Money Advice Guide

Excerpted from the new book, “How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age Brain” TM

Every year American companies lose millions of dollars in productivity to employees who end up taking their own personal time off to do their taxes. Whether you are filing by paper from just one W-2 or running multiple enterprises, streamlining now will pay off this year and in future.

Applying these proven Tax Time Tune-Up tips will save you time, frustration and could even save you money. Even if you only reduce your stress level - it’s worth it! Start today by getting an archive box or file crate to hold all your tax related files and forms.

If you have a good filing system, but you keep getting bogged down in old records: Every January, pull last year’s financial files, any business related expenses, proof of income and all tax related items. While you are taking old files out, make the replacement new file folders for all of your regular home and business or personal financial and legal documents.

If you have no functioning filing system for your home (or business) I recommend you sort out your papers for tax and archives after setting up the FileSolutions TM color-coded pre-printed file kit that fits your current filing needs at http://www.organizer-extraordinaire.com

That way you’ll have the right place to put each item as you handle it. I use the Home and Small Business FileSolutions TM kits in my own business, which makes it easy for me to guarantee your satisfaction.

Tax Preparation Software: By using tax preparation software, you can finish your federal and state returns in about 90 minutesif you’ve completed the steps above. The software helps you find deductions, does the math for you and tells you what you owe or what your refund will be.

Use tax preparation software matched to your situation and financial software; there are several available (TaxCut, TurboTax, etc.).

I use TurboTax (by the makers of Quicken) to do my own taxes. If I can do it - so can you! Then, I have a tax professional check my return for way less money than it would have cost me to have my business and personal taxes done by a tax professional.

Good News/Bad News: If your Adjusted Gross Income for 2005 is less than $28,000, or you qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit - go to http://www.taxfreedom.com and use Intuit’s TurboTax program online for FREE!

Online tax-preparation sites keep improving their do-it-yourself tax tools, ease of preparation and regular or e-filing expertise. These offer the same process as desktop software does but, it is all done online. After the products fo through your return for errors (and suggest possible tax-savings), you can print your completed return or file it electronically.

The IRS likes electronically filed returns so much, in fact, that it’s set up specific developers that provide free prep and filing to certain demographic groups. Go to www.irs.gov to see if you qualify.

Some tax-preparation web sites are cheaper than their desktop counterparts. But they don’t always have the most complete version of tax help that the desktop software does.

There can also be additional costs of state filing services, sometimes at more expense than the federal counterparts. A recent PC Magazine rated the top three Tax Web Sites as: TurboTax (

Tags: April 15, finance, home office, organize, reduce stress, save money, save time, small business, taxApril 15, finance, home office, organize, reduce stress, save money, save time, small business, tax

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In the Forex market the value of two separate currencies and how they relate to one another is what is known as the Forex exchange rate. Usually the Forex rate is how much of one currency is needed to buy a unit of another. Knowing the basics regarding the Forex exchange can help you get started in understanding it even better.

Just to give you an example of how the Foreign exchange rate can work and to help you better understands it we can compare the United States dollar with the Japanese yen. Let’s say that on a certain day the US dollar is able to buy one hundred and ten Japanese yens, this would indicate that the exchange rate for that day is 1:110 or a one to one hundred and ten ratio. This ratio in the exchange rate is also known as pairing. When you take it vice versa you can use it to indicate how many US dollars a single unit of Japanese yen can buy. Another term that is used in the Foreign exchange rate is ‘cross rates’. This term however is only used when it does not involve US dollars; it is only used when relating two foreign currencies.

A few other terms used in the Forex exchange are pips or basis points, which are actually two terms used for the same thing. These terms are used to indicate Forex rates that are calculated up to four decimal points and whether or not these are negative or positive movements. An example of this would be if you were to exchange euros with yen at a value of 135.1030, but then the euro rate goes up to 135.1035, it is called a five-pip improvement.

In using the Forex exchange rate you are required to use two currencies and this means they are quoted as ‘two tier’ rates. Also in the Forex market its price basis is called a bid/ask. Using the previous ratio between the yen and the US dollar in the Forex market, if this trade is made it is called a ten pip ’spread’ and is secured. This term means it indicates the difference between the buying and actual selling price.
A lot of things can change the spread and affect it. These things include market conditions and traders’ instincts about the strength of certain currencies, which can fluctuate greatly from day to day. One thing you should remember however when it comes to the Forex is that only Forex traders who are licensed can access official quoted rates. This means therefore that smaller investors may not receive their currency at a very good rate, because they usually receive them from commercial banks.

One last thing concerning the Forex exchange rate is that it is independently determined. This is why it thrives so well, because solely buyers and sellers and their supply and demand of certain currencies determine it. In the end individual governments and banks cannot decide the values.

With the benefits and knowledge of how the Forex exchange works you can decide if entering the Forex market is the right move for you. But with all the advantages of Forex, why wouldn’t you want to?

Tag: Forex Exchange RateForex Exchange Rate

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