If you a business owner or service provider of any sorts, you should be familiar with the 1099 form, especially if you are an independent contractor.  Starting this year in 2012, any gross amount of income that you received in 2011, that was settled by a  third party network for example eBay’s PayPal, Google Wallet, or Amazon will now be reported on a new tax form called the 1099-K Merchant Card and Third Party Payments form.  This new 1099-K tax form has been considered a way for the IRS to flag upcoming audits.  Read more here.

Since the IRS open the tax filing season on January 17, 2012, the Justice Department’s Tax Division and local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices targeted 105 people in 23 states on indictments, arrests and the execution of search warrants involving the potential theft of thousands of identities and taxpayer refunds.  Along with 939 criminal charges which included 69 indictments and information related to identity theft.  Read more here.

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe here to get instant blog posts sent to your email.

It’s now 2012, and if you’re still procrastinating with making a financial leap, then you don’t want to put it off any longer.   Procrastination is never a good thing, and why have your personal finances suffer in the meantime.  If you need a financial makeover, it takes a mental commitment; one that will allow you to stay the course until the end of the year.  Here is a quick 5 step checklist that can assist you in staying committed to a financial makeover in 2012.  Read the rest here.

Teaching children the different concepts of Personal Finance can be a difficult topic of discussion for some adults.   Many adults feel clueless on where to start to make the subject interesting and captivating.  Keeping a child’s attention on the subject can be daunting if the approach is too analytical.  If you want to succeed with introducing children to the topic of personal finance, make the subject fun and exciting by using board games.

Read the rest on Your Black World

Borrowing money for the holiday season is no misnomer for many American families.  American families are constantly being bombarded with retailer’s advertisements of buying, and fighting the buying temptation can be difficult.  Statistics show that nearly 1 in 10 families borrow money to spend on Christmas gifts and those same families are unable to pay their bills at the end of month in December.  Read the rest at Your black world

In these economic times, many individuals are going through some rough financial pressures.  For example, the lost of a job, home foreclosure, or unmanageable debt that keeps accumulating.  Studies have shown that people who are struggling financially during the holiday season experience a much greater burden of stress and anxiety than any other time of the year.

Many individuals who are experiencing this type of stress and anxiety do not realize it’s not because of lack of money.  More money will not change your financial situation if it did, why do 9 out of every 10 lottery winners who become millionaires go broke within 5 years?  What changes your financial situation, is your mindset.   Changing your mindset will allow you to live the life you were destined for, it will allow you to eliminate a mindset of lack and develop a mindset of financial abundance.  Listed below are 4 principles one must master in order to reap the harvest of becoming financially secure:

1.  Learn to embrace the concept of being an abundant thinker

2.  Learn how you can become an abundant thinker

3.  Educate yourself on why the recession has nothing to do with your finances

4.  Learn how to stay motivated in any economy, so you can become recession proof

These concepts may seem esoteric and out of the box for some individuals, but if you’re in a place where you’re hurting financially.  Consider learning something new, it was Albert Einstein who said “Doing the same thing and expecting different results is Insanity”.

Talkin about Cybermonday

In this video I’m discussing the Black Friday and Cyber Monday phenomenon  with Dr.  Boyce Watkins.  Click here at Your Black World to listen and watch.

Cyber Monday has been called the most profitable online shopping day for retailers since 2005.    Online retailers have been rallying to get Black Friday shoppers to continue their shopping frenzy until Monday, with hopes that this year will be even more profitable.  But consumers who are planning to shop on Cyber Monday, to score big on sales for the holidays.  Here are 4 tips to consider when shopping on Cyber Monday.

Read the rest on Your Black World

I recently created a blog post on African American Money, discussing 5 tips that can help consumers stay within their personal budget and eliminate overspending.  Check it out:  Click link