• 15th - Due date for the fourth installment of 2009 individual estimated tax

February

• 1st - Employers must furnish W-2 Statements to employees. 1099 information statements must be furnished by banks, brokers, and other payers.
• 1st - Employers must file 2009 federal unemployment tax returns and pay any tax due

March

• 1st - Payers must file information returns (such as 1099s) with the IRS
• 1st - Employers must send W-2 copies to the Social Security Administration
• 1st - Farmers and fisherman who did not make 2009 estimated tax payments must file 2009 tax returns and pay taxes in full.
• 15th - Deadline for calendar-year corporations to elect S status for 2010.
• 15th - 2009 calendar-year corporation income tax returns are due.

At first everything seemed fine, a quick approval and rate lock over the phone for a very good rate (this was April 2009 so actually the historic low for rates. Then the problems started. Weeks and then months started to go by and dozens of phone calls and emails were unanswered about my loan status. I could occasionally get in touch with the loan originator and he always assured me that my loan was proceeding fine.

Now after three months go by I finally hear that they have not been able to move ahead becuase they can’t move ahead without an appraisal. Which is fine, except they never called me to tell me I needed an appraisal. I am, of course, fine with an appraisal and it get completed in about a week with a loan to value of 30% (which is a slam dunk good deal for the bank.)

Now my file gets moved to underwriting, and they want some copies of W-2s. No problem - they have the exact same income I indicated when I initially got approved for the loan., I go ahead and send them over the same day. A week or so goes by and then I get a letter in the mail saying that they couldn’t verify my income. Huh? The W-2s verified my income. I get in touch with the loan processor, who says she can’t do anything. I attempt via phone and email to get in touch with her supervisor, who never calls me back.

Bank of America ends up wasting 6 months of my time and rejecting my loan for no reason, except probably the fact that they didn’t want to honor my rate lock of 4.375%.

Whatever you do - Don’t use Bank of America. They will waste you time. They will ignore your emails and phone calls. They have no idea what they are doing. They will lie to you and in the end they will reneg on their rate lock and not even have the courtesy or professionalism to call you.

Effective diversification involves more than simply owning a jumble of different investments. It means selecting a mix of securities that may not react the same to a given set of conditions — investments that carry a low “correlation” to one another. Correlation is a statistical measure of the degree to which two securities perform the same under particular market conditions. For instance, if you choose stocks of two companies that make the same product and serve the same market, chances are that they will move in tandem when conditions affecting their industry change. Owning both would be unlikely to lower risk in your portfolio. Alternatively, owning stocks of companies that operate in different segments of the economy may help improve your risk-adjusted return, although past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Diversifying by Industry
Combining stocks from different industries or sectors — financial services, telecommunications services, and health care in this case — may potentially result in a portfolio that has less risk than the individual industries or sectors. Of course, the portfolio may also have somewhat lower returns than some of the individual industries or sectors — a trade-off that long-term investors may be willing to make.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises consumers who order their free annual credit reports online to be sure to correctly spell annualcreditreport.com, or link to it from the FTC’s website to avoid being misdirected to other websites that offer supposedly free reports, but only with the purchase of other products. While consumers may be offered additional products or services while on the authorized website, they are not  required to make a purchase to receive their free annual credit reports.
The FTC has received complaints from consumers who thought they were ordering their free annual credit report online. Some consumers responded to TV ads, email offers, or simply searched online.

This is a great free service to check out your credit history but be aware that you will not get your credit score. If you want your credit score you will have to pay an additional fee of around $8 while you are getting you free credit report.

What could happen to your nest egg

Due to the tax effect, withdrawing funds from a qualified retirement plan is not like taking cash out of your bank account. A 401(k) withdrawal is taxed as ordinary income, and if you’re under age 59½, a 10% penalty usually will be added to the tax. Borrowing from a 401(k) generally is preferable to simply withdrawing the funds, because no tax applies to the loan proceeds.

However, many plans either restrict their participants’ borrowing or don’t allow borrowing at all. Where loans are permitted, they’re individually limited to the lesser of $50,000 or one-half of the borrower’s plan assets. Most 401(k) loans require interest at one or two points above the prime rate, and the loans must be fully repaid within five years, unless the proceeds are applied to a personal residence. The borrower must sign a legally enforceable loan agreement and adhere to the agreement’s terms.

If you leave your job with a 401(k) loan outstanding, you’ll generally have 30 to 90 days to either fully repay the loan or face being taxed (and penalized, if you’re under age 59½) on the outstanding balance. When you repay the loan, you’ll be paying with after-tax dollars, and you’ll be taxed again on those dollars when
you withdraw them upon retirement. And unlike ordinary mortgage interest, the interest paid on a 401(k) loan used to buy or improve a home is not deductible.

Borrowing from a 401(k) is an especially bad idea for funding an ongoing cash need. For example, using the proceeds to offset a hike in your adjustable mortgage payments would only compound the problem. You’d be burdened with an additional loan, the proceeds eventually would run out, and the mortgage payments almost certainly would not go back down.

Finally, borrowing from your 401(k) tends to defeat the purpose of participating in the plan in the first place — to accumulate funds for a comfortable retirement. Removing money from a fund slows its growth, particularly since most people must cut back on current contributions in order to make repayments.

June 16 - Second quarter 2008 individual estimated tax is due

July 31 - 2007 retirement and employee benefit plan returns are due for calendar-year plans

September 15 - Third Quarter 2008 individual estimated tax is due

The contribution limit for the 2008 tax year increased from $4,000 to $5,000. Plus, if you’re age 50 or older, you can add a “catch-up contribution” of $1,000. The contribution deadline for 2008 is April 15, 2009, but you may earn more by contributing earlier.

Finally, a word about the new economic stimulus payments the IRS had been distributing: These rebates aren’t available until you’ve filed your 2007 return, so taxpayers with extensions have to wait. Certain individuals who normally aren’t required to file returns - such as those receiving social security benefits - may follow a simplified filing procedure.

Just remember it is almost never too late to start saving for your retirement

Congress previously approved a one-year deduction for mortgage insurance premiums in 2007. A full deducation was available for taxpayers with and AGI of $100,000 or less. Once income exceeded $100,000, the deducation was phased out.

The new mortgage relief law extends this tax break for three years through 2010. Therefore, you may qualify for a 2008 deducation for amounts paid or accrued this yeat.

The Kiddie Tax

Under the kiddie tax, a childs investment income above a threshold ($1,800 for 2008) is taxed at the top tax  rate of his or her parents. Prior to this year, the kiddie tax applied to children under age 18.

  But now the rules have changed.

Beginning in 2008, the kiddie tax generally applies to your children who are under the age 19 or full-time students under age 24 if they can be claimed as your dependents.

To minimize the tax damage, try to keep investment income of children below or near the $1,800 threshold. For example, you might have a child switch funds into a tax-deferred or tax-free investment vehicles.

The mazimum tax rate on net long-term gains and qualified dividends for taxpayers normally in the 10% or 15% regualr income tax brackets is reduced from 5% to 0% for 2008. Under current law the 0% rate will remain in effect through 2010. This may be a good year to have your children sell securities that have appreciated in value. However, such sales may trigger “kiddie tax” complications.

This tax break isn’t strictly limited to lower-income taxpayers. If you can push your taxable income for 2008 below the cut-off point for the regular 25% tax bracket - perhaps by increasing charitable gifts or 401(k) contributions - your long-term capital gains and dividend income could qualify for the 0% rate