It’s February, Gather Your Tax Papers
It’s now February. Here are some money tips to help you get ship-shape for filing your income taxes.
- Get ready for tax season by gathering your W-2, 1099 and other tax forms.
- If you want to file your taxes on your own, take advantage of a USAA member discount for TurboTax®. Save 35% when filing federal-only taxes, and get a 25% discount when filing both federal & state. It’s an easy, secure, web-based service. After you start, you can save your progress and come back to pick up where you left off at any time.*
Protect Yourself from Liability Risks
Homeowners, renters, auto and watercraft policies have liability coverage that protects you if you’re responsible for harming others or their possessions. Consider these three factors when deciding how much liability protection you should carry.
- The costs of medical bills, physical therapy and the injured person’s loss of income. Depending on the severity of injuries and number of people affected, this cost can easily add up.
- Your personal risk tolerance. You may prefer to insure losses that rarely happen to have peace of mind. Or, you may find the likelihood is low enough that you’re comfortable with lower limits.
- How much you have to lose in the event of a loss. The higher your assets, the higher the protection level you should carry.
You don’t want to be under-insured for liability. If someone gets seriously injured and/or you were sued, your financial situation could be thrown into a tailspin. You can supplement your basic policy protection with an umbrella policy.
Attack Debt
Carrying around a big debt burden can make it harder to pay the bills and diverts money that could be used to save for your future. Make 2012 the year you turn the corner on high-interest, nondeductible debt.
First, get smart about debt, and then assess your situation and put together a customized plan of attack.
Check Mortgage Rates
With mortgage rates at historically low levels, this might be a good time to refinance your fixed-rate mortgage — or make the switch from an adjustable rate mortgage to one that’s more predictable. But since refinancing isn’t free, make sure it’s the right move for you.
Stretch Your Raise
If you were lucky enough to get a raise this year, don’t let that extra money get lost in the shuffle. Dedicate at least half of it to savings or paying down debt. This is a great time to consider increasing your contributions to your employer’s retirement plan, or set up an automatic monthly transfer from your checking account to your savings account.
Investing in securities products involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Investments/Insurance: Not FDIC Insured • Not Bank Issued, Guaranteed or Underwritten • May Lose Value
* Intuit Inc. is not affiliated with USAA and is solely responsible for the provided information and content. USAA cannot guarantee that the information and content supplied is accurate, complete, or timely, and does not make any warranties with regard to the results obtained by its use. Quicken TurboTax for the web is a service mark and Quicken and TurboTax are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., and are used with permission.
The preceding discussion is not tax, legal or estate planning advice. Consult with your tax, legal or estate planning professional regarding your specific situation. USAA or its affiliates do not provide tax advice. Taxpayers should seek advice based upon their own particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor. USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its insurance, banking, investment and other companies. Banks Member FDIC. Investments provided by USAA Investment Management Company and USAA Financial Advisors Inc., both registered broker dealers. Property and casualty insurance provided by United Services Automobile Association, and its affiliate property and casualty insurance companies is available only to persons eligible for P&anp;C group membership. Each company has sole financial responsibility for its own products.
The trademarks, logos and names of other companies, products and services are the property of their respective owners.
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