Live A Life By Design Blog

Many U.S. citizens have been subjected to financial and other difficulties due to the pandemic. In March, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department issued an extension of time for filing, and paying, income taxes for individuals. The good news is that you have until July 15, 2020, to file your 2019 individual income tax returns and […]

I’m sure we have all heard of student loans the mountains of debt that come with them. Every generation has or has had student loan debt. Millennials, surprisingly, don’t have the highest average amount of student loan debt though. However, I think that we may have the hardest time balancing the debt with other aspects […]

One of the wisest statements made about planning for the future can be found in an ancient Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” This is a philosophy that is applicable to your finances.  Our schools are bombarded with challenges in teaching students the […]

If you are like most individuals, you have a drawer in your home or a box in the garage that contains all of your tax returns and supporting information from 1987. It is the sacred box of “all things to defend myself from the IRS”. Today, I am providing you some guidance that will help […]

Forty-one percent of Americans believe they would be able to cover a $1,000 emergency with savings, according to a survey conducted by BankRate in January, 2020. The chickens certainly came home to roost with the COVID-19 pandemic! The more disturbing findings of the survey were that 37% of the respondents would use their credit card […]

Picture it: a nice starter home with a yard for children and pets to run and play. A place for you to gather with family and friends. A place to call your own. Many millennials dream of buying and owning a home, but how many actually do? According to Urban Wire, the most recent study […]

“There is nothing certain in life but death and taxes.” This is my paraphrase of Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789. Imagine the tax rates imposed by the King of England in the days of the colonies and those assessed by our nation, The United States of America, to fund its services […]

The pandemic initiated a change in our community that has brought momentous and abrupt disruption to life as we know, or knew, it. I can remember the simple task of driving to one of my favorite restaurants, sitting down and enjoying a great meal. I fondly recall the waitstaff and their smiles while they served […]

Stress. What does this word mean to a millennial? A lot of the time it could be the large sum of student loan debt hanging over our head, saving for our future, finishing a degree, the list goes on. What it really feels like to most of us is a weight on our shoulders that […]

If you are receiving required minimum distributions from an IRA, you may have an opportunity to lower your tax burden for 2020! The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes a waiver for required minimum distributions for 2020. This provides immediate relief to taxpayers who were being forced to pay tax on the […]