Use These Tips When Filing Personal Taxes

By Doeren Mayhew

Your Home Is A Tax Saving Tool Deduct interest on up to a compounded total of $1 million of mortgage debt incurred to purchase, build or improve your top act and a second residence. And you can deduct points related to purchasing or rising your top residence. Also keep in mind these deductions and exclusions, including: concept set deduction, bag equity debt welfare deduction, rental income exclusion, and bag sale gain exclusion.

Save For, and With, Education Expenses Whether you're saving for your children's (or grandchildren's) education, paying higher education expenses for them or yourself, or even paying off student loan debt, you may be eligible for the following tax breaks: 529 Plans, ESAs, and Education Credits. Your tax advisor can help you select the most advantageous credit mix, depending on the amount of tuition paid and the number of students in your family. Student loan interest deduction. If you're paying off student loans, you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 of interest.

Give to Charity to Save More on Taxes Donations to qualified charities are generally fully tax deductible. For large donations, discuss with your tax advisor both the types of assets to give and the best ways to give them. Charity assets include appreciated assets and CRTs.

Time Investing Gains and Losses While time, not timing, is generally the key to long-terminvestment success, timing can have a dramatic impact on the tax consequences of your investment activities. The 15% long-term capital gains rate is 20 percentage points lower than the highest regular income tax rate of 35%--and it generally applies to investments held for more than 12 months. Don't let tax reasons hold you back from selling at a loss. If you're ready to divest your portfolio of a poorly performing security but don't have enough gains to absorb the loss you'll realize, remember that capital gains distributions from mutual funds can also be offset with losses. If you end up with a net capital loss, you can claim up to $3,000 of the loss against ordinary income this year and carry forward any excess to future years.

Save Tax-Deferred First Because of the tax advantages, contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b), 457, SIMPLE or SARSEP, is usually the best first step in retirement planning: Contributions are generally pretax, so they reduce your taxable income. Plan assets can grow tax-deferred-- meaning that you pay no income tax until you take distributions. Your employer may match some or all of your contributions--also on a pretax basis. At minimum, contribute the amount necessary to get the maximum employer match.

You can make 2009 IRA contributions as late as April 15, 2010. - 23217

About the Author:

Doeren Mayhew provides accounting, audit, tax, and business consulting services to middle-market, closely held companies and non-profit institutions. For more information, please visit the Doeren Mayhew website.

How to Sell Gold for Profit

By Tabitha Reaves

This is the worst recession for over 60 years and as we have all had to cut corners, tighten our belts and look for ways to save cash, many people have been taking a good, hard look at where they can make extra money. Many of us have old jewelry which is simply wasting away in a drawer or a box somewhere - it is unlikely to be ever used again and it is in every sense of the word, dead weight.

Selling gold and especially old jewelry has become a boom industry in the US and around the world.

Why?

The answer is simple - in times of recession, investors look to buy gold because it is considered a stable, secure investment - gold is what backs the currency reserves of the US dollar and currencies all around the world. When economic times get rough, gold is where the smart money invests and in turn, this drives up the price of gold while stocks and shares fall in value.

Because top dollar is now being offered for gold, it makes a good proposition for gold refiners to buy in the relatively small quantities of gold and precious metals included in your jewelry collection. The issue for you is how to get the best price for the collection you are looking to sell and how not to get scammed in the process!

First of all, deal with a gold buyer who is prepared to offer you a published price for the precious metal involved - not just gold, but also platinum and silver - reputable dealers will publish a daily buy-price for metals so you can easily see what you will get for your metal and be able to compare prices with other dealers. If you cannot see a published price or the dealer is not ready to come forward with a price when you ask, avoid doing business with them - this is something which is basic and fundamental.

In addition, when you are dealing with a dealer using the internet (or indeed in any advertizing medium) you should take some basic precautions to make sure you are dealing with who they say they are! Remember, you are trusting a substantial amount of money to their gold buying process and you want to be sure you are going to receive payment from the person you are sending the precious cargo to. If they have an internet site, check the contact information and make sure you are dealing with a real company at the end of the telephone number. If you call the company and you only get a call-center or customer service staff who do not appear willing to discuss your potential sale, then quite simply, don't deal with them. You should also make sure that the address they give is a physical mailing address for their business and that it can be verified.

When you have decided who you are going to transact the business with, make sure that they provide you with secure and insured courier or mailing services so you can be assured that the jewelry makes it to their refinery and if there is a claim, you are going to be fully compensated for any loss or mistake. - 23217

About the Author:

The best online resource to sell gold or sell silver can be found at www.refinity.com

BlackHorseFund: Uses Experience And Tactics To Succeed

By Robert Miller

July 27, 2009, Los Angeles California " In baseball a home run is a thrilling play and when it happens, it gets the fans on their feet to cheer for the batter. One Forex fund is striving to hit home runs day in and day out.

BlackHorse Fund, a California-based private Forex fund has a strategy of winning profitable trade after profitable trade based on a number of factors, including an experienced team and a proprietary system for trading. And the real winners? The fund's investors.

The foreign exchange market " "Forex" " is the largest and most liquid market in the world. Global currencies are bought and sold by expert traders who invest in currency pairs " selling one currency and buying the other, and later reversing the position with the aim of making money as currencies valuations fluctuate.

Forex may be well-known investing opportunity but few people are successful at it when they invest on their own. The amounts of dollars (and yen and pounds and pesos) that change hands is massive and it often takes a team of experienced people with a highly perfected system to enjoy the returns necessary to consider this investment a wise decision. BladkHorse has both the team and the technique and their fund's investors pool their money to be used to grow capital.

The team of traders and analysts who perform the research and make the trades each bring years of experience to the table. They include seasoned Forex investors a well as those who have experience in the field but bring an outsider's outside-the-box perspective. The team's skills are a balanced mix between fundamental analysis and technical analysis and the team works together, within specific parameters, to strive for successful wins.

The fund's techniques are a combination of skill, tactics, deep research, and a proprietary algorithm and all four are used by the Forex team to alert the traders and analysts to possible positions that are either investing for a new position or divesting of the their current position.

And how have BlackHorse Fund investors fared? By combining the experience of their team and the proprietary algorithm, BlackHorse Fund has delivered a substantial double-digit percentage return to investors.

BlackHorse Fund is made up of a group of limited partners as well as BlackHorse Management LLC. The limited partners are private investors who were able to pass through the exclusive investing "gate", which includes a rigorous new investor application process. - 23217

About the Author:

You can contact the BlackHorse Management group at info@blackhorsefund.com for more info, for details in regards to the investor application process, or for media Questions.

Strategies For Trading Stocks

By Mike Swanson

You and I both know there are no guarantees on how to make money on investing in stocks. From which stocks to buy, through when to buy or sell, the variables. You can only do your homework and believe your investigations are sound. There are three stock market trends that you may not be aware of and they are detailed below.

DEAD CAT BOUNCE: This is the effect seen when a stock price rises after a sustained period of downward movement. Often people start to buy again thinking the turn around has happened and then the stock drops even further.

Why this is important for stock trading: No one can really predict when a market or stock recovery will happen. It can however provide an opportunity for investors to buy or sell quickly to take advantage of the temporary price increase.

A BELLWETHER STOCK: This is a predictive stock, one that usually indicates where the market is going to head.

Why is this important? These sorts of stocks usually have a history of correctly indicating which way the market is going to go. They on themselves may not be attractive in terms of gains to be made, but will be useful to watch to get a general feel for the market sentiment.

THE JANUARY EFFECT: This is the effect that sees the beginning of a new year heralding higher stock prices in January. It has been attributed to tax factors and to investor sentiment. People often unconsciously expect prices to rise in a new year.

Why is this important to me? While research shows the effect to be real, it is hard to turn these gains into profits. The chances have become less and less. However it is important to be aware of this phenomenon so that if an opportunity presents itself, you may be lucky to be able to take advantage of it. - 23217

About the Author:

For more on buying stocks grab our free stock picks newsletter.

Purchasing Investment Real Estate in Dubai UAE

By Mohamed Whitesnow

With Dubai evolving into one of hottest tourist attraction and business capitals of the world, the real estate sector of Dubai is fast becoming a lucrative option for investment. Property in Dubai sure has huge demand throughout the world and it would seem a wise move at present to make an investment in this sector. Rental opportunities are increasing as more and more people are expatriating to this wonderful and busy business center of the Middle East. You can make a fortune if you are able to make the correct move at the right time.

Being among the fastest growing cities on the globe Dubai has become an outstanding choice for investment in real estate. It is one of the best holidaying destinations for tourists from the entire globe with money being a non issue at all. This is the reason for the boom on Dubai real estate market with prime locations being sought after for hotel and resort construction. If you are able to invest in Dubai real estate, you will be able to reap its potential.

One of the major problems that at present are troubling all is the overpricing of Dubai real estate. This is because the Dubai property makers failed to create an adequate supply. Dubai properties are being bought up fast and reselling at a higher and exorbitant price is making it very difficult to estimate the actual price of the properties. Thereupon, it is recommended to consult local realtors and agencies in Dubai before you buy Dubai properties.

The existence of an imbalance between the villas and the high-rise apartments is due to a low price difference between villas and apartments and the requirement of high resources in terms of square footage area for the construction of villa. Thus, the villa has become one of the most sought after properties in Dubai, with high demand and low supply.

If you are interested in investing money on villas then you must try out the Jumeirah Beach Residence as a property in Dubai. It is one of the biggest in size among the homes and places for commerce as a plan of the globe with money spent of roughly 5.7 billion UAE Dirhams. There are many those buildings that run as hotels in the same locality yet investing a substantial amount in JBR should be your best step forward in property investment in Dubai. From the point of view of Gross Domestic Product, the property industry and the market for developing real estate in Dubai has offered a lot of enhancement in this short span of time and by the looks of it will grow further in the day to come.

The income from rent from Dubai property is roughly 5 to 10% of the asset value, which automatically makes it a good candidate for investment. The future prospects in terms of growth are certain for all kinds of properties in Dubai thus you can easily invest in it.

Be wise enough to do a good research into the matter about the piece of real estate that you are going to go for in Dubai as many times due to the great demand there is always the probability of over the top prices of estate becomes a cause for concern in Dubai. Whichever may be your option renting the property out or developing it and then selling it you can make a huge turnovers from your property in Dubai as as a bankable long standing investment because the worth of these homes will only ris in sometime. According to what researches done and thought upon by those in the field of economy claim the growing cost of home in Dubai is can reach up to eleven percents as per every year.

Always be careful about the community area in which you are purchasing your real estate in Dubai has ability to develop. The value of the land will definitely increase for an apartment or building a hotel or a resort or the likes is located near it. The market for property and estate is a intelligent choice for investment. Even if you are purchasing the piece of estate with the security of a loan the amount that you will receive as a result of leases for your asset will easily be enough for repaying the loan and very soon you will see that you are earning quite a lot from it.

Dubai has not circumvented the worldwide financial crisis and the real estate prices have dropped slightly in Dubai. The situation is calming lately with the prognoses of real estate prices stabilization starting from Autumn 2009. - 23217

About the Author:

Before you buy any Dubai real estate it is a good idea to research some property for sale in Dubai posted every day. Mr Muhamed Whitesnow is a businessperson working in Dubai properties market. Remember, Dubai is a great place for buying property if you do it the right way.