Monthly Archives: January 2020

How To Save On Your Taxes

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Are you kicking yourself for how you handled last year’s taxes? You can feel better about next year by learning a little bit about tax savings now. 

Consider Donations

Not only is donating to charity a great way to give back to the community, but it is also a smart way to have a tax write-off. It needs to be a charity that is recognized by the IRS in order to do this. This will require some organization on your part over the course of a year. You will be required to have written records. It should say the date of the contribution, the amount you gave and to who. If the amount is over $250 and you don’t have a receipt, the IRS may reject it. 

Increase Contributions to Your Retirement

If you contribute to a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you can reduce your income tax. You would need to increase the amount that is withheld from your paycheck automatically.

Start Saving for Your Child’s College Tuition

It’s never too early to start saving for your child’s education. A 529 is a college savings plan similar to an IRA except it’s for college. The contributions grow tax-free, and withdrawals are not taxed for a college education. You can either use this for your children or for yourself to take a fun college course in retirement. 

Review Tax Credits for Children

Having children is incredibly expensive. Double-check that you’re getting all of the tax credits you qualify for. You can itemize medical and dental expenses. As we all know, these costs don’t come cheap. Whatever you are paying out of pocket for these costs may be itemized along with the child tax credit. 

Begin a Health Savings Account

To help decrease some of the common stress of medical bills, consider starting a health savings account. Contributions made to an HSA are pre-tax dollars that can be applied to medical expenses. If you contribute the maximum amount, you can potentially save thousands on your taxes this year. 

It is possible to pay less in taxes next year, you just need to put the work into finding some ways that you qualify for exemptions. For more ways to save, contact us at Timberwood Bank. 

Graduation Is Coming – Have You Been Saving?

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It’s never too early to save for college. Some parents start college funds even before their kids are born. If you have yet to jump on the savings train, it’s not too late to get serious about saving while in high school. The average cost of in-state tuition is around $10,000. Every dollar that you can save now will make a difference in the long run. 

Beef Up Those Grades

If there’s any time to hit the books, it’s now. Grades never mattered as much as they do in high school. Colleges will look at these to determine scholarships and admission to their programs. Even though getting good grades takes some effort and dedication, it will help you financially in the long run. Not to mention it will help to make you a better student in college, which may lead to you getting more scholarships in college. 

Get Involved

Don’t shy away from putting yourself out there! Sign up for extracurricular activities whether they are academic or athletic. Colleges will like that you have interests outside of the classroom. They may notice that you’re a team player, creative or like to challenge yourself. 

Look for a Side Gig

Don’t turn away from a part-time job! Any money you are able to save now can make a difference, especially if you’re able to work all four years. Even if you make $400 a month, that is potentially close to $20,000 you can have by the time you graduate. 

Take AP and College Courses Now

Advanced placement classes are incredibly challenging. However, if you’re able to take them and do well on the final exams, you can earn college credit for free! Take advantage of every opportunity you can to get college credit while in high school. Any classes you take while in high school are free. Think about how great it would be if you could cut down your college years by a year or more! 

Start Scouting for Scholarships 

Another side job you should consider is researching and applying for scholarships. There are scholarships for nearly everything – even being left-handed! Consider spending an hour writing a scholarship essay, and you could end up receiving $1,000. You just made $1,000 an hour. 

Start a 529 Plan

Is high school too late to start a 529 savings plan? Absolutely not. There are tax benefits to having one that will still be a helpful fund towards college admission. 

To learn more about ways to save or starting a savings plan, contact us at Timberwood Bank. 

Cybersecurity Top Tips for Traveling

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Whether traveling for fun or for work, you are hopefully busy enjoying the sites. However, it can be easy to get caught up in the adventure that you forget to stay on top of your personal cybersecurity protection. While you begin packing your bag, don’t forget this list of top tips!

Update all of your devices.

You’ve probably made sure your devices are charged, your toiletry bag is refilled and you have new reading material for your voyage. But before walking out the door for your trip, you need to update every device you have. These periodic updates that you see from the manufacturer do more than produce slight layout changes. They protect your device by patching holes and fixing bugs in the software. If not done, your wall of protection has weak points that can be taken advantage of. 

Watch out for wandering eyes.

In addition to keeping an eye out for anyone who may physically take your device or other items, watch out for lurkers. They may be looking over your shoulder or at your laptop from behind you. They’ll be looking out for any information that can tell them how to enter into your device. 

Always lock devices.

If you don’t have a passcode on your devices, you will want to get one. Don’t make it easier for criminals!

Remove auto-connect features.

Sometimes, it can be great to know that most public places nowadays have free Wi-Fi. Especially when traveling internationally, you may rely on this to send a simple text message to family back home. However, for your own security, it’s most important that you disable the auto-connect feature on your Wi-Fi. You want to set up your device so that it only connects to networks that you consciously choose. 

Turn off Bluetooth.

Similar to Wi-Fi auto-connect, Bluetooth should be turned off unless you are choosing to use it. The reason for this is that criminals will use this as an opportunity to connect themselves to your phone and crack into it remotely. If you’re like most people, you have a lot of PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on your phone. This can be used to take your identity. 

Statistics on Cybercrime 

  • You are 20 times more likely to be robbed on your computer than on the street.
  • 14.4 million people were victims of identity theft in 2018.
  • It is estimated that 33 billion records will be stolen in 2023. 
  • The US government spent $15 billion towards cybersecurity in 2019.

With these tips in mind, we hope you have a safe and fun travel experience!

Top 5 Ways to Save Money Fast

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While it’s not a good idea to go after any “get rich quick” schemes, there are some ways that you can quickly get more money than you have had on a typical month. The secret is to be cautious with your spending. This is obviously easier said than done, but it’s a way to “make” money without having to spend money. Follow your favorite one or challenge yourself to all five!

Sell Your Skills

Do you have a hobby that people would be willing to pay you for? Are you just simply good at tasks other people don’t enjoy doing like grocery shopping or housework? These are all activities that others may be willing to pay you to do for them! Advertise your skills on social media and on flyers around town. You could even sign up for freelance work through websites like upwork.com. You never know who may be on the hunt for the exact service you can offer!

Set Up Automatic Savings

If saving money were easy, everyone would be doing it. One way to make it immediate and easier is to take the decision of whether to save or not out of your hands. Setting up automatic savings may be the answer for you. Dedicate a portion of each paycheck to be automatically distributed to a savings account. You are paying yourself first with this method.

Beef up Your Cooking!

Even if you aren’t a master chef, there are ways to make your cooking delicious and affordable. One way to save on your meals is to plan them in advance. A lot of people right now are really liking the idea of meal prepping. This is when you make a large amount of food on Sundays so that you will have food for the entire week. When you plan ahead, you are not only able to establish a thoughtful budget, but keep yourself from spending needlessly on takeout. 

Unsubscribe and Unplug

We are living in the age of subscriptions to everything from our music and food to TV. It’s time to reevaluate everything you are signed up for including emails. You are likely signed up for more than you need or use. This will instantly put cash back into your pocket. While you’re at it, go ahead and clean out your email by unsubscribing from tempting advertisements.

Go Green

Apart from treating the environment well, going green can save you money. For example, stop buying paper towels and napkins when you can use cloth. You can even make your cleaning products from scratch with a little vinegar, lemon and water! Also, there’s no need to keep buying new clothes when you can find all kinds of stylish clothes for a fraction of the price at local thrift shops. 

These are all great ways to start putting money back in your pocket, now!