To Claim or not to Claim: College Loans and Taxes

Its tax season again and one of the mostmon questions from students right now is whether or not they have to claim their financial aid on their taxes. So to clarify, students have to claim on their IRS tax forms any money gained from services for which they received payment, investments, and self-employment ie. Generally, amounts spent on education, scholarships, grants, and loans are non-taxable, though there are some exceptions. To note, most tax-free treatment of ie, credits, and deductions require the student to be a degree candidate, but not all.

Before getting to what you do and do not need to claim, let’s look at a term you will be seeing a lot and what it means. In order to be tax-free, student aid must be used for Qualified Education Expenses. What constitutes a QEE? T

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Teaching Your Kids to Be Great With Money

If you have kids, you will of course want to teach them to become financially successful adults. The challenge is that many schools do not teach financial skills. It’s up to you. Here’s what you can do to get started:

1) Start early. Children can be taught to count currency, appreciate the prettiness of world currencies, and start coin collections. Look for age-appropriate activities you can share with your children.

2) Avoid spoiling your children. A lavish allowance for nothing or tons of toys all the time will not make your children happier – just bored. Giving children too much also makes them value money a little less. Instead, link an allowance to chores (so that children learn the value of earning) and limit gifts and toys to special occasions.

3) Teach your children to save. When kids get an allowance, the first thing they imagine is all the fun things they can get for that cash. Hey,

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How to Find a Lease-to-Own

Instructions

1. 1

   Create a list of the attributes for the lease-to-own home that are most appealing to you. For example, classify homes based on proximity to services such as mass transportation and a shopping district, as well as other criteria that are important to you.

2. 2

   Drive around the neighborhood or community looking for lease-to-own opportunities. This will also give you an opportunity to check for rental signs posted by landlords. You may need to cover a lot of ground, so take someone along with you to canvass the neighborhood. Expect to make several trips, so schedule enough time for your search.

3. 3

   Take notes of the different styles of available homes. Your notes should consist of property descriptions, locations and contact numbers.

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More borrowers were underwater on mortgages at end of 2010

More homeowners found themselves underwater on mortgage loans in the fourth quarter of 2010. The number of mortgages underwater swelled to 27 percent, compared with 23 percent in the previous quarter, according to a Zillow survey.

Home values drop

Zillow also reported that home values had the biggest decline since the first quarter of 2009. The 2.6 percent drop came as the effect of the government’s tax credits for home buyers wore off. The Zillow Home Value Index fell 5.9 percent to $175, 200 in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow chief economist, said in a statement:

While the tax credits did not hurt the housing market, they did delay its bottom by interrupting the housing correction that was taking place.

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How to Teach Kids about Money?

Parents are responsible to teach the first financial tutorial to their children. As your children learn from you, therefore guide them effectively by making your financial management as a milestone for them. Take benefit from all the situations which could be helpful to make a routine of saving money. Some of the monetary tips to guide your children are given here.

Pocket Money:

For the Age of 10 Years:

Subject to the attainment of proper age limit fix a stipend for them.

It could be their first salary. In return a five years old child could be refrained from purchasing toys. A ten years old child could be responsible for petty household tasks. Set a regular payment frequency. This will let your child be familiar with salary encashment.

For 10 to 15 Years kids:

Start transferring the expenses related to your child out of his pocket instead of your pocket.

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Can I Pull From My Roth IRA to Buy a House?

A Qualified Distribution From a Roth IRA

1. Qualified distributions from a Roth IRA, which are not taxed or subject to the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty, come from accounts opened for at least five years. The five-year period begins with the tax year in which you made the first contribution to the account. So, a first time home buyer can only make a withdrawal for the home purchase if the account has been open for more than five years.

Qualifications for a First-time Home Purchase

2. The IRS only allows withdrawals to “buy, build, or rebuild a home.” This means that the person or persons who will be owners of the home cannot have been a primary owner of a personal residence within the last two years, which officially ends on the date of acquisition.

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