Talk about adding insult to injury! Your paycheck gets shorted all year long, and then mid-April rolls around and you owe even more in taxes–sometimes a lot more. Sure, taxes are a necessary evil and everyone should pay their own way. But why pony up more than your legal share? There are a number of [...]

When should you retire? The answer is simple: Whenever you can afford it. Retirement is fueled by four sources. Pension plans Social Security Tax-deferred savings Basic (taxable) savings This is a good time to evaluate your situation and come up with a workable retirement plan of action. Do You Qualify? Retirement before age 65 is [...]

Tax strategies for the IRS novice. You’re a new employee and a first-time taxpayer. Now is the time to get serious about financial planning–if you have not done so already. Put accounting on your priority list and focus on serious tax savings. Good Accounting in Place Bruce Budofsky, a partner with New York-based accounting firm [...]

Writer Peter Mayle explains his own move into self-employment by saying, “I would rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in someone else’s.” It’s a notion that’s catching on with an estimated 40 million of us who already are working on our own. Here are some basics for anyone wishing to start down [...]

Do You Have What It Takes To Turn Pro as a Speaker? You know if you’re good. You can tell immediately from the applause and audience feedback. One person says yours was the “best speech I ever heard.” Another says, “You touched my life.” You’re asked how much you charge for a speech. Should you [...]

Disaster Preparedness: A 10-Point Plan You must be ready to handle sudden career changes. When I gave notice at my last job, my manager told me not to bother coming in anymore–that day was to be my last. So, instead of enjoying a leisurely day at the office–saying goodbye to colleagues, tying up loose ends, [...]

Wait Not, Want Not You have to know when to move on. “I really felt stuck. I stayed, hoping it would get better,” recalls Marilyn Fox, a journalist who used to work for a music Web site. “It never did.” It took Fox nearly three years to learn that her job would never take her [...]

A practical guide to living and working in the City of Angels. Native Californians are perplexed by the phrase back East. Back to what? Humidity? Hurricanes? Sub-zero temperatures and slushy, grimy snow? Los Angeles has its share of problems–smog, earthquakes, floods, forest fires–but it also has bikini-clad babes blading down the boardwalk, a bright white [...]

Don’t let layoffs leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Once upon a time, there was a woman who lost her job–let’s call her Ellen. While she was waiting for a new job to come along, she organized her closets, put all her photos in albums, cleaned the house from top to bottom, and taught [...]

You sweat over the instructions, hope to God you’re filling out the forms correctly, and then top the day off with a late-night dash to the post office. Yes, it’s Tax Day, that annual spring ritual. And most of us consider it both a civic responsibility and a pain in the neck. Nothing will ever [...]