Money Blue Book

Well, tax judgment day has come and gone, and after finally paying the federal government its annual tribute, I feel more depleted than ever. Due to my higher income rate during 2008, I winded up in the highest income tax bracket possible, necessitating that I pay out more than 40% of my total annual income to the Man via federal and state income taxes. So sad…..

Looking ahead at the upcoming official federal tax brackets for 2009, it doesn’t look like my taxation plight’s going to get any easier, particularly with tax happy President Obama at the helm. Although his positive approval rating’s through the roof and the man is absolutely oozing with optimism and confidence, I doubt many of his supporters are really comprised of scrutinizing individuals or small business owners like myself who actually pay attention to the potential tax implications of his slight of hand wealth redistribution policies. For the sake of competitive small business owners everywhere, I hope Obama doesn’t go through with his increasingly aggressive crusade to seize the financial proceeds of those who have worked hard to get to where they are today, with his continuous Presidential blurbs of patriotic taxation and “spreading the wealth around”.

My Current Net Worth and Financial Status Update Compared To Last Month

Thinking About Switching Gears From Cash Savings And Back Into Stock Market Investing

While the economy continues to be battered by volatility and investment unpredictability, I am content to cautiously remain on the sidelines, clutching onto my secure and reliable cash savings, currently still saved in online bank accounts reaping what decent interest rate yields are left in this poor interest rate climate. However, I will be honest – looking at how seemingly cheap and reasonably attractive current stock prices are, it’s hard to resist the siren calls of greed and profit. My crazy, irrational side really wants me to go nuts and dump everything into financial stocks like Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC), – and bet big for the future. But then my more rationale and logical self thankfully reminds my more greedy half that stock market investing is all about making wise, long term, and diversified investment decisions for the long haul. It’s not about short time bets or gambling one’s life savings away via a single high risk, high stakes all-in-one basket dice roll. Thankfully, despite my torn emotional conflict between greed and rationality, I have been able to stay the course and not engage in any type of hasty stock purchases or aggressive index fund pickings – thus far at least.

Currently, my cash savings remain stored in several high yield savings accounts and bank CD rate deposits. But I anticipate moving a sizable portion into my brokerage account very soon to better position myself to take advantage of coming opportunities in the near future. I am still very pessimistic and hold a very bearish economic outlook, but things don’t look quite as grim or imminently dire as they once did. Obama is doing a great job of building consumer confidence and keeping the American public sentiment cautiously optimistic for the future. I just hope that this pervasive warm and fuzzy sentiment we are all witnessing at the moment isn’t temporary, and that the feel-good Obama train has enough substance to get the American and global economies back on track.

I Will No Longer Be Tracking Car and Vehicle Value For Net Worth Purposes

One of the big changes you may notice in this month’s net worth report is that I am eliminating the asset value for my car and primary vehicle. After including my vehicle asset value into my net worth for several months, I have finally decided that it no longer warrants such an inclusion. It was a mistake to even have included its value into my net worth calculations to begin with. A single primary vehicle is almost a basic necessity to everyday life and is rarely sold without replacement. Even in the event the vehicle is discarded, traded away, or sold, it is almost always promptly substituted with another one. Thus, its value really shouldn’t be lumped into the same category as that of a long term asset or investment. However, if I were to own multiple vehicles like an extra sports car for personal enjoyment purposes in the future, the secondary vehicle may very well warrant inclusion as a networth asset.

This Month’s Extremely Low Credit Card Usage Was Very Atypical Of Me

I put a whopping $104 on my credit cards the entire month of April. People who know me well may be shocked. It really isn’t like me to suddenly ditch my credit card spending habit in favor of using all cash for purchases. While a pro-cash financial guru like Dave Ramsey may be applauding my historical milestone, the real reason for the sudden and precipitous drop in credit card usage is because since March, I’ve been traveling and living overseas. As I’ve been visiting my overseas-living parents for the past few months to help them out with health related issues they’ve been struggling with, I’ve had to adjust my consumer habits to accommodate the realities of a non-credit card based society for some time now.

While it’s possible to avoid the near ubiquitous foreign currency fees on overseas credit card charges imposed on American credit cards by using a fee-less card option like Capital One or Discover Card, I’ve found that it’s usually better to stick to local paper currency while abroad. Credit card heavy countries like the United States have well developed anti-fraud and identity theft prevent mechanisms in place to instill credit card usage confidence in its consumer infrastructure. Foreign locales on the other hand frequently aren’t as well developed in this department – hence my decision to abandon risky credit card use the last few months and stick to cash exclusively.

Of course, when I return home to the United States in a few weeks, all of that will likely revert back to “normal”. I’m a big reward credit card and balance transfer user and will be resuming my old cash back credit card reward earning ways when I return. People like myself who are able to handle the responsibilities and obligations of credit card usage really lose out when we use cash since we miss out on the potential to rack up credit card spending rewards and lucrative airline credit card miles for our everyday purchases.

March 2009 has turned out to be a pretty routine month for me. As I’m currently traveling overseas for an extended period of time and won’t be returning home to the U.S. for several months, I haven’t had much time to really closely follow the progression of my financial portfolio. However, even while away, I still find time to occasionally glance at my net worth balances periodically to make sure everything is okay. So far, all basic metrics, bank balances, and credit reports indicate that I’m maintaining a pretty stable and healthy financial position – well positioned to keeping growing for the foreseeable future and weather any significant or further downturn in the economy.

While I’ve had to put my part time ambulance chasing legal practice on hold while traveling overseas for family health reasons, my portfolio of online and real world small businesses have continued to churn out a fairly steady income stream while I’ve been away, much of it passively generated without substantial attention on my part. Much of the hard work, mind numbing stress, and financial sacrifices that I made in the past few years in creating semi-self run businesses have finally paid off, allowing me to generate income and make money even when I’m not actively sitting at my home office desk in Maryland working on the computer or making phone calls.

In terms of my profession, I’m very thankful that I’ve been able to successfully make the transition from traditional 9-5 day job worker into a self employed entrepreneur and sole proprietor. The journey to get to this point wasn’t easy and there were many times when I felt demoralized and extremely lonely during my late night extended hour work sessions to the point of wanting to give up, but fortunately, I persisted. Today, I can confidently say that it was all worth it. Without my humble network of work from home based businesses and semi-self-run real life operations, I would not have been able to take 2-3 months off work to visit an overseas ailing parent – a luxury I’m enjoying today. After all, it’s not always the money – but the flexibility to set your own schedule and working pace that is frequently most sought after by many, myself included. Besides, it’s great being my own boss and not having to work for a psychotic, over-worked and under-loved attorney hag anymore (long story – I’ll save it for another day).

Those who have always desired to become their own bosses one day should make a concerted effort to make it happen and not allow idle hands to delay their dreams. There is an element of natural risk and sacrifice when trying to balance the duties of a full time job and a fledgling home office based business – but then nothing in life that is worth pursuing is inherently easy, at least initially. It’s true what they say – no pain, no gain. Anyhow, I’m sure you didn’t come here to just listen to me ramble about dreams and goals. Here’s my net worth update for March 2009.

My Current Net Worth and Financial Status Update Compared To Last Month

Continue Saving Money In Online Savings Accounts Or Start Investing?

For almost a year now, I have refrained from taking on any new stock, index, or mutual fund positions – instead opting to store the vast bulk of my money in the best bank accounts and in certificate of deposits offering the best CD rates. Thus far, in light of current volatile economic conditions, I’ve been cautiously pleased at the modest but predictably stable  rates of return that I’ve been getting from my conservative savings approach.

However, something strange happened during the month of March. The financial and stock markets actually saw a bit of an extended rally. Could we possibly be seeing the early stages of a substantive once-in-a-lifetime bull market – the likes we’ve never experienced before in our short existences? Very unlikely. Sorry to burst everyone’s bullish bubble, but I sense a massive bear market rally at work here. Sure, the market seems to be staging a bit of a rebound, perhaps soaring 20-30% in a matter of weeks, but there is nothing really tangible or economically positive as of yet to support this sudden stock buying resurgence. At this point in time, our investment emotions and sensibilities are still being artificially propped high by nothing more than mere cotton candy pufferey and wishful thinking from the Obama White House. The economy is still in the tank, unemployment rates across all 50 states are still climbing, housing market prices are STILL grossly overvalued (home owners must start selling at these depressed prices or we’ll never get back to market equilibrium), and the major banks are still struggling to deal with toxic mortgage based assets and trying to stave off a widespread federal government take over.

But with all this said, why do I strangely find myself starting to ponder whether this is a good time to start investing in the stock market and buying up real estate properties again? The answer is – because I’m a greedy capitalistic with a lusty dog nose for opportunity and profit.

As a greedy (but not evil) capitalist bent on maximizing my money and growing my financial portfolio, I subscribe to the age old Warren Buffett mantra regarding investment fear and greed – which calls for one to become fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Because there is so much greed rampant in the economy and financial markets right now, the potential for massive windfalls and financial gains have never been better. Of course, the biggest problem now is timing. The worst thing I can probably do at this point in time is blindly jumping in and getting myself suckered into one of these bear market rallies, or dead cat bounces, as they are often called – only to see my portfolio get beaten into a whimpering pulp a few weeks later.

However, the winds of opportunity are in the air, and in the next few months, I may start shifting my money into online broker accounts again in anticipation of what lies ahead. While my better judgment will likely prevent me from jumping in and making a premature mistake at this very moment, I must admit, my investing trigger finger has grown a bit itchy of late.

Continuing To Invest In My IRA and Roth Retirement Accounts

While my small retirement portfolio has taken quite a beating from this recession, losing almost half of its value thus far, I intend to continue making annual contributions pursuant to my long term (25+ years horizon) investment strategy. Currently, I have a small amount of funds invested in Roth IRA’s and in traditional IRA accounts. I have yet to hit my IRA or Roth IRA contribution limit for 2009, so I will likely add additional funds in the next few weeks. Those who have not yet opened a ROTH or IRA account should really look into doing so. Stock market prices are at ridiculous lifetime lows and if you are a first time investor, now is the time to open an account with a Roth IRA broker and take advantage of cheap prices.

Filing My 2009 Federal and State Taxes Online With TurboTax

Well, after much procrastination, I’ve finally prepared and filed my 2009 taxes. Even though I’m currently overseas, I was able to bring all of my tax statements, 1099’s, and W-2 forms with me and file my taxes online. This year, I decided to file my taxes via the web again with good old TurboTax 2009. The company has always offered me a fairly efficient tax preparation and filing experience and this year was no different. The only change this year was my decision to go with the TurboTax Small Business edition instead of my usual TurboTax Premier version – mostly because of my growing need for extra assistance with business tax deductions.

This year, my taxes were incredibly high, and combing my federal and state income taxes, I paid out more than $140,000 worth of taxes for 2008. Obviously, it’s time I started looking into converting my current sole proprietorship business into a more tax advantaged business entity. So far, it looks like forming an S-Corporation, or a limited liability company (LLC) with election to be taxed as an S-Corporation are my best bets tax-wise.

Due to a momentary cash crunch of my own, my net worth finally dipped during the month of February after months of steady and fairly consistent increases. The decrease in my total assets in comparison to my total liabilities can be attributed to a convergence of simultaneous factors related to the current economic downturn, such as non payments by my cash strapped legal clients (my part time day job) and noticeably late pay checks from my online businesses’ affiliate advertisers. This month in particular, I also had to withdraw a fairly large sum of money from my emergency cash savings fund for family health reasons – primarily to make a good faith contribution to my Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother’s assisted care fund. Thus for reasons foreseen and unforeseen, this month necessitated that I dip into my savings and siphon funds from my monthly income stream more so than usual. However, I’m pretty confident the late income payments will be rectified and added onto the following month’s networth update, very possibly resulting in a higher than usual revenue report boost at that time.

Times Are Tough – Let’s Hope President Obama Knows What He’s Doing

In light of the ongoing financial crisis and economic recession, I wake up everyday thanking God for my continuous self employment and my ongoing ability to generate a fairly steady income. Times are certainly very difficult right now and thus far I’ve been able to dodge the painful recession bullets. Only a few years ago I was unemployed and found myself having to file for unemployment insurance benefits to make ends meet. Now, I’m on better financial footing – yet I still feel a great sense of lingering unease and perpetual pessimism as I look around the current economic landscape. A large number of my friends and acquaintances remain unemployed, victims of the never ending waves of corporate layoffs that have eliminated millions of jobs. Until times get better, I can only rise above the despair, sympathize, try not to feel the pangs of survivor guilt, and hope for better days ahead. Unfortunately, with Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package having recently been passed, I grow more pessimistic than ever. Obama’s initiatives and economic vision for the country are indeed ambitious and commendable, but they are turning into a extremely costly and nightmarish budgetary morass.

As a small business owner of multiple small growing enterprises, I’m remain pretty frustrated and unhappy with President Barack Obama’s proposed plans to punish small business owners such as myself with substantially higher taxes. By raising devastating taxes on those best suited to create new jobs for Americans, his tax slaps will severely stifle economic growth for the future. In my opinion, Obama’s economic stimulus package, filled with porkish and utterly wasteful green jobs and useless expenditures, falls completely flat and misses the mark. I had hoped for a combination of across the board tax cuts for all taxpayers (rich and poor, consumers and businesses alike) along with a second round of much higher dollar value Obama stimulus checks for emergency support to struggling Americans. But it looks like President Obama has a different approach in mind. For those of us who voted Obama into office, let’s hope he is still listening to the voices of his constituency and hasn’t been blinded by his personal new world vision of potentially costly health care reform and the rise of a dubious American green energy industry. Those are perhaps worthy projects for a more prosperous era, but the American people need workable economic stimulus plans and infusions of real financial support now – not pipe dreams.

My Current Net Worth and Financial Status Update Compared To Last Month

High Interest Reward Checking, High Interest Savings, And High Yield CD Rate Deposits

Despite the ongoing failures and collapse of the financial industry, oddly enough, banks still remain the most solid of places to safely store money and earn a reasonable interest rate of return at the same time. Unlike investments in corporate bonds and stocks, bank deposits enjoy extraordinary security and safety guarantees via FDIC insurance, which backs all bank deposits with the full faith and credit of the United States government. Very few other types of financial deposits enjoy similar assurances and protections against unexpected financial loss. Despite the current dire shape of the U.S. economy, we are still very, very far from the type of utter financial devastation needed to render FDIC insured bank savings and certificate of deposit accounts vulnerable to loss.

Currently, the vast majority of my long term cash savings and investments remain deposited with the best online banks in the form of high yield savings accounts and high yield CD’s. My short term cash savings and immediate use funds currently reside in a few high yield checking accounts, some even interestingly saved in checking accounts that offer free reward points for usage (Citibank checking account Thank You Points).

While I still have a sizable sum of money invested in the stock market in the form of index and mutual funds, I have not added to or even touched any of my positions since January of 2008 (more than a year ago). Time after time I have been tempted by the siren of cheap stock prices, but fortunately, my savvier Jiminy Cricket guardian angel has continuously saved me from taking the plunge and buying shares. In my opinion (as well as those shared by fellow ultra bears), this economy is poised to get substantially worse before it will get any better. For the time being, it’s best for all of us to hold on to what we have and not make any hasty moves, lest we lose it all on a whim. Those who have been patiently hoarding their money on the sidelines are better off seeking maximum asset preservation by opening new FDIC insured bank accounts or investing in certificate of deposits offering the best cd rates.

Save Money With Credit Card Rewards That Offer Cash Back

Things days, amidst the ongoing recession and financial crunch, the age old practice of clipping coupons is making a comeback of sorts. Despite the pervasiveness of online shopping deals and discount coupon codes, there are still many basic consumer staples, like groceries, gas, and food where it’s still better to stop by a retail brick and mortar store than to attempt the online route.

For the frugal types out there such as myself who seek to save money whenever possible, one of the easiest and most consistent ways to save money every time you buy, is to purchase using a cash back credit card. While debt-laden or credit irresponsible consumers ought to stay away from credit cards altogether, lest they fall deeper into debt, those that can handle the responsibility of debt usage and are able to pay off their balances in full every month, should take advantage of all that cash back credit card rebates and purchase rewards have to offer. Even though I’m still single and don’t have a full family compliment to shop for, I still regularly earn more than a $1,000 worth of cash back credit card rewards and frequent flyer miles every year, just by using my reward credit cards whenever possible.

Preparing and Filing Taxes Online With TurboTax and H&R Block TaxCut

April 15, tax day – it’s just a month and a half away but interestingly, I still have not filed my federal or state income taxes yet. For some reason, I always seem to put it off into the last few weeks like many other people out there seem to do. As I no longer qualify for the free tax filing options offered by the IRS, I’ll probably take advantage of the myriad of paid, but affordable tax preparation offers available. I’ve been using TurboTax for many years now with a lot of satisfaction and will very likely return again to the same online tax preparation program for my annual ritual.

Frankly, the practice of filing taxes is really not all that convoluted or excruciating with user-friendly online tax preparation programs like TurboTax or TaxCut, but yet I always find an excuse to procrastinate. Maybe it’s my disdain of the IRS or my rebellious preference to make things as inconvenient and cumbersome for the federal government entity that takes so much of my money away, but I never like to file my taxes early. This year, I’m even considering printing my tax forms out manually in paper form to make the IRS’ job even more difficult. My tax preparation work will be completed using TurboTax’s intuitive online tax preparation program, but the filing will be made manually in paper form, requiring the hapless unknown IRS agent reviewing my tax forms to manually transcribe the numbers from my paper tax forms into their computerized system. Why E-file and make their job any easier? Too bad I can’t pay my taxes in pennies and random coinage. If that were such an option, I’d gleefully partake.

As a work from home attorney and self driven small business entrepreneur, I like to keep tabs on the pulse of the business markets and track the breaking of current economic news at all times. Whenever I’m working from home, I always have CNBC or the Fox Business News channel playing on the TV. However, because of this constant monitoring of the markets and relentless digestion of every piece of bad economic news that comes through the news wire, I’ve steadily become an extremely bearish investor of late. With little credible positive news to speak off for the foreseeable economic future, I’ve become ever more protective of my existing financial assets, making a mad dash for safety like I’ve never done before.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett (who despite all of his historical wealth building wisdom, seems to be suffering a bit of a credibility and legacy problem recently with the plunge of his Berkshire Hathaway investments) used to preach that the world of money and finances revolves around the inextricable interplay between two core human emotions – fear and greed. These two primal capitalist emotions dictate our personal financial paths at any given moment and determine how we each respond to potential monetary opportunities as they present themselves. The age old Warren Buffett truism is that we ought to be greedy when others are fearful, since valuations and expectations are lowest, and opportunities and potential upside are highest at the peak of overwhelming market fear – but unfortunately, I think I have succumbed to this crippling fear of the unknown. Disillusioned by the never ending false verbal diarrhea spewed out by so-called financial experts and relentless bull market fanatics in the media, I am now starting to favor the viewpoints and sentiments of bearish prognosticators like infamous NYU economics professor Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed “Dr. Doom” for his pessimistic yet accurate economic forecasts in recent years.

As a self proclaimed perma-bear now, I currently remain hiding in my proverbial financial cave, hibernating and holding onto my stash of winter cash reserves in preparation for more difficult times ahead. I remain extremely cautious and stubbornly skeptical of the self interested optimistic pundits out there, who although have been proven wrong time and time again with their never ending predictions of the bottom, continue to cheer lead the market into plunging headfirst into reckless and financially suicidal decisions. “Extreme bearishness” is probably the phrase to best describe my overall investment sentiment for this month, and possibly for the entire first half of 2009. While the cash flow income generated from my active trading hours for dollars part time small law practice and entrepreneurial pursuits (one of which includes this personal finance blog) remain very healthy, I have completely halted my passive investment pursuits in the stock market, at least for now. Despite my earlier plans to purchase a single family home sometime this year, it is very possible that I may well put off the purchase until 2010 or later – at least until housing prices stabilize. I have the cash and down payment money necessary for a new first time home purchase right  now (with or without a sizable home mortgage loan), however, I want to see more visibility assurances in home prices before I invest. At least for the foreseeable future, my net worth growth and my marathon journey to become a millionaire will have to depend solely on the continuous cash flow increases provided by my regular day jobs, rather than from any improvements in passive income appreciation (via stocks, dividends, or housing).

My Current Net Worth and Financial Status Update Compared To Last Month

During Turbulent Times, It’s Best To Keep Your Money Safe and Secure In FDIC Insured High Interest Bank Accounts and High Yield CDs

In my opinion, you must be certified crazy or an extreme thrill seeking risk taker to even consider adding aggressive new investment positions into your stock market portfolio at this moment in time. At a moment’s notice, any one of the many market sectors could easily plunge 5-20% and destroy your life savings, as evidenced by the extremely volatile swings we’ve been experiencing lately. No matter the fact the market has already plummeted more than 50-75% since its peak in 2007 – the market has the potential to purge even more as current grim economic conditions have not slowed down its deterioration. This is truly not the time to get greedy and lose your money in one fell swoop. I fully understand the need to seek out long term opportunities and come out on top 5-10 years from now, but such immediate uncertainty and irrational volatility in the stock and real estate markets require a more asset protectionist mindset for the time being. I don’t anticipate the economy to experience much of a noticeable recovery until at least mid 2010. Perhaps sometime during the mid summer months of 2009 will be a more suitable time to start considering more long term objectives. But for now, I recommend greater caution and taking things a bit more short term, with a healthy dose of more fearful wisdom than exuberant greed.

During such scary times, I prefer to keep the vast bulk of my liquid cash savings stored in FDIC insured bank accounts, preferably invested into a mixture of high yield savings accounts and high interest certificate of deposits (CDs). I use laddered CDs with the best CD rates to maximize interest rate yields, but use multiple maxed out high interest savings accounts to keep money readily available for emergency fund purposes. As the cash savings generated by my day jobs and entrepreneurial pursuits have flourished, I have had to open multiple high interest online bank accounts to keep my aggregate savings fully protected under the current FDIC insurance coverage limit of $250,000.

Despite the current grim landscape of failed banks and struggling financial institutions, banks that offer full FDIC insurance coverage still afford consumers the best protection for their money that the market has to offer. FDIC insured deposit accounts at the nation’s best savings banks are fully backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, and thus enjoy near iron-clad protection against bank failure or catastrophic financial loss. Unless the federal government of the world’s most powerful nation deteriorates and collapses into complete disarray, so much so that it can no longer honor its financial obligations to creditors, your money is otherwise 100% safe. Despite my extreme bearish sentiment, I have no real fear that the United States government won’t be able to survive the current credit crisis or economic recession. Times are certainly extremely gloomy, but the federal government and the U.S. economy will ultimately prevail – although it may take many years for recovery to happen.

Making Sure I Use My Reward Credit Cards To Keep The Accounts Active, and Keeping Tabs On My Credit Score

The current news on the street is that due to troubled credit markets, major credit card issuers are canceling and closing out inactive and unused consumer credit card accounts. For many struggling with credit card usage temptation or are currently mired in credit card debt, this may come as a forced financial blessing. However, it’s important to note that when a credit card issuers closes out one of your unused credit card accounts, this seemingly simple act may have the unintended consequence of hurting your FICO credit score. The FICO credit score is comprised of a multitude of credit and debt payment factors, but a very large component is the proportional usage of your utilized credit in relation to the total aggregate amount of credit that is available to you. Thus, by closing out unused but available credit lines, this decreases your credit utilization ratio – thereby causing the FICO credit score algorithm to churn out a lower credit rating in your name. This is also the same reason why unused credit card accounts with reward or 0% APR balance transfer terms that are no longer desirable should never be canceled, but rather should be stored in a safe place and kept open. Thus for example, if you’ve tapped out your Citi Platinum balance transfer offer, instead of closing out the card immediately, it benefits your ultimate FICO credit score more to keep the card open and use it at least a few times a year on small purchases.

As a heavy credit card user who has a large portfolio of reward and balance transfer credit cards, I have been making a concerned effort to make sure I use each of my credit cards at least once every few months to keep them active in the eyes of the issuing credit card companies. In particular, I pay special attention to keeping active those lesser used cards opened many years ago as the FICO scoring algorithm heavily favors older credit accounts over newer, recently opened accounts. Yes, the whole process of  juggling cards and ensuring continued usage of each individual credit card at least a few times a year is somewhat of a hassle. However, my extra steps have kept my FICO score nice and high at 802, in anticipation of my future plans to apply for a home mortgage loan when this whole economic recession finally blows over.

Charting Out My Financial Plan and Tracking Expenditures With Quicken 2009 Software and Free Quicken Online

While I’ve always had a history of using Intuit and Quicken related products like the paid desktop software versions of Quicken Premier and Quicken Deluxe, it was not until the recent emergence of free Quicken Online, that I’ve begun to consider the online version to be a real viable way of tracking my expenditures and financial account balances. As a long time user of Intuit’s popular online tax preparation program Turbo Tax, I eager anticipate the day that TurboTax is fully integrated into the free Quicken Online program for a more complete online budgeting platform with tax planning analysis. Tax planning is a critical component of any family’s or small business’ financial management so it stands to reason that full integration will arrive sometime in the future as web technology finally catches up to the demands of financial consumers such as myself.

In the meantime, I recommend getting into the habit of using account aggregation programs like Yodlee, Mint, or Quicken Online to help you calculate your networth and better budget your expenditures. I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but I recommend Quicken Online primarily because it’s a completely free service and a popular choice for many people. With future potential integration with programs like TurboTax from the same software maker, Quicken Online has pretty good future upside for those that prefer sticking with a single company for their financial planning needs.