I am not an accountant, and this is not tax advice. Also, a caveat: this applies to folks living in the U.S.)
When I worked as a financial planner, the busiest time of the year was year-end. While every other industry (besides retail) was winding down and taking a leisurely two weeks off, we were going full-steam ahead, juggling year-end tax planning meetings for our roster of clients. Clients were always grateful that we got ahead of the curve. We didn't just prepare them for their tax bill come April 15, often, the strategies we advised, with the help of their accountants, helped save money on their tax bill. More often than not, the savings were significant and wouldn't have been an option to exercise after December 31.
If you're trying to find ways to save on taxes, don't wait until tax season. By then, it'll be too late. That'd be like trying to come up with a strategy against an opposing basketball team after the game ends. All you can do at that point is to accept victory or defeat.
Read MoreI moved to LA when I was 22, having just landed a job as an assistant at a boutique business consulting firm. Part of my job was driving around Los Angeles to run all sorts of errands. I'd deposit checks for clients at various banks all over town. I'd go to the post office to send tax returns via certified mail. I'd pick up lunch for the office, and go shopping for my boss. Keeping receipts for everything was easy. I didn't have very much responsibility, so whenever I got back in the office from one of my field trips, I had time to organize all the receipts. It was easy to make it a priority, especially when I had an employer who was in charge.
If you fast forward to recent years, I had gotten considerably crappier at keeping my receipts organized. For an embarrassingly long time, I was finding faded receipts at the bottom of my backpack or crumpled up in my back pocket, or the worst scenario of all - some would be lost and never found.
Read MoreMy cousin and her boyfriend each have motorcycles. And at some point, each of them had a gas gauge that was busted. When my cousin first got her bike, her gas gauge wasn't working. Full disclosure: I don't know shit about motorcycles. For reasons that are unknown to me, they didn't fix her gauge right away. Instead, they ran some experiments to try to figure out how long she could ride without having to fill up the tank. It was like an extreme version of testing out how long you could drive with the gas light telling you to refill your tank.
My cousin's boyfriend would go on short rides with her in the city, and when she ran out of gas, he'd fetch some. I remember her telling me that through their experiments, she had some general idea of how many miles - or trips - she could take before needing to fill up the tank again. If it sounds vague, it's because it was. Thankfully her gauge is fixed now, so she knows exactly how much gas she has in the tank.
Read MoreIf you're a small business owner that does your business bookkeeping, I have a lot of respect for you. You're probably one of those curious people who enjoy learning how things work. Or maybe you find it valuable to understand the process.
Anyone who has ventured outside of their lane of expertise has probably felt a tinge of fear that unbeknownst to them, they're doing something wrong. And if their error were to reveal itself, would it be a quick-and-easy fix, or will course correction come at a colossal cost?
Accounting errors can end up being costly if you don't catch them right away. And if you gloss over them, you run the risk of filing incorrect tax returns, which, if uncovered in an audit can cost you a lot in time and money.
Here are the seven most common bookkeeping mistakes I see clients make.
Read MoreManaging joint finances isn't as joyous as laying in a meadow with a bunch of puppies, but unfortunately, for most of us, it's necessary.
I've met couples who have tried to keep separate finances for 15 years and couples who open up a joint account as sooner than any couple should. Most couples who are in a long-term relationship will have joint-ish finances no matter what.
Here is how I've learned to deal with managing joint-ish finances.
Read MoreMy wife is an interior (and event) designer, and when it comes to professionals in those worlds, she has "a guy" for everything. She has a list of general contractors who know how to demolish and build entire rooms. She works with fabricators who create furniture, fabricators who can make window treatments, ironworkers, fine artists, and art consultants. Not to mention painters, electricians, a neon sign guy, and the list goes on. Each vendor has a specialty.
The financial world, just like any other industry, has specialized professionals too. Sometimes it's obvious when you should hire a financial pro. Other times, you might not even know what you don't know. Finances are somewhat intangible, unlike laying down tile in your kitchen, so it might not be evident to you when you should reach out for professional help. So here's a guide to help you understand eight different financial professionals, what they do, and who should hire them.
Read MoreA portfolio is a collection of like things. A photographer's portfolio is a compilation of photos they've taken. A graphic designer's portfolio is full of designs they've done from logos to brand identities, to websites, and illustrations. A portfolio is used to show the breadth and depth of whatever it is showcasing.
An investment portfolio is the entire collection of all your investments.
And just for good measure, let's review the definition of an investment. From an economic standpoint, an investment is when you purchase goods for the future purpose of creating wealth. From a finance perspective, investments are monetary assets bought to produce income or make a profit by selling the asset in the future at a higher price.
Read MoreHow many times have you thrown a penny away? Like you saw a penny on your desk, or you got it as a change, and instead of putting it in your pocket to use later, you throw it in the actual garbage? I'm not trying to judge you; I'm just trying to illustrate how the penny has lost its value over time.
In 1909, you could buy a copy of the New York Tribune for one cent. And in 1932, you could travel a mile in Southern Railway System. And I'm sure you might have heard a grandparent speak of buying candy at a local five-and-dime for a penny.
How does a penny go from getting you an entire newspaper to being so annoying that you'd rather throw them away than carry them around?
When money becomes less valuable, it's usually due to inflation.
Read MoreI know, I know. You think investing is not for you. Trust me when I tell you, I know how you feel. As someone who has been in the finance world - like actually in it - itโs easy to feel like you donโt belong there.
But itโs kind of our responsibility to work through that so we can actively participate. We have to know how something works before we can make any judgement about it. And we have to understand it before we try to change it. So, if you want to make a difference or if you just want to get rich, you have to pony up and grab a seat at the table. Even if you think you canโt afford to play, the truth is you canโt afford to not learn how to play.
If youโre someone who has gotten close to investing, but never follows through, tried to learn, but has given up, itโs probably because you are letting these four common investing myths hold you back.
Read MorePeople always assume I am so deeply passionate and stoked about finance. Like I jump out of bed and get excited about interest rates. That's not exactly true. I am super stoked and passionate about helping people, feeling like my work matters and having autonomy over it. So when people ask me why I started The Hell Yeah Group, the answer is often that, " I looked inside of my tool box of skills and realized I had some sharp tools that all pertained to bookkeeping, running a small business and personal financial planning.โ As much as I wanted to create a cool company that had nothing to do with finance, I had constraints: I needed to earn money and there was no denying the skills I had, no matter how uncool I thought it was. Not exactly visions of grandeur, more like shining a turd.
But Iโve really grown to love how my work makes me feel, regardless of itโs non-passion status. I want to share the industry-specific things Iโve learned and observed over the years that I think everyone should know.
Read More