Your HVAC system (heating and cooling) account for the majority of your electric bill. Here in Florida, we need our AC systems working full force for most of the year. That can cause us to spend quite a bit, turning over a chunk of our paychecks to FPL just to be comfortable. We would love nothing more than for you to be able to keep some of that money in your bank account where it belongs. If you have an…
The weather is beautiful here in Southwest Florida right now. Some of you seasonal snowbirds went home far too early! Those still here and our beloved year-round residents are opening up their homes, windows, lanai doors and breezeways. The EPA states that the air inside of our homes can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside. So getting some fresh air in is a great idea for all of our health. Surprisingly indoor air pollution is…
Get ready to jazz up your lanai. A lanai isn’t just an outdoor sitting area; it’s an extension of your home. In Southwest Florida, where the temperature is warm year-round, the lanai is basically an additional room. Treat it like one! A lanai is a great space to entertain guests, eat dinner, read a book, play a game, and so much more. Whether you’re building a new home or looking to upgrade and renovate your current home, don’t overlook or…
The IRS audited approximately 1.4 million individual tax returns filed in 2012.1 That amounts to approximately 1% of 146 million individual returns filed that year. However, fewer than one-quarter of those audits involved face-to-face meetings with IRS auditors. The rest were conducted through the mail. Filers earning less than $100,000 had a .58% chance of being audited. Among filers with income exceeding $200,000, the audit rate was 2.06%; for those earning more than $1 million, it climbed to 9.20%. Audit…
After years of accumulating assets, the time will come for you to begin drawing on those assets to provide income throughout retirement. Before that day arrives, be sure to consider some steps to assist you in keeping your retirement income stream flowing. Set a Sustainable Withdrawal Rate As tax-advantaged retirement savings vehicles such as 401(k)s and IRAs have proliferated, so too has the trend toward self-funding of retirement. In the future, the share of personal assets required to fund retirement…
Who needs a pyramid scheme or a crooked money manager when you can lose money in the stock market all by yourself. If you want to help curb your loss potential, avoid these 10 strategies. 1. Go with the herd. If everyone else is buying it, it must be good, right? Wrong. Investors tend to do what everyone else is doing and are overly optimistic when the market goes up and overly pessimistic when the market goes down. For instance,…
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of people turning 65 can expect to use some form of long-term care during their lives. But less than one-third of Americans who are 50 or older have begun saving for long-term care. Long-term care includes a range of personal daily living services. Most long-term care isn’t related to medical care, but rather assistance with daily bathing, dressing, using the toilet or eating. Other types of long-term support include…
Most stock market investors are looking for the same result: strong and steady gains of their investments. Dealing with a period of sustained falling stock prices is not easy. All too often, investors react to a sharp drop in prices by panic selling or digging in their heels despite deteriorating fundamentals. But more thoughtful investors see a correction or downturn as an opportunity to review the risks in their portfolios and make adjustments where necessary. When confronted with any adverse…
All is takes is some cracked grout to make your bathroom go from beautiful to grimy. Cracked grout really can make a bathroom look old and dirty. Grout can crack. There are a few reasons why your grout may be cracking, so it’s best you get it inspected by a grout/tile professional to figure out why. Sometimes, grout will crack when there’s too much water mixed into the grout, which create tiny pinholes. When the grout dries, these pinholes make…
All is takes is some cracked grout to make your bathroom go from beautiful to grimy. Cracked grout really can make a bathroom look old and dirty. Grout can crack. There are a few reasons why your grout may be cracking, so it’s best you get it inspected by a grout/tile professional to figure out why. Sometimes, grout will crack when there’s too much water mixed into the grout, which create tiny pinholes. When the grout dries, these pinholes make…