Between our aging population and the many hours that we spend daily staring at electronic screens, there's little wonder why more and more Americans — 165.5 million adults, according to the Vision Council, an industry group — wear corrective eyewear.
At the same time the market for glasses is growing, technology is disrupting it.Aging matters because it is associated with presbyopia, commonly known as far-sightedness, and usually develops in older adults, of which we have many. Screens matter because prolonged use of them is correlated with computer vision syndrome as well as myopia, or near-sightedness, which has become much more common, research shows.
Consumers today can even get a refraction exam for prescription lenses by using their smartphone or laptop. 
The U.S. market for eyewear was $31.7 billion in 2021, 6% more than 2020. Globally, the market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5% from 2023 to 2030.
Tech Disrupts the Market
At the same time the market for glasses is growing, technology is disrupting it. The industry is evolving as more consumer choices, online competition and regulatory updates pull the rug out from under its old model of one-stop exam and glasses purchase.
Advancements in eyewear technology and telehealth also are driving changes in the industry. For example, consumers today can even get a refraction exam for prescription lenses by using their smartphone or laptop. Why step into a doctor's office?
Result? There are myriad ways to save money on eye care, including shopping online.
Even the three largest eyewear retailers the U.S. — EssilorLuxottica, Walmart and National Vision Holdings — have felt the effect of changes to the industry and responded: EssilorLuxottica has added big box stores and online retailers. National Vision Holdings, which owns five retail chains, is opening new stores across the country. Walmart has extended from in-store to online shopping.
The Eyeglass Rule
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promotes fair competition in the marketplace, including eyeglasses. Since 1978, the "Eyeglass Rule" has given you the right to get a written copy of your eyeglass prescription at no extra charge after an eye exam. Having a copy lets you comparison shop for frames and lenses. Many consumers ask for a hard copy and a digital version to have on hand wherever they are.
Be sure to ask for your pupillary distance (PD), which is the distance in millimeters between your pupils or from your pupils to the center of your nose bridge. It's necessary to properly fit new glasses, but not always part of your prescription.
Choosing to Save Money
Whichever way you choose to shop, before you start looking for eyeglasses, check with your health insurance to understand if any part of the eyeglasses are covered. For veterans, seek your eye care through the benefits you are entitled to.
Another way to save on eyeglasses is rather than get new frames, ask for the lenses to be replaced with your new prescription.
Another way to save on eyeglasses is rather than get new frames, ask for the lenses to be replaced with your new prescription.
For locations with on-site optometrists, Walmart Vision Center and Costco Optical cannot be beat on prices. They typically offer frames and lenses at much lower prices than a local store. The only downside, their optometrists may not always be available for after-hours emergencies.
Check Your Vision Insurance
LensCrafters and Pearle Vision have a wide range of frames and services and can be great places to save on spectacles if you watch for sales and coupons. Some places have same-day service.
Online buying may be cheaper, faster and easier than traditional retailers, but understand that spectacles with a low price may be of low quality and may not come with a warranty.
Another caveat: Many online retailers do not accept your medical insurance.
When Not to Go Online
Going online makes sense if you wear a single lens prescription or need a second pair of glasses; however, if your prescription is complicated, you may be making a mistake that degrades your vision. Contact lenses are harder to fit and could damage your eye without an initial fitting by a professional.
Your provider may understand if high-index lens materials, which yield thinner, lighter lenses, are right for you, and may be trained in using digital lenses that use a laser to precisely measure eyes to make lenses that are more customized to each individual.
Going online makes sense if you wear a single lens prescription or need a second pair of glasses; however, if your prescription is complicated, you may be making a mistake that degrades your vision.
Before you shop only for price, consider what your provider offers. Warranties and free adjustments are usually available so you can see clearly during the life of your glasses.
Beyond the Bottom Line
On the medical side, ask if your eye doctor regularly monitors various health conditions and is available for medical emergencies. Consider their overall benefits beyond the cost for an exam or eyeglasses alone. Price matters but so does eye health.
And keep in mind that despite the growth of online services, there are reasons why there are still 43,000 brick and mortar optical stores, the same number as in 2018. Some consumers are willing to pay to shop at luxury, high-end eyewear stores that focus on service, prestige and convenience, not to mention frames that flatter your face shape and match your prescription.
Medical expenses are one of the biggest costs for retirees. For those of us who wear glasses or need other devices, the cost can take a significant slice of our income. The options discussed here do not just apply to glasses; you can price shop many other medical services, from hearing aids to dental treatment.
We have come a long way since John McAllister opened America's first optical shop, in Philadelphia in 1796. That was a time of ready-made frames and lenses. With the centuries has come innovation and personalization. Being open and exploring options makes medical and financial sense.


Is Now a Good Time to Buy Glasses Online?

Christine D. Moriarty

Chances are, if you were asked to name the principal elements of planning and preparing for retirement, you would say things like saving regularly, managing expenses and keeping debt down.
Retirees with strong longevity literacy were more likely than others to report their lifestyle met or exceeded their preretirement expectationsYou probably wouldn't mention one thing that's also vital: your longevity literacy, which is an understanding of how long people tend to live after reaching retirement age.
Having a high degree of longevity literacy "is a fundamental part of planning for retirement," said Annamaria Lusardi, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at the Stanford Center on Longevity's Century Summit 2023. "Empowering people with longevity knowledge can move them toward having financial security."
Longevity Literacy and Retirement Readiness
Lusardi and fellow researchers at the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center and the TIAA Institute found in a 2023 study that longevity literacy is directly correlated with retirement readiness. (My "Friends Talk Money" co-hosts and I discussed the study in a recent episode.) 
"The number of people who know how long a 65-year-old will live, on average, is really small."
They discovered that workers with strong longevity literacy are typically more confident they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement than those with weak longevity literacy.
Retirees with strong longevity literacy were more likely than others to report their lifestyle met or exceeded their preretirement expectations and more confident they will have enough to live comfortably through retirement.
But there's a big problem: Only 12% of U.S. adults have strong longevity literacy; 31% have weak longevity literacy, researchers at the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center determined after surveying 3,503 U.S. adults.
"The number of people who know how long a 65-year-old will live, on average, is really small," Lusardi said at the Century Summit.
Just 35% of surveyed respondents correctly said that the average 65-year-old man will live to 84 and the average 65-year-old woman to 87.
The survey also asked about the likelihood of 65-year-olds living to at least 90 and not living beyond 70. Responses to those questions were abysmal, too.
Just 32% knew that the likelihood of a 65-year-old man and woman living to 90 was 30% and 40%, respectively. Under half (46%) knew that the likelihood of a 65-year-old not living beyond 70 was only 5% to 10% for men and under 5% for women.
Lousy Longevity Literacy
Boomers were only barely more longevity literate than members of Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z and none of the generations demonstrated especially high longevity literacy; just 13% of boomers had strong longevity literacy compared to 12% of Gen Y, 11% of Gen X and 10% of Gen Z.
This is the second consecutive year the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (formerly at George Washington University School of Business) and the TIAA Institute (the research arm of the TIAA financial services firm for nonprofits) have measured longevity literacy. The researchers' conclusions were similar for both studies.
"Men more often demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the retirement planning horizon."
Their latest survey also found that men score much lower than women on longevity literacy and are more likely than women to underestimate how long 65-year-olds are likely to live.
While 26% of women surveyed underestimated how long a 65-year-old will live, 35% of men came up with ages shorter than reality. Similarly, 27% of women underestimated the likelihood that a 65-year-old will live at least until 90, but 32% of men fell short.
"Men more often demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the retirement planning horizon," the report said.
Surya Kolluri, head of TIAA Institute, said at the Century Summit that this gender difference "flips the script" on what other studies have found about financial literacy. In those, women tend to be less knowledgeable about personal finances and investing than men.
Pessimistic About Longer Lives
In their November 2023 report for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (Longevity Risk: An Essay), economists Karolos Arapakis and Gal Wettstein cited other studies showing that life expectancy statistics "do not necessarily reflect how individuals perceive how long they will live."
"Empirically, parental age of death has been a poor predictor of an individual's mortality."
Many people in their 50s and 60s are pessimistic about their survival probabilities for two reasons, the authors wrote.
One is that the media usually reports the life expectancy for people at birth, not at 65. Elevated rates of suicide, homicide, unintentional injuries and other factors among teenage and young adults reduce life expectancy that starts at birth. Measured that way, average U.S. life expectancy in 2022 was 77.5, a slight rise from 76.4 in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's 80.2 for women and 74.8 for men.
The other reason people underestimate longevity is that they base their own mortality dates on when their parents died. "Empirically, however, parental age of death has been a poor predictor of an individual's mortality," said Arapakis and Wettstein.
Why Longevity Literacy Matters
It's good to know the real longevity for 65-year-olds because that information can help you save appropriately for retirement. If you underestimate longevity, you're likely to not have a big enough nest egg to last your lifetime.
The Center for Retirement Research report cited an internal Greenwald Research presentation that suggested "advisors are deeply concerned about many of their clients' ability to manage longevity risk." Translation: the ability to avoid running out of money.
"People are taking a longevity risk by not knowing the answer to the longevity questions," said Kolluri.
Improve Your Retirement Security
One starting point on the longevity literacy road is knowing how much you hold in retirement savings. But many people don't.
"Nearly one-fourth of people are unsure how much retirement savings they have," Kolluri noted.
"Nearly one-fourth of people are unsure how much retirement savings they have."
Annuities — financial products from insurers that convert a lump sum into monthly income for the rest of your life — are one way to keep money flowing throughout retirement.
However, financial advisors don't seem to recommend annuities to many of their clients, the Center for Retirement Research report said. Just 14% of Americans have bought an annuity.
"The question is why," said Dylan Tyson, president of Prudential Retirement Strategies at the Century Summit. "What are the structural barriers in the design of our retirement system?"
He pointed to research showing that 80% of people say lifetime income is something they want, acknowledging that financial services firms need to make annuities easier to understand and keep costs as low as possible.


Longevity Literacy Is Key to Retirement Readiness

Richard Eisenberg

Although the Conference Board Index says consumer confidence in the U.S. is markedly higher than it was in 2020, money struggles are serious for many households with incomes under $75,000, The Financial Well-Being 2024 survey of 5,000 U.S. adults from Assurance IQ has found.
"When somebody is trying to figure out how they're going to spend their money all month long and struggling with that, the idea of making a will or having life insurance can just feel overwhelming,"Financial concerns are especially weighty for Americans aged 50 and older with incomes under $75,000 (roughly the U.S. median household income), according to internal survey data that Assurance IQ, a Prudential Financial subsidiary, provided to Next Avenue.
Nearly half (45%) are worried their family wouldn't be able to maintain their standard of living if they were to die.
"This could lead to ongoing cycles of financial hardship for these families as unexpected costs get passed on to future generations," The Financial Well-Being 2024 report said.
Findings from the Financial Well-Being Report
The survey found that last year:
57% of respondents aged 50 and older with incomes under $75,000 struggled to pay bills38% couldn’t afford their health insurance deductibles36% paid a bill late31% avoided medical care due to costIf faced with a future unexpected medical expense, 28% said they wouldn't be able to cover it without affecting their ability to pay monthly bills.
Deteriorating Balance Sheets
Tim Ogden, managing director of NYU Wagner's Financial Access Initiative research center, said COVID relief helped put a lot of cash into people's pockets and pushed down their expenses temporarily. But that relief has ended.
Household balance sheets for lower- and middle-income people are worsening, Ogden noted, due to inflation and rising interest rates on credit cards (up to 36%, according to WalletHub) and personal loans.
"Increased interest rates radically affect somebody's budget really, really quickly," he said. "When you're living on thin margins, this gets really hard to deal with."
The Money Steps Some Aren't Taking
The Assurance IQ study also found that more than a third of people aged 50 and older earning less than $75,000 are not taking essential steps to protect themselves and their families.
Just 46% have drafted a will and only 36% have bought life insurance. Most who bought life insurance have death benefits of less than $50,000.
"When somebody is trying to figure out how they're going to spend their money all month long and struggling with that, the idea of making a will or having life insurance can just feel overwhelming," said Jennifer Gilbert, director of customer marketing at Assurance IQ. "Your mental capacity is going toward day-to-day living."
Managing Finances Day-to-Day
The Assurance IQ study was inspired in part by the U.S. Financial Diaries. That program, from NYU Wagner's Financial Access Initiative and the Center for Financial Services Innovation, tracked 235 low- and moderate-income households to see how they managed their finances day-to-day.
Ogden said he wasn't surprised by Assurance IQ's findings because incomes are often highly volatile for these households. Many are either hourly workers with varying hours or in jobs that aren't steady.
"The financial services industry has often overlooked lower-income households — households that need their support most."
"Most of what we talk about in financial planning and budgeting starts from the assumption that you know how much money you have and how much you're going to earn. But if you don't know that, how do you create a budget?" Ogden said.
When Ogden's researchers tracked finances of lower- and middle-income Americans, they found the households were sometimes saving, but for something that was going to happen in a couple of months from now, not for something that was going to happen a couple of years from now.
As Ogden noted, when income is volatile, trying to plan for future expenses, like retirement costs, "is really difficult when you're worried about how much I need to save up for the six-month car insurance payment."
Online financial planning questionnaires, he said, typically assume you know your future income and spending needs.
A 2024 Bankrate survey said 15% of boomers (people aged 60 to 78 and 22% of Gen Xers (those 44 to 59) have no emergency savings. One-fifth of boomers and about a third of Gen Xers have emergency savings that would cover less than three months of living expenses.
Where Are the Financial Advisors?
One reason some with incomes under $75,000 aren't taking steps to bolster their finances: "The financial services industry has often overlooked lower-income households — households that need their support most," the Assurance IQ report said, adding that this lack of guidance can spell disaster for them.
"It is a gap we hear from a lot of our customers that they weren't able to find help or didn't know who to go to for help," said Gilbert. Jargon and financial products like life and health insurance can be intimidating, she added.
Many financial advisors charge their clients a fee based on assets under management; fees typically are around 1% of the assets the advisor will manage.
Consequently, there's an incentive for these advisors to work with people with substantial assets. The amount the money pros will earn from them is higher than for those with smaller asset levels.
This year, employers can enroll employees in emergency-savings accounts linked to their 401(k) retirement accounts if the workers' incomes are under $150,000.
Some advisors, however, do take lower- and middle-income clients either by charging hourly fees or offering services pro bono.
How Some Employers Are Helping
This year, employers can enroll employees in emergency-savings accounts linked to their 401(k) retirement accounts if the workers' incomes are under $150,000. This benefit — known as a "sidecar account" or Pension Linked Emergency Savings Account — comes out of the 2022 Secure 2.0 law.
That law also allows employees a $1,000-per-year penalty-free distribution from their 401(k)s starting in 2024.
But few employers are stepping up.
Only 0.8% of retirement plan sponsors surveyed by the Plan Sponsor Council of America in January 2024 said they plan to implement sidecar accounts and just 10% expect to permit penalty-free withdrawals. Just over 2% said they'll offer both.
Job Insecurity Is a Big Hurdle
Some plan sponsors said the new benefits took too much time or cost too much to set up and manage and some opposed linking emergency savings to retirement savings.
A Wharton Pension Research Council/Brookings Institution paper noted that freestanding emergency savings accounts have a major advantage over sidecar accounts. "They can be made available to all employees regardless of whether their employers offer retirement plans," it said.
Research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that roughly three-quarters of employers with 500 or more workers last year either offered or planned to offer hardship or emergency assistance programs to workers.
Some lower- and middle-income workers may be leery to sign up for these plans, Ogden said, because they worry about how long they'll be able to hold onto their jobs.
The Startups Helping People Save More
A few startups are helping lower- and middle-income people save for emergencies and retirement.
The SaverLife app lets users link their bank accounts to earn points when amassing savings and then redeem them for prizes. It also offers budgeting tools.
The Canary and Commonwealth enterprises partner with employers and financial services firms to set up employee emergency relief funds and savings programs targeted for lower- and middle-income people.
Change Machine offers financial coaching training and tools for low-income communities.
"These types of organizations are focused on how we change the way we help people based on the reality of their financial situations," said Ogden. "But we're not there yet."


The New Barometer of Americans' Financial Health? $75,000

When I used to work and was quite busy, I would read The Wall Street Journal every day and listen to NPR on my daily commute. I used to think I was fairly well informed. Now that I'm retired and my time is virtually unlimited, I can't be bothered to keep up on the news.
"While most find realtor fees egregious, no one understands why they are set at 6% of the price of the real estate being purchased."Therefore I was completely surprised when I read in Fortune that on Oct 31, 2023, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) lost a $1.8 billion lawsuit brought by 500,000 home sellers in Missouri and some border towns. The suit was about whether Realtors artificially inflate their commissions.
After reading a number of articles about the lawsuit I am still unsure what the judgement will actually mean for real estate buyers and sellers going forward.
After reading a number of articles about the lawsuit I am still unsure what the judgement will actually mean for real estate buyers and sellers going forward.
I do know what it will mean for lawyers: they will sue the NAR in other regions. Due to the speed of the American justice system it also will mean we should expect to wait several years for everything to shake out.
Brokers Set Their Own Rules
According to Fortune, "The focus of the lawsuits is an NAR rule that requires that home sellers offer to pay the commission for the agent representing the homebuyer when they advertise their property on a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), where a majority of U.S. homes are listed for sale."
If the outcome of this lawsuit means that the home buyer will be responsible for the remuneration of the buyer's agent, then this lawsuit may be beneficial to buyers and sellers.
A report by analysts at the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods estimated the decision in this lawsuit could cut commissions by 30% from, say, 6% of the sales price to 4.2%. Though in the end, I'm doubtful that this will mean anything more than a bunch of lawyers driving around in their new BMWs.
Why the pessimism?
Playing the Game, Knowing You'll Lose
Anyone who has ever bought or sold real estate must have realized the unfairness of the fees paid to Realtors. (That is what the National Association of Realtors calls its members, though it prefers to use all capital letters and a registered-trademark symbol — REALTORS®.)
While most find the fees egregious, no one understands why they are set at 6% of the price of the real estate being purchased. I know when I had to pay the 6% it didn't feel so much like a commission as an extortion. Either way I'm thankful that I don't pay my tax guy using a similar payment scheme.
If buyers and sellers know the fix is in then why do they keep playing the game?
'It Has Always Been This Way'
I used to work with colleagues that negotiated the chartering of crude oil tankers, most of these deals had a fair amount of complexity with a seven-figure price tag. But when it came to selling their houses, they readily paid 6% to a Realtor. Why?
I think some of it has to do with people believing "that's just the way it is." Also, the fact that the 6% is paid out of the seller's equity, which after a 30-year real estate run, means the seller rarely had to pay out of pocket.
These are just theories, though. The important thing to remember is even if this lawsuit results in changes, I think many years will elapse before Realtors are forced to adopt a more transparent, consumer-friendly pricing formula.
For Sale by Owner, Hard or Easy
In the meantime there are two options that can save a home seller money:
1. Not listing your home in the local MLS, a real estate-agent-run database of houses for sale, thereby avoid paying the 3% commissions to both the buyer's and seller's Realtors.
This is for the true DIYer and to me is not a realistic option. Without the MLS, I'm not sure how a seller can get the exposure needed. I guess if you were in no rush to sell, then it might work, but I just don't know how. Also, I've met a few people who tried this, and generally, they were just a little weird and generally unprofessional.
2. Using a flat-fee MLS listing brokerage that will list your house in the MLS for a one-time charge of $100 or so, therefore letting you avoid the 3% seller's commission. Generally, you will still have to agree to pay the 3% buyer's commission (without it, why would a buyer's agent show a customer your home?). I have successfully gone this route twice in Washington, D.C., so this is a viable option for most homeowners.
In both cases I sold a condo for about $300,000. Since I avoided the seller's 3% commission, I pocketed a fast $9,000 on each sale.
The flat-fee approach is a no-frills deal and therefore required me to enter all the details of the MLS listing (including the all-important Remarks section). I also had to pay for professional photos (this is one place not to skimp) and hold an open house. Then I negotiated the final sales price, had the buyer's agent write it all up and then had the title company which was selected by the buyer review all the documentation and execute the sale.
Selling a home shouldn't be easy. If you sold one and it was, you didn't do it right.
Hey! You can do this, although it appears fewer and fewer sellers are going this route, as FSBOs accounted for roughly 10% of all U.S. home sales in 2021, down from 15% in 1981.
A Compromise: Discount Brokers
There is also the discount brokerage route, if you feel you don't want to pay the full 6% commission, but yet don't want to go it alone. These brokerages generally charge only 1% to list your home, of course you will still have to agree to pay the 3% buyer's commission. They provide all the services of a typical brokerage, including the most important one: listing it in the MLS.
I've went this route before, in Houston, when I used Redfin to sell my home for a 1.5% seller's commission (subsequent to this sale, Redfin lowered its commission rate). While they took care of arranging for some very nice photos, my wife still had to write the copy for the MLS listing, as theirs was just awful. I also had to help with some of the negotiating, with Redfin then making it all official via a standard contract. I share all the details here.
In this case I saved 1.5% on the sale of my $410,000 home, which amounted to $6,150.
Every home seller needs to realize that no matter what route they take, there is hard work ahead: cleaning it, landscaping it, staging it, determining the list price, hiring the right agent and on and on.
Selling a home shouldn't be easy. If you sold one and it was, you didn't do it right. It's likely the biggest financial transaction of your life, so I don't think it's too much to ask that you put in a little effort. And if you are going to be putting forth all that effort, shouldn't you be paid for it?


Real Estate's 6% Solution

Michael J. Flack

With U.S. household debt at a record level and credit card debt topping $1 trillion, it's not surprising that paying off loans and credit cards is the most common New Year's resolution for boomers and Gen X in 2024, according to The Ascent personal finance site. The trick is actually doing it.
"If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track without going to the nuclear option,"Only 47% of credit card holders with balances have a plan to pay them off, a recent Bankrate survey found.
"If ever there was a year to avoid getting further into debt, this is that year."
"An increasing number of people, especially older Americans, are carrying debt from month to month. And the balances they're carrying are growing," Bruce McClary, senior vice president of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling said on the debt-reduction episode of the Friends Talk Money podcast I co-host.
Especially concerning: Interest rates on credit cards are about five percentage points higher than in spring 2022, on average, and rates on some department-store cards now exceed an eye-popping 34%. That has led to a rise in late payments.
Add Car Payments, Doctor Bills, Student Loans
Monthly car loan payments have been soaring, too, due to rising auto prices. So has medical debt, which is owed by one in three Americans.
Another problem: Student loan borrowers are facing long hold times trying to reach their loan servicers and getting inaccurate billing statements, according to a January 2024 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Debt has become so overwhelming that the number of people aged 55 and older filing for bankruptcy has doubled in the past 16 years, accounting for 20% of all bankruptcy filings these days, my podcast co-host Terry Savage noted.
Depend Less on Debt
"If ever there was a year to avoid getting further into debt, this is that year," said McClary. "If you become less dependent on debt and your credit-card balances are under control, 2024 is going to be a winning year for you."
Here are a few suggestions to reduce your debt load in 2024:
"It's an easy conversation to have, but you don't know what you can get unless you ask."
Call your credit card company and try to negotiate down your rate. A recent LendingTree survey found that 76% of people who asked their card issuers for a lower rate got one — often six percentage points below what they'd been paying.
"It bothers me that so few people actually think to call up their creditor and have that discussion," said McClary. "It's an easy conversation to have, but you don't know what you can get unless you ask."
Look into a 0% offer for a balance-transfer credit card. Many card issuers, eager to attract customers, dangle 0% interest rates for 18 months or so for people who transfer over their current credit card offers.
Swapping your high-rate credit card for one charging 0% might save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can find such offers on sites like NerdWallet and Bankrate.
Just be sure you know what the new card's regular interest rate is since you'll pay that when the 0% deal expires if you have a balance at that time. "This is not a long-term strategy; it's great in the short term," said McClary.
Find out, too, if there are fees to transfer your credit-card balance. Typically, the fee is 2% or 3% of the balance you're rolling over.
Ask About a 0% Balance-Transfer Card
Not everyone can qualify for a 0% balance-transfer card, though.
"To get one, you can't have had any late payments," said Friends Talk Money co-host Pam Krueger.
You generally also need a top credit score in the high 600s or above to get approved for a balance-transfer card. So, before applying, ask your bank for your credit score or go online and request a free credit report. You are entitled by law to one free report per year; if you need more than one, you will have to pay for the score from one of the three big credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax or TransUnion.
You Do Have Other Options
If you have a lot of medical debt, try negotiating with your doctor or hospital. You might get a reduction in the amount you'll owe by agreeing to pay the provider faster.Meet with a nonprofit credit counselor. The free session to create a debt action plan will likely take 30 minutes to an hour, either in person or by phone.The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the nation's oldest nonprofit for improving financial well-being, never turns anyone away; its 1,215 certified credit counselors work in 250 locations around the country.A debt action plan can stop the debt collection calls and emails that heighten financial stress.If you have student loan debts, apply to enroll in the U.S. government's SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan. This income-driven repayment program, which replaced the REPAYE (Revised Pay as You Earn) plan, calculates your monthly payment based on your income and family size.SAVE lowers payments for many borrowers and it will become more generous in February. Then it will start forgiving debt in as few as 10 years if borrowers originally took out $12,000 or less in student loans, down from 20 to 25 years previously.Loans eligible for SAVE are direct subsidized and unsubsidized student loans, direct PLUS loans for grad students and Direct Consolidation Loans that didn't repay any PLUS loans made to parents. Loans that aren't eligible include Direct PLUS loans made to parents, Federal Perkins Loans and any loans currently in default.Debt Forgiveness Extended
Take advantage of the government's newly extended deadline for debt forgiveness. Originally, the program to consolidate loans for the forgiveness was scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2023. "It just got extended to April 30," said Savage.This debt forgiveness program is for Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), school-held Perkins loans, Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL) and Parent PLUS loans in repayment for at least 25 years.If you're not sure whether your loan qualifies, go to the Loan Breakdown part of the StudentAid.gov site."If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track."
If your debt load is crushing, investigate filing for bankruptcy. A nonprofit credit counselor can discuss the pros and cons and help you go this route if appropriate.In fact, nonprofit credit counseling is a required part of the process for filing a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy with a debt repayment plan."If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track without going to the nuclear option," said McClary. "But if you're facing potential legal action, that may be a more appropriate time to think about settling your debts and trying to get out of this with a pennies-on-the-dollar kind of approach."Sign up for a budgeting app to take control of your spending. The most popular one — Mint — was shut down by its owner Intuit late last year. But there are quite a few others that could be helpful.They include YNAB (formerly called You Need a Budget), Quicken Simplifi, Rocket Money, Tiller and PocketGuard. You'll typically pay $35 to $100 a year, but many of the apps have one- to three-month free trials."If you'll be using an app," said McClary, "just make sure your data is secure."


How to Get a Handle on Debt in 2024

If Congress fails to raise the federal debt ceiling and the Treasury is not able to borrow, will Social Security continue paying benefits?
Probably, but payments may be late.
You might think Social Security would be insulated from the debt-ceiling fight because the federal government levies a separate payroll tax – authorized by FICA — to pay benefits. But since Social Security is a pay-as-you-go program, with today's workers supporting today's retirees, FICA taxes are deposited in the government's general fund.Congress has capped the national debt at $31.4 trillion and forbidden federal agencies to borrow beyond that limit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the government has stayed open and under the cap by redeeming some investments in one federal pension plan and postponing reinvestments in others.
But she warned that these maneuvers will work only temporarily and could be exhausted as soon as June 1. In that case, the United States would have to choose which obligations to pay and which to delay; this includes bills from contractors, paychecks for employees, interest on Treasury debt — and benefits to the 71 million Americans who qualify for monthly Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits totaling $113 billion.
"A default on our debt would produce an economic and financial catastrophe."
The Consequences
The consequences, Yellen said, would be severe and far-reaching.
"A default on our debt would produce an economic and financial catastrophe," she said in a speech April 25 in California. "Many (Americans) could ultimately lose their jobs Household payments on mortgages, auto loans and credit cards would rise. American businesses would see credit markets deteriorate. On top of that, it's unlikely the federal government would be able to issue payments to millions of Americans, including our military families and seniors who rely on Social Security."
Failing to pay any of its obligations on time would be an unprecedented event in modern history for the U.S. Economists concur that it would probably raise interest rates and disrupt capital markets, which rely on U.S. Treasury debt as a risk-free benchmark for setting prices of all stocks and bonds.
If the debt ceiling is not lifted and the Treasury is unable to borrow, it could pay some obligations with money it doesn't borrow, such as the steady stream of tax revenue withheld from paychecks.
But those revenue sources covered only 72% of spending in fiscal year 2022, which ended last September.
If those ratios remain the same this year, the Treasury could choose to pay only 72% of what it owes to creditors — including Social Security recipients — until Congress and the White House resolve the debt ceiling standoff. Or the Treasury could pay creditors in full as money became available, which would entail delaying payments, including Social Security benefits.
Reducing or postponing Social Security benefits, even temporarily, would be an extreme hardship for the 25% of Americans aged 65 or over for whom the monthly payments provide at least 90% of their family income. It also would be painful for another 25% of Americans for whom Social Security provides at least half of their income.
The Treasury will need to consider drastic alternatives, such as paying less than the full amounts owed or delaying some payments in order to pay others on time and in full.
You might think Social Security would be insulated from the debt-ceiling fight because the federal government levies a separate payroll tax — authorized by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA — to pay benefits. But since Social Security is a pay-as-you-go program, with today's workers supporting today's retirees, FICA taxes are deposited in the government's general fund.
Since tax revenue does not cover all spending; the rest has always come from borrowing. As a result, Washington has accumulated $31.46 trillion in debt over the years — adding $10 trillion in the last decade alone. That alarms many members of Congress, some of whom have pledged to oppose raising the debt ceiling until annual federal spending is significantly reduced.
Economists had expected the Treasury to sell bonds and short-term securities to cover this year's shortfall, as usual. Since Congress has forbidden it to do so, the Treasury will need to consider drastic alternatives, such as paying less than the full amounts owed or delaying some payments in order to pay others on time and in full.
"Whether it's defaulting on interest payments that are due on the debt or payments due for Social Security recipients or to Medicare providers, we would simply not have enough cash to meet all of our obligations," Yellen said on ABC's "This Week" last Sunday.
If missing, partial and delayed payments become necessary, they would be made good when Congress and the White House strike a debt-limit deal.


Will the Debt Ceiling Stop Social Security Benefits?

Mark A. Stein

Tax season has rolled around again, adding to the work and worry loads of America's small-business owners, more than half of whom are aged 50 or above, according to data from the U.S. Census and Guidant Financial surveys.
In order to minimize penalties, you should pay at least 90% of what you expect to owe in taxesFor small-business owners — and freelance workers — who turned a profit, finding appropriate deductions for 2023 while also looking for ideas that might mitigate future income tax bills can be a bit overwhelming.
If, while calculating your earnings, you realize that, hey, wow, you actually did OK (or more than OK) while simultaneously concluding that you are going to have a higher tax bill than you prepared for, don't panic. First, congratulate yourself on running a successful enterprise (which is no small feat).
Second, take a breath and consider the following strategies and advice. Some may offer relief on your 2023 tax bill while others could help you in the future as you continue to grow your business.
Quarterlies and Penalties
Generally, if you expect to owe more than $1,000 when you file your return for 2023, you will be required to pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis starting this year. If you didn't do this or paid too little, you might also be subject to an underpayment penalty.
In order to minimize penalties, you should pay at least 90% of what you expect to owe, says Lee Reams Sr., co-founder of the tax-advice website TaxBuzz.
"A retirement plan is the best tax shelter there is."
Luckily, the IRS considers a taxpayer to have paid within a reasonable time as long as they do so by April 15 of the current year for the previous year's return (so, by April 15, 2024, for the tax year 2023). This means, if you have the funds, pay your estimated taxes now.
Another way to avoid the penalty is to file for first-time abatement penalty relief, which allows people who have been compliant in the prior three years to have their penalty forgiven, Reams explained.
As a self-employed person or business owner you may feel as if you're paying more in taxes than if you were a traditional W-2 employee. You probably are. This is because of a little thing called self-employment taxes.
Self-Employment Tax
Self-employment tax is a combination of the Social Security and Medicare payments made by both an employee and employer (technically you're both), says Jane Ditelberg, director of tax planning at Northern Trust Wealth Management. When you are employed by someone else, they pay half of that tax and you pay the other half.
For 2024, the total percentage equals 15.3%.
If you're like me, you've probably wondered if there is any way to reduce your self-employment tax bill. Potentially, there is: you could elect to change your business structure or the way your business is taxed, though this will not be feasible for a previous year nor is it necessarily advisable for everyone and every business.
Small Business Structures and Tax Rules
Most people who start businesses do so as sole proprietors and report their business income and expenses on their personal Form 1040 tax returns. They will pay the full self-employment tax as well as any ordinary income tax they may owe.
If you own a business entity with, say, your sister, you can minimize your self-employment tax by electing to be an S corporation, explained Ditelberg. These corporations pass corporate income, losses, deductions and credits through to their shareholders, who report it all on their personal tax returns.
Unlike most partnership income, S corporation income isn't self-employment income and isn't subject to self-employment tax, according to the IRS. S corporations were created so that owners of small, incorporated companies would not be double taxed by paying corporate and personal income tax. There are lots of rules for S corporations, including the types and numbers of shareholders allowed.
Incorporation Options Take Work
Another option, becoming a limited liability company (LLC), offers businesses flexibility of a partnership while shielding shareholders' personal assets from being seized to settle the LLC's debts or legal obligations. At most, LLC shareholder can lose only the amount they invest in the company.
"You can't be casual about it."
LLCs can be taxed as partnerships if there are two owners or as "a disregarded entity" if they are a single-member LLC. Robert Morris, a partner at Pullman & Comley Law Firm, said such companies receive liability protection but do not file a separate business tax return.
Regardless of the number of people at any limited-liability company, it must include the "LLC" descriptor on any letterhead or business card. (If you're an S corporation, you must use "Inc.")
"You can't be casual about it," explained Morris, "Announce to the world that you're using a limited liability company or corporation."
Tax Savings May Be Significant
As an LLC, you can also elect Subchapter S as your tax status, meaning you want to be taxed as an S corporation.
Potentially, this tax classification could save you thousands of dollars, Hooman Radfar, CEO of Collective, a finance platform for fulltime freelancers, said. This is because S corporations split earnings between payroll and business profits, the latter of which is not subject to self-employment tax.
"Once a business is making over $60,000 a year, that can add up to a lot of money."
"Once a business is making over $60,000 a year, that can add up to a lot of money," he said.
Before deciding to change your business structure, consult a tax professional or accountant to make sure you understand the paperwork and documentation you would be required to file. Most importantly, you must pay yourself a reasonable salary report it on both an IRS Form W-2 and on a Form K-1, which allocates profits and losses to each business owner.
It breaks down like this: Say you made $50,000 as an LLC. All of it is subject to self-employment tax. If you were an S corporation and paid yourself a salary of $10,000, only your salary would be subject to income tax and FICA withholdings. (And, as both employee and employer, you'd pay the entire 15.3%.)
"The difference is," explained Morris, "the remaining $40,000 would be S corporation income that flows through to you but is not subject to self-employment tax."
Always Be Cautious
Don't get too excited, though. He went on to explain that "the IRS appropriately takes the position that you have to decide how much of that $50,000 would be considered reasonable compensation is for the owner.
So, if the entity earns $50,000 and the owner does all the work, the IRS might say that $10,000 is an unreasonably low salary, recognizing that you are paying yourself so little only to avoid paying self-employment tax — which, of course, would be true.
And, said Morris, "You need to do this in advance. If you are going to take a salary, you have to do it by December 31."
As well as payroll forms, S corporations must have complete financial statements, including profit and loss data and documented assets, liabilities and equities.
For some, all of this added paperwork may not be worth the potential savings. Incorporating yourself may have other consequences on the state level. States could require unemployment insurance contributions or franchise tax payments for the right to do business within their jurisdiction. Forming an S corporation also means you will have to file a separate business tax return (Form 1120-S), said Reams.
Tax-Reduction Tips
"A retirement plan is the best tax shelter there is," said Morris — as long as you don't need access to that money until you reach retirement.
You can contribute to a retirement plan for the previous year through April 15 of the current year. And, Radfar said, self-employed retirement plans like SEP-IRAs or Solo 401(k)s allow maximum contribution limits more than double that of traditional employee plans: 25% of your income to a maximum $69,000 in 2024.
"If your business's cash flow can sustain it, this is one of the best ways for solopreneurs to reduce their tax bill and fund their future."
"If your business's cash flow can sustain it, this is one of the best ways for solopreneurs to reduce their tax bill and fund their future," he said.
If your business is an S corporation, the most you can contribute to an IRA or other tax-deferred retirement savings plan is based on your personal income as reported on IRS Form W-2 and not on your business's profit, said Ditelberg.
This distinction may not matter if you also have a corporate job with a retirement plan; you may just want to have the lower self-employment tax.
"On the other hand," she continued, "if your business is your main gig and you'd like to be able to save more for retirement, you might prefer an LLC." Because, while you will owe self-employment tax on all of the LLC's earnings, all of the corporation's earnings will count when determining how much you can contribute to your retirement plan.
Deductions and Expenses
Aside from retirement plans, Reams also suggested electing to take the entire deduction for any equipment purchased in one year rather than spreading it out over a few years if you need to reduce your tax bill.
"One of the most common deductions self-employed workers take is the home office deduction," said Radfar, "but it's often misused."
"One of the most common deductions self-employed workers take is the home office deduction." 
The rules state that you must use a portion of your home regularly and exclusively for business to be eligible. That means, he explained, if you have anything personal in your office, "like an exercise bike or daybed for guests, you cannot use the entire square footage."
Once you calculate the percentage of your home dedicated to your business, you can also deduct that percentage of expenses including mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, depreciation, utilities, repairs and phone and internet costs. Like all business expenses, make sure to keep detailed records.
And don't forget charitable donations, said Radfar, even if you elect to be taxed as an S corporation. When filing an S corporation tax return, qualified charitable contributions are shown separately on a line of the owner's K-1 tax form, he explained, which means the charitable contribution flows through to Schedule A, where itemized deductions are reported.


Tax Tips for Small Businesses and Freelancers

Vanessa Nirode

Retirees have long been a frequent target of cybercriminals, but the amount of money those digital fraudsters fleeced from older adults skyrocketed in 2022 amid the growth of poorly understood cryptocurrencies and hyped concern about the economy.
While tech support scams continue to be the most common type of fraud, investment frauds raked in the most money by far — roughly $990 millionWhile tech support scams continue to be the most common type of fraud, with 17,810 victims, investment frauds raked in the most money by far — roughly $990 million, or more than four times as much as 2021, according to the most recent FBI Elder Fraud Report.
Education and awareness are the most effective defenses against fraud. If you can spot a con, you can avoid it
The soaring sum of money lost came even as data from the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) showed that the number of investment-fraud victims aged 60 and over declined by 4.4%, to 88,262 in 2022 from 92,371 a year earlier.
So Many Hustles
"Senior individuals often fall victim to these scams due to a lack of digital literacy," explains Taylor Kovar, a CFA and founder of Kovar Wealth in Lufkin, Texas. "Scammers take advantage of their unfamiliarity with technology and their often-trusting nature." Cryptocurrency and other types of newer payment methods also helped scammers to commit elder fraud.
When looking at the full menagerie of scams — including those involving tech support, non-payment, personal data breach and confidence/romance — total losses by victims aged 60 and over soared to $3.1 billion in 2022 from $1.7 billion in 2021.
Unfortunately, that's not the only statistic that skyrocketed last year. The average loss per victim increased to $35,101 from $18,246, and the number of victims losing more than $100,000 rose to 5,456 from 3,133.
Finding Flimflams
To be clear, people in every age group are susceptible to fraud. However, the $3.1 billion reported by those over 60 years of age is close to or more than double the $1.8 billion reported by those in the 50 to 59 age group or the $1.5 billion reported by those in the 40 to 49 age group.
Education and awareness are the most effective defenses against fraud, Kovar says. If you can spot a con, you can avoid it. To help you recognize frauds, here are common scams.
Investment Fraud
Investment fraud scams tend to be online and are presented as low-risk opportunities promising guaranteed returns. This includes Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, real-estate swindles and advance-fee fraud. Cryptocurrency is commonly involved. Victims are often talked into draining their savings, tapping into the equity in their home or accessing their retirement accounts.
Tech Support Scams
Tech support scams claimed 17,810 victims in 2022, a year-over-year increase of 147%. It was, by far, the most common swindle committed against victims over 60 and resulted in losses totaling more than $587.8 million. In addition, government-impersonation flimflams claimed 3,425 victims — almost twice as many as a year earlier — and resulted in losses of $136.5 million. These two schemes involve call centers, which disproportionately target older adults.
Lottery/Sweepstakes/Inheritance Fraud
Schemes involving lotteries, sweepstakes or inheritance stung 2,388 victims. Total losses exceeded $69.8 million. In this kind of fraud, con men may contact victims by email, phone call, social media or U.S. mail, but the scam remains the same. Victims are told they won a contest, lottery or sweepstakes (even though they never signed up or submitted any type of information). After calling in to claim the prize, they are informed that they need to pay taxes and fees. This scenario plays out for several months (but can even be years), as the scammers keep making up new types of fees, while promising victims they are just one step away from claiming their prize.
With inheritance scams, it's the same process, but involves an unknown relative who died and purportedly left the victim a large sum of money.
A closely related crime is the grandparent scam, in which grifters pretend to be a member of the victim's family who is in trouble and needs money sent to them immediately.
Confidence/Romance Scams
Confidence and romance scams claimed 7,166 victims and resulted in losses exceeding $419 million. This online crime involves a scammer pretending to fall in love or have other types of strong feelings for victims in order to gain their trust — and eventually their money. The scammers will usually claim to either be in the military or live outside of the U.S., and ask for money to be sent overseas. This cover also provides them with a convenient excuse to avoid meeting the victim in person.
A closely related crime is the grandparent scam, in which grifters pretend to be a member of the victim's family who is in trouble and needs money sent to them immediately. The FBI reports that close to 400 victims lost 3.8 million in 2022 as a result of this scam.
Extortion Scams
Extortion scams claimed more than $15.5 million from 4,285 victims in 2022. Victims are coerced to turn over funds or else face physical or financial harm or public embarrassment by the release of sensitive information. Sextortion accounted for almost half of the extortion scams. Victims, who were tricked into thinking they were in actual relationships with the scammers, shared intimate photos or information; the material is then used against them.
Non-Payment/Non-Delivery Scams
The second-most-reported elder fraud are non-payment/non-delivery scams, in which victims sell something of value to someone they met on social media but never receive payment or pay up front for something that never arrives. Criminals using this scam stole $51.5 million from 7,985 victims.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center classifies cryptocurrency as a descriptor, not a type of fraud, because IC3 considers it a tool sometimes used to commit fraud. The center said about 10,000 people asserted they had lost a combined $1 billion on a variety of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple.
Avoid Becoming a Victim
This isn't an exhaustive list of elder fraud scams. There are also data breaches, identity theft, credit card fraud — the list goes on. However, there are ways to avoid elder abuse.
"It's important to know that unsolicited tech support calls or emails are almost always scams," Kovar says. "No reputable company will ever ask for remote access to your computer or ask for payments via gift cards or wire transfers."
Regarding the alarming increase in confidence/romance scams, Kovar says, "It's crucial to remain skeptical of anyone you meet online who quickly professes love and then needs financial assistance."
"No reputable company will ever ask for remote access to your computer or ask for payments via gift cards or wire transfers."
He adds that there is no such thing as love at first sight online. "And it certainly doesn't carry a price tag," he cautions, "so when in doubt, take the advice of your heart, but take your wallet out of the conversation."
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends that retirees choose a trusted contact person who can help them protect their money. This person, who could be an adult relative or close friend, would be listed on your banking account as an emergency contact.
If the bank cannot contact you to confirm that a large withdrawal from your account is not a scam-related transaction, it would be authorized to ask your trusted contact person to talk with you about the withdrawal.
Sometimes, two heads are better than one, and someone who has not been in contact with the scammer can provide a different perspective.


Investment Fraud Soars

Terri Williams

Tax Day falls on Tuesday, April 18 this year and there's not much time left for procrastinators who've yet to file their 2022 tax returns. But there is time to lower your 2022 taxes and avoid missing out on write-offs you're entitled to claim.
There's not much time left for procrastinators who've yet to file their 2022 tax returns. But there is time to lower your 2022 taxes and avoid missing out on write-offs you're entitled to claim.Here are 11 last-minute tax tips to help:
Fund a 2022 Traditional or Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) if you had employment income or, if you were self-employed, a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA or a Solo 401(k) retirement plan.
You're allowed to contribute to these, through financial services firms, as late as April 18, though self-employed people who want to save with Solo 401(k)s need to have opened them by Dec. 31, 2022.For a Roth IRA, your income had to be under $144,000 if you were single, below $214,000 if you were married.
With each of these retirement accounts, your earnings grow tax deferred; withdrawals are taxable for Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs and Solo 401(k)s but tax-free for Roth IRAs and Roth Solo 401(k)s.
An HSA lets you stash pre-tax cash to pay future medical expenses, health insurance deductibles and co-pays.
You can put as much as $6,000 into a 2022 Traditional IRA ($7,000 if you're 50 or older); those limits are reduced for Roth IRAs based on income. You're allowed to put up to $61,000 of self-employment income in a 2022 SEP IRA or a sole proprietor Solo 401(k); $67,500 for a Solo 401(k) if you're 50 or older.
Put money in a 2022 Health Savings Account (HSA) if you're eligible. Like those retirement plans, you're allowed to fund these for 2022 until Tax Day. An HSA lets you stash pre-tax cash to pay future medical expenses, health insurance deductibles and co-pays. The money in the account grows tax deferred and withdrawals are tax-free.
For 2022, you can contribute and deduct up to $3,650 for an HSA for yourself and up to $7,300 for family coverage.
"The HSA is the best thing since sliced bagels," said "Friends Talk Money" podcast co-host Pam Krueger on its recent tax tips episode. (Full disclosure: I'm a co-host, too, along with personal finance journalist and author Terry Savage.)
Know whether you'll be able to itemize deductions on your 2022 tax return. Odds are, you won't because you wouldn't have enough in write-offs to exceed the now sizable standard deduction.
For 2022, the standard deduction is $12,950 if you're single and $25,900 if you're married filing jointly. If you were 65 or older last year, or blind, your standard deduction is $14,700. It's $28,700 if you and your spouse were 65 or older.
Take any "above the line" deductions you can. Kelly Phillips Erb, a Forbes staff writer focusing on taxes, recently wrote she has found that taxpayers tend to "under-deduct," and miss out on write-offs.
Even if you can't claim things like property taxes, sales taxes, a home equity line or charitable contributions because you won't itemize, you may be able to claim what are called "above the line" deductions. (The $600 charitable contribution that donors could make on 2021 returns if they didn't itemize is gone for 2022 returns; pandemic tax credits for children and child care are also back to pre-pandemic levels.)
In addition to the above-the-line IRA and HSA contributions noted earlier, others include up to $2,500 in student loan interest you paid for yourself or your child (if your income was under $85,000 and you were single or $170,000 and married); health insurance if you were self-employed and possibly business expenses if you were self-employed.
Don't miss out on tax credits for making your home more energy efficient in 2022. There's a 30% credit for buying and installing solar panels, solar-powered water heaters and geothermal heat pumps.
One piece of good news: For 2022, Congress reinstated an energy-improvement tax credit of 10% of the cost of things like insulation and energy-efficient doors and windows, with a $500 lifetime cap. You claim these using Form 5695.
Claim college education tax credits for courses you took last year. There are two types: The American Opportunity Tax Credit for undergraduate education and The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit for undergrads and grad school. You claim them on Form 8863.
If you worked remotely in 2022 and your employer was in another state, find out what those states' tax rules are for the income you earned. 
The American Opportunity Tax Credit is as much as $2,500 and The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit is up to $2,000. The full credit for both is allowed for singles with income under $80,000 and married couples under $160,000; the credit can't be claimed if your income was $90,000 or more, $180,000 or more if you were married.
Take a tax credit of up to $7,500 for the cost of an electric vehicle you bought last year, if the car or SUV qualifies. Those rules are tricky.
It had to be a new all-electric or plug-in hybrid, and ones from Tesla and GM aren't eligible because those companies sold more than the limit of 200,000 models in 2022.
If you got the car or SUV between August 17 and December 31, its final assembly must have been in North America, too, in order to claim the credit. (The Department of Energy has a list of those models.)
If you worked remotely in 2022 and your employer was in another state, find out what those states' tax rules are for the income you earned. The tax implications vary from state to state. Some states give credits for taxes on wages paid to other states; others do not.
Crypto investors: Be ready to tell the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about this on your tax return. There's now a line in big bold letters called "Digital Assets," asking whether you received or sold a digital asset such as crypto or an NFT (non-fungible token).
If you sold any and made a profit in a taxable account, you'll need to pay taxes on your short-term or long-term gains using Form 8948 and Schedule D. If you sold for a loss, you could claim that and perhaps offset some taxable gains.
Prepare for an unpleasant surprise if you owned an actively managed stock mutual fund last year. Some investors will owe capital-gains taxes due to shares the fund sold in 2022. That can be frustrating news considering that most stock funds lost money last year.
"This is a great argument for owning index funds, which don't tend to do this," said Krueger.
If you want to call the IRS for help, be patient. The CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer says tax practitioners' main concern this year is "IRS operations."
Last year, 87% of taxpayers calling the IRS' phone lines couldn't get through. Ones who did spent 29 minutes, on average, on hold.
Since then, however, the IRS has hired 5,000 customer service reps. U.S. Treasury Department officials hope that 85% of callers to the IRS will be able to speak to a live person this year.


11 Last-Minute Tax Tips for 2022 Returns

As a Black woman, I represent one of the fastest-growing groups of business owners: yet one that receives the lowest amount of support and funding.
With Black women making only 63 cents compared to every dollar white men earn, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, this income gap strains our ability to support our households, let alone self-fund our businesses.
Shila Nieves Burney, founder and general partner of the Zane Venture Fund, and Recha Reid, associate director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute at Georgia State. The event was Annual Zane Access Innovation Day for student and early entrepreneurs and students interested in investing in partnership with Georgia State. If we pursue bank loans, we brace ourselves for rejection, knowing that the Federal Reserve reports that banks fully fund fewer than 47% of loan applications submitted by Black-owned firms. According to the Fed, "this rate of failure to receive full financing is the highest among all categories by more than 10 percentage points."
As a Black woman business owner, it's important for us to know why we do what we do — and how our "why" can be a foundation for our businesses. 
What about venture capital funding? Crunchbase reveals that Black female startup founders received a mere 0.34% of the $612 billion total U.S. venture capital spent in 2021. This dismal VC funding presents another significant obstacle for African American women-owned businesses which account for close to 2.4 million or 8% of approximately 31 million business in the U.S according to The 2018 State of Women-Owned Business Report commissioned by American Express.
The population that directs the flow of most capital is no secret, which makes it refreshing to see venture funds managed by Black women investors, such as Serena William (Serena Ventures), Arlan Hamilton (BackStage Capital Fund), Melissa Bradley (1863 Ventures) and Shila Burney (Zane Venture Fund).
Even with the financing odds not in the favor of Black businesswomen, I invite us to treat ourselves and our enterprises right even as we continue to experience blatant wrongs from institutions and investors.
Here are three time-tested strategies for treating you and your business right.
1. Align Your Personal "Why" to Your Business "Why"
As a Black woman business owner, it's important for us to know why we do what we do — and how our "why" can be a foundation for our businesses. The "why" can include a vision statement, mission statement and values, or VMV. A vision statement captures an aspirational view of the future; the mission statement and values define how your firm's work will support that vision.
Even with a foundation in place, Black women business owners can reinforce their "why" by fully inviting their humanity to the table. An exercise that refines this important step is creating a personal existence statement, or PES.
"If you had to sum up your existence in one sentence, what would it be?"
The question posed is: "If you had to sum up your existence in one sentence, what would it be?" The PES reminds you of your contributions to the world through you engaging yourself and with those who journey with you in a healthy and inspiring way.
Take time to create your personal existence statement. Invite friends, family members — even team members — to answer the PES question for you so they can give insight into what makes you unique.
Once you finalize your PES and marry it to your firm's VMV statements, cementing your business foundation will be more than possible — it'll be inevitable. After all, we are our businesses, and our businesses are us.
2. Follow the Money
Following the money sounds simple; it's easier said than done. If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed at night, thinking about how much money you're making and spending, it's time to hit the "pause button."
Reflect on your prior year and year-to-date balance sheet (that is, assets and liabilities) and profit and loss, or P&L (income and expenses) statements, and see what they say about your business model, financial health, team members, customers and operations. Do your observations align with your PES and VMV statements?
Bring back into focus why you started your business, where you want your business to go (for example, your strategy) and what's next on the horizon (strategy and action plan).
Ask yourself how much money is necessary to get you to the next growth phase. Pivot where necessary to keep serving your clients, managing your business costs, and making your case to employees, lenders and investors.
The clearer and more confident you are with the facts and figures, the stronger your business (and your personal finances) will be.
If these exercises seem daunting, consider working with a SCORE mentor, a free service in partnership with the Small Business Administration. Search for online groups designed to mentor and support Black women business owners.
Also, some wealth-management firms — like the firm I co-own, 2050 Wealth Partners — also assist business owners with personal financial planning and business financial planning. How you manage your household often mirrors how you manage your business.
3. Beat the Business Blues
The fear of failure, anxiety about money, a sense of isolation from other entrepreneurs — and that's just the tip of the iceberg — can send Black women business owners spiraling. While these feelings aren't unique to us, we have to muster more energy to overcome the statistics that represent real-life circumstances in real time.
Challenge yourself and your team to incorporate wellness into the workweek.
We are the driving force in your business and the driving force with your wellness. Both roles must co-exist with intentionality and grace. If we put our body and mind on the back burner, we are destined to burnout.
Challenge yourself and your team to incorporate wellness into the workweek. Keep at the forefront by eating well, getting plenty of sleep, getting your heart rate up (with exercise and not stress!), and scheduling regular "me time" in whatever form works best for you.
Consider finding a therapist through your network or at Therapy for Black Girls to partner with you on your entrepreneurial journey. You'll be surprised by how the blues shift when you're feeling good!
With the number of Black female business owners on the rise, we owe it to ourselves to rise with the tide together. If we ever doubt the value and strength of us and our businesses, let's take our cue from Maya Angelou:
Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.


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