Healthy Financial Habits

Planning a ski trip this winter season and want to get the best possible deal out there? Well, this time of year many ski resorts are offering specials in order to attract people to skiing. As with everything else less people are taking ski vacations this year for a variety of reasons such as job loss or slowing business. If you are one of the few fortunate people with a job and extra disposable income this ski season you are in luck.

Right now The Little Nell located in Aspen Colorado is offering your third night free when you stay 2 nights between March 28th and April 10, 2010. If you plan to stay a little longer and would like to go right now you can stay for 4 nights and get the 5th night for free. This offer is only available between January 6th and March 31, 2010. The Little Nell has been ranked by Forbes Magazine as the number one ski resort in America.

If you live in the north east you may want to consider checking out Seven Springs in western Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has recently been dumped on with snow and at this time offers more inches of snow than anywhere in the United States. While visiting Seven Springs you can take advantage of their Mid-Week January winter white sale. Starting at $159 per person per night you will receive one night lodge and two lift tickets. This offer is only good Sundays – Thursday January 10-14 and January 18-21 2010.

Skiing can be a fun and exciting experience for the entire family. Use Google and perform a search for Ski package deals. There are hundreds of ski resorts in the United States that are looking to fill empty rooms during this economic downturn. Take advantage of these deals today.

Author: Mike Smitt

Check back with Healthy Financial Habits every Monday morning for your weekly gold price predictions. Here you will find current news, information and investment strategies that will assist you in making financial decisions. It is important to remember that consulting with a quality financial adviser is always recommended prior to making personal financial decisions.

Already thinking about filing your income taxes for the 2009 year? Well you are well ahead of the mad tax rush. While many people are waiting for their W2 forms to arrive from their employer, you are gearing up getting with all the necessary documentation to prepare your taxes.

Healthy Financial Habits has you covered this tax season with tips on filing your taxes and ways that you can file your personal income taxes online free of charge.

Let’s face it, the year is 2010 and filling out a paper tax form, mailing it in, and waiting for a check to arrive in the mail is extremely outdated. In the day and age of computers and direct bank deposit there is no need to continue wasting your time doing taxes the old fashion way. With e filing you can prepare your taxes and submit your information to the IRS for review all in the same day. After your taxes are accepted by the IRS, you can have your refund directly deposited into your bank account. It doesn’t get much simpler.

Today nearly 75% of Americans have a home computer and access to the internet. The remaining 25% of people have access to a computer at their local library. With nearly 100% of the country having access to the internet, it is astonishing how many people still use the old paper system or pay someone to file their taxes.

What do you need to know about filing your 2009 taxes? Well it all depends on how complex your taxes are. If you are single with no dependants and only have once source of income then your taxes are simple. Basically, all you have to do is enter your information from your W2 form into an online tax preparation program and within minutes you have a calculated return and are prompted to enter your account number where you would like your refund directly deposited.

If your taxes are more complicated I would recommend that you consult with a tax professional. An example of someone with a complicated return would be a couple with four dependants, self employed (with many write offs) many assets with tax deductible interest and other investments. With an ever changing tax code, this couple would be better off consulting with a professional.

Whether you choose to do your own taxes or allow someone else to prepare them for you, you will have to gather all of your information. Much of your information will be mailed as a form within the next few weeks. Examples would be interest received from a bank, student loan interest paid, money received from sale of stock, etc.

Gather all of your information and take a look over the IRS website in order to get an idea of what may have changed since last year. If you would like to e file you should follow the links directly from the IRS website. There websites have been checked out by the IRS and are legitimate.

Author: John Zinsky

Check back with Healthy Financial Habits every Monday morning for your weekly gold price predictions. Here you will find current news, information and investment strategies that will assist you in making financial decisions. It is important to remember that consulting with a quality financial adviser is always recommended prior to making personal financial decisions.

It’s that time of year once again. If you are one of the millions of Americans that cringe at the sight of a W2 form you are not alone. It is estimated that nearly 80% of Americans turn to tax preparation services each year. Many of us choose to let someone else prepare out taxes for a variety of reasons such as convenience and knowing that your taxes are prepared correctly so that the IRS doesn’t flag your return. Which tax preparation service should you trust to handle your taxes this year?

If you were to perform a search you will find hundreds of people that are willing to prepare your taxes for a nominal fee. Tax preparation services will gladly prepare your taxes and charge you a rate according to the complexity of your return.

If you reside in California there is something that you should know about the person that is preparing your taxes. Unlike many other states, California requires tax preparers to take educational courses and be license before they can legally prepare taxes. This should be the first credential that you should check before letting someone do your taxes.

One of the best ways to hire a tax preparer is to ask around. Ask your co workers, friends, and family who they use to prepare their taxes and what level of satisfaction that they have achieved using this person or company. If you are interested in using a large company such as H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt remember that you sometimes get what you pay for. Many of these employees have taken a crash course on tax preparation and use a computer program to guide them through the process. They often miss items that a quality accountant would notice. You may save a couple hundred dollars using this service, however, in the end you could have missed out of potentially hundreds or thousands in deductions.

If you are considering using a large tax preparation company you may want to consider filing your taxes online through one of the many online e-filing companies. You can either purchase tax software from retailers such as Walmart or can use a website that offers online tax preparation. If your taxes are simple (no dependants, one source of income, and no deductions) I would recommend this method.

Whichever way you choose to file your taxes this year, make sure that you know who you are dealing with. Be aware of online scammers and fly by night tax preparers. Remember, you are ultimately responsible for any mistakes that are made on your taxes.

Author: Carla Kessler

Check back with Healthy Financial Habits every Monday morning for your weekly gold price predictions. Here you will find current news, information and investment strategies that will assist you in making financial decisions. It is important to remember that consulting with a quality financial adviser is always recommended prior to making personal financial decisions.

We have seen the price of gold make some gains recently this month. Last week India’s gold finished at Rs 16,805, down rs 75 per 10 gram from Thursdays closing. The decrease in price is partly a result of a decrease in gold buying from ornament makers.

Healthy Financial Habits has been notorious for making close gold price predictions in recent month for United States gold prices. We will now extend our gold price predictions internationally by covering India’s gold prices. As we see it, gold is still a hot commodity. The price of gold will continue to rise in the coming months. Just how much will the price of gold rise this week? We are estimating that gold prices will end around Rs 17,900 up Rs 95 by Friday.

In the United States gold had a slow down in the month of December after signs of an improving economy gave boost to the dollar and drove the price of gold down. Statistics showed that jobless numbers were down and new home sales were up. In addition retail sales were also higher than anticipated.

The month of January has proven to be a disappointment for some optimistic economist. Just as we believe that thing are turning around new jobless numbers are released by the department of labor. The resulting higher than expected jobless numbers caused many who had an optimistic outlook to scratch their head. The month of December showed 85,000 jobless claims and a stagnant national unemployment rate of 10%.

As economic conditions are erratic, many people are continuing to turn to gold. After dropping to a two month low in December gold has rebounded and appears to be headed forward with upward momentum.

Author: Allen Dukes

Selling your scrap gold can be a quick and easy way to raise a little extra cash in a time where money is running low. As you are probably aware of, gold prices have been well above $1,000 an ounce for several months now. This means that right now would be a good time to cash in and sell your scrap gold at a great price.

Selling scrap gold is not difficult if you are able to understand how scrap gold is valued.  You must first understand that scrap gold prices do not take into consideration the craftsmanship involved in creating your jewelry. Scrap gold value is based solely on current price per ounce, weight, and purity. In addition you must subtract approximately 20% of your final scrap gold price for processing and refining cost.

Gold is measured in troy ounces. A troy ounce differs from a standard ounce because it is approximately 31 grams opposed to 28 grams. The weight of gold and silver are usually calculated in troy ounces.

Gold purity is measured in Karats. Gold purity starts at 24k (pure gold) and reduces according to the amount or other metals added to your gold. Almost all jewelry has some other type of metal added in order to increase its strength since pure gold is a soft metal.

In order to calculate how much your scrap gold is worth you must first locate how many karats your jewelry has. This is usually stamped on your jewelry with a 22k, 18k, 14k, 12k, 10k etc. Once you have located your scrap gold purity its time to weigh it.

In order to weigh your jewelry you must first obtain a scale. You can use a simple metallic pocket scale that weighs in grams or a more advanced digital gram scale. These scales can be purchased online or at retailers such as tobacco supply stores. It is more accurate to use a digital scale.

Once you have found your scrap gold weight and purity you can now calculate what your scrap gold is worth. Use the following formula created by Healthy Financial Habits:

Scrap gold value = ((Karats/24) * weight in grams) (Current price per gram) (.80)

The current price per gram can be found by dividing current price per ounce by 31.1034768.

Once you have established an approximate value for your scrap gold you should check around with several buyers to see who will offer you the most money for your gold.

Author: John Zinsky