Family Finances

It is May and tax season is behind you. It is now time for you to take inventory and prepare yourself for the next tax year. I recommend that your take a look at your current W-4 holding. If you are withholding too much of your gross income, what you are doing is giving Uncle Sam an interest- free loan, you might as well just send me the money ( just kidding- no seriously). On the flip side, if you are not having enough money taken out, you will end up paying out to Uncle Sam at the end of the year. To figure out what you should do. Take time to visit http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html .

May is also a great time for you to take inventory of all your personal belongings. Take the time to document your personal assets. As we have seen here in the United States, Mother Nature has really been ticked off at us. Why? That is another post for another day. Right now we must learn from her that a hurricane, flood, snow storm, or tornado can strike at anytime. Therefore, having your assets documented via an excel spreadsheet (with serial numbers and photos), or video taped, and stored with your insurance agent can protect you later on.

As mentioned previously, expect oil prices to reach over $70.00 a barrel by summer. What does this mean to you ? It means gas prices will climb to $4.00 a gallon for the average cost across the nation.

Great time to join the FREE program Upromise and start saving for your child's education. Mobile Gas is offering 1 cent per gallon of gas donated to your child's account. Those pennies can sure add up!

Click here to sign up: Upromise - Join millions of families who are discovering a whole new way to save for college