Finance Globe

If you’re looking for an additional deduction to help lower this year’s tax bill, consider the home office deduction. Your home office doesn’t necessarily have to be an entirely separate room. Even a section of a room can often qualify for the deduction, but the space has to be your principal place of business. What Qualifies as a Home Office? The IRS has a fairly straightforward test to help you figure out whether your office qualifies...

Before you get your hopes up about a great pre-approved credit card offer you received in the mail, you should know those terms aren’t guaranteed. Once you apply for the credit card, you could receive a credit card with terms higher than what you applied for. For example, you could be pre-approved for a credit card with a 0% introductory rate on balances or purchases for a certain period of time. Once you apply, the credit...

U.S. banks earned $32 billion in revenue from overdraft fees in 2012, according to Moebs Services, an economic research firm. That’s $32 billion in fees that consumers paid to banks because they, the account holders, didn’t have enough money in their accounts to cover charges. Two Democratic representatives have introduced a bill that, if passed, would limit the amount of and instances when overdraft fees can be charged. The Overdraft Protection Act would prevent banks from...

With most of our paychecks being directly deposited into our bank accounts, a trip to the ATM is almost always necessary if you want to have cash on hand. That can often mean taking a trip to an ATM. A visit to a bank other than your own typically means you’ll have to pay a fee to the ATM owner and sometimes even to your bank, too. Many ATMs have disclosed their fee on a sticker...

You may have read it over and over again – a budget is a good thing – but that doesn’t make the process of budgeting any easier. Sticking to a budget can be as difficult as sticking to a diet. Dieting is often difficult because you have to retrain yourself to eat healthy and stay away from unhealthy foods. Part of you still wants those unhealthy foods because it’s what you’re used to; it’s what you’re...

The IRS already had delays with tax refunds for millions of consumers. Now, an H&R block tax preparation error leads to delayed refunds for about 660,000 taxpayers. The affected taxpayers were those whose returns included Form 8863 for claiming educational credits. Returns are delayed for those taxpayers for up to six weeks. The error was caused, in part, because of a change to IRS requirements for “no” response boxes. In the past, a blank box constituted...

Most of us have some type of monthly service that we don’t want to have ended abruptly – like water or electricity, for example. So, if your service provider calls you saying that you’ve missed a payment and need to make one immediately to avoid interruption, you may be eager to give up your bank account or credit card number. But, in an attempt to preserve your good account standing, you could be giving your financial...

People say that money isn’t everything, but somehow financial problems can affect your entire life. Financial difficulties can affect your work life, your home life, and your relationships. Money troubles can lead to depression, stress, and other health problems. If you never get to the root of the issue, you may never fix the real problem and financial struggles can continue forever. That’s no way to live. Here are some possible reasons for your financial struggles....

There are plenty of things to do that are far more exciting than watching ourselves spend money. But, if you have lofty financial goals like saving for retirement or paying off debt, paying attention to your money is critical. Even if you’re not trying to reach a good goal, you should watch where your money goes simply because you’ve earned it. Because you work hard for it. Money does not come easily for most of us....

Often our financial goals are so big, that it can take months to see significant progress and years to accomplish them. Staying the course can be hard considering the number of obstacles and distractions you encounter along the way. Your goals are important; otherwise you would never have set them. Here are some tips for sticking to you financial goals, even when you feel like giving up. Make sure you’ve set a realistic goal. Your current...