Dee Lee is a Certified Financial Planner who received a diploma in Financial Planning from Boston University and her MBA from Simmons College. She is a member of the Financial Planning Association and served on their national Board of Directors. Click here to read her full bio
Please, please do not believe everything you read online and do not trust random websites! Or Facebook or Twitter! Right here in Boston, a pretty sophisticated city, we got took!
Your Name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, credit card numbers, ATM numbers and checking account numbers are floating around everywhere. You need to protect those numbers.
This is National Consumers Protection Week. This is a national campaign to reach consumers to help them make informed decisions in today’s marketplace.
This is a good time to start your tax planning for 2010. Set up a filing system. Nothing elaborate needed here. I use a folder system where I label folders Contributions, real estate taxes, estimated taxes, Medical expenses, etc. You could use an envelope system as well.
Paying taxes is a privilege; it’s the price we pay for living in a civilized society. But you should do tax planning so you only pay your fair share of taxes.
Preparer Fraud: Dishonest preparers can cause a lot of problems for taxpayers. They often advertise a guaranteed refund and charge inflated fees for their services.
Capital Gains: This is the money you make if there was a profit when you sell an investment! Investments that you hold for less than a year and then sell are considered short-term investments. If you made a profit it’s a short-term capital gain and the profit is then taxed as ordinary income.
Unemployment Income: First $2,400 of benefits are not taxable this year. Property Taxes: If you use the standard deduction rather than itemize you can deduct up to $1000 in property taxes if you file jointly and $500 for a single taxpayer for 2009....
Close to 46 million taxpayers take the time to fill out all those formidable long 1040s and use their deductions. Most people, the other 85 million, don’t have the income or the deductions to itemize, but many won’t take the time to figure out if using their deductions is the better deal.
The tax stuff has been piling up on the kitchen counter for the past couple of weeks. All of those unopened envelopes need to be opened and filed. If you don’t open them you won’t know if you are missing any pertinent information. Look for 1099s from your mutual fund companies, banks, clients, and pension distributions. And 1098s from your mortgage company.
There is something in everyone’s closet that still has the tags on it. The cute black dress you bought for your high school reunion one size smaller than you normally wear because you thought you were going to lose weight. The new gym clothes because you were going to join the gym.
We spend hours here at WBZ talking about making money, saving it and investing it. What about wasting it? During these tough economic times you can’t afford to waste your money.
This is big business. Billions are spent looking for a date or a mate. There are over 40 million singles looking for each other according to a USA Today article and there are over 1,000 dating sites to accommodate them.
Americans eat on average 12 pounds of chocolate a year which is half what the Swiss eat. I thought that number was low then I realized that’s 1,152 Hershey kisses per person.
Valentine’s Day is this Sunday so there are lots of things you can plan. You can plan a special day, brunch or dinner out, even a weekend away. It’s not so much where you go, it’s the fact that you are going out and you have taken the time to plan the event. It’s a long weekend with most people having Monday off.
Britney Spears, who I think is about as sharp as a marble, got better advice than Sir Paul McCartney, who I think of as a savvy businessman. She had a pre-nuptial agreement. He did not!
Dealing with the Terrible Twos is a piece of cake compared to dealing with your college freshman telling you she has maxed out on her credit card or your son asking you to co-sign a loan for a motorcycle.
All families discuss money. Sometimes it’s the screaming and yelling kind of discussion or if you plan them better the quieter but still awkward discussion.
From my experience (I sent two kids to college) I have learned that tuition, room and board, the lab fees and medical insurance are just the tip of the iceberg.
Over $140 billion is available in aid this year. That money will come from the Federal government, the states colleges and private organizations. Financial aid comes in several forms. Grants and scholarships that don’t need repaid, jobs so the kiddo can earn money and a variety of low cost loans.
We are several weeks into the New Year and the diet and political ads are driving me to the cookie jar! About half of Americans (46%) were thinking about making resolutions in December. And by now many have already abandoned their New Year resolutions.
Congress and the IRS decided that you could not leave your pre-tax retirement savings growing forever tax-deferred, so they chose 70½ for you to begin your mandatory withdrawals. Now I don’t why Congress in its infinite wisdom chose age 70½.
Current thinking has 65 as the normal retirement age and that’s because at one time a worker could collect full Social Security benefits at age 65. No more.
Only 60% of employers offered retirement plans in 2008. And of those that did offer retirement plans only 52% of workers participated. Those are sad numbers!
According to a survey by EBRI, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, about 20% of workers between the ages of 40 to 59 have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.
Congress realized a couple of years back that most workers will not have enough retirement savings set aside for their golden years. And our government does not want to be responsible for taking care of us in our old age if we are poor.
This is a good day to start on those New Year’s resolutions. You are back to a regular routine after the holidays. And saving more was the top New Year’s Resolution according to Putnam Investments, followed by losing weight and exercising more.
Where did this year go? I have been asking myself that question all week. Time seems to slip through my fingers like sand; a year ago I sat in this very spot and talked about the economy.
Experts say we spend 40 hours a year looking for the important stuff we put away in a safe place. We just can’t remember which safe place we put it in!
Lots of stuff is on sale at half price right now. Those are words I just love to hear, “Half Price.” Cards, ribbon, wrapping paper, decorations, candy may now be discounted as much as 70%.
In the Christmas poem the 12 days of Christmas, some guy is sending his true love gifts between Christmas and the Epiphany January 6th. According to the PNC Christmas Price Index it would cost $21,465 to do this season. Just $385 more than last year. Most of the cost involved is the cost of dancing, leaping, piping and drumming.
This time of year everyone wants your money. You are getting pleas from many charities in the mail and maybe even a few phone calls. Annual gifts to charities are close to $250 million and usually half of those dollars are collected between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.
Stop & Shop, union workers still talking
WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva reports the lines of communication remain open, despite a looming strike deadline.
Merck buying Millipore
The head of the German pharmaceutical giant tells WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva that Millipore's operations will remain in Billerica.
Fall River food business breaks ground on huge expansion
WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva spoke Monday with Todd Blount, President of the family-owned Blount Fine Foods. You may not know the company, but there's a good chance you've eaten one or more of its products.
WBZ Business Breakfast: Paying for College
Some participants at Thursday morning's event said major changes are needed in the system for paying for college. WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva hosted the forum.
Necco brings back a tried-and-true candy bar name
NECCO says the Clark Bar was first produced in 1886, by Irish immigrant David L. Clark. WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva reports from the NECCO plant in Revere.
Gulf Oil revving its engines once again
The iconic brand, now headquarted in Framingham, is expanding once again. WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva has details.
Wall St. execs admit mistakes, apologize
WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva has details of Wednesday's first hearing before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
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Kars4Kids Car Donation
Kars4Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides a wide range of services for underprivileged children. Some of their programs include mentoring, parent education, camp programs, and family retreats. By providing the children with emoti
Dee Lee is a Certified Financial Planner who received a diploma in Financial Planning from Boston University and her MBA from Simmons College. She is a member of the Financial Planning Association and served on their national Board of Directors. 
