Online financial news
Monday Map: State Income and Sales Tax Deductions
Today’s Monday Map shows which states benefit from the federal income tax deduction for state taxes. Taxpayers can elect to deduct either state income or sales taxes, but not both; in most states, the income tax deduction is worth more. New Yorkers deducted state taxes worth 6.16% of their income, to take the top spot. Alaska, where state income and sales tax deductions amounted to only 0.26% of the state’s income, comes in last. (Alaska has no income tax, no state sales tax, and small local sales taxes.)
Click on the map to enlarge it.
View previous Monday maps here.
Credit Card Rates vs. Traditional Loans
When you look at credit card rates versus traditional loans, you will be shocked at the difference. On average, there is a significant difference with credit card rates being much higher than traditional loans. This difference is enough to cause wise consumers to choose traditional loans over credit cards for many types of purchases.
Get your very own credit card today by using the FREE credit card chaser!
The length of time you need to pay off a purchase is a huge factor in whether a credit card or a traditional loan is what you should consider. Many traditional loans charge higher interest rates for shorter periods.
ImaginAb completes Series A financing
ImaginAb, Inc. a clinical-stage company developing in vivo imaging agents for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) based on antibody fragment technology, today announced the completion of a Series A financing – led by Novartis Venture Funds. The oversubscribed Series A round includes Merieux Developpement, Nextech Invest, Cycad Group and existing seed investor Momentum Biosciences. Novartis Venture Funds and Merieux Developpement will both appoint Directors as representatives of the Series A investors.
“This is an important growth financing event for ImaginAb because it augments financial resources from our rapidly expanding pharma companion diagnostics program and strategic NCI funding, to enable us to accelerate the clinical development of our cancer and immunology imaging programs,” said Christian Behrenbruch, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of ImaginAb.
Generations X & Y: You’re a product of your experiences
The baby boomers are having a tough time. They’re retiring or nearing retirement in a prolonged low interest rate environment and may not be seeing as much accumulated savings as they expected. But the boomers still hold vast amounts of wealth, and as they age, they will be passing it to the next generation. According to the Money Across Generations IISM study, this hasn’t necessarily prompted the adult children of boomers (predominantly members of Gen X and Gen Y) to feel any more confident about their financial future than their parents – but maybe they should be. Throughout my career, I’ve had financial conversations with many different types of people, and I noticed a theme. I learned that the way a person invests and manages their money can generally correspond with which generation they’re a part of, and what experiences they went through while they were young. For examp Read more…
Credit Card FAQ: How Old Do You Have To Be To Have A Credit Card In Australia?
Getting a credit card can be one of the first steps people want to take towards financial independence but unfortunately there is an age limit for this kind of card.
One of the criteria for credit card applications in Australia is that people have to be at least 18 years of age.
While debit cards can be issued to anyone old enough to open a bank account, because credit cards are a kind of loan service they require a certain amount of financial responsibility that would be difficult to prove if you were under the legal voting and drinking age.
There are also other conditions that will be assessed when someone is applying for a credit card, including:
- Residency or citizenship status
- Employment circumstances and income
- Any other assets
- Any debts; and
- Credit history
If any of these conditions are not met, an application is less likely to be approved and, while someone under 18 might meet a few of the requirements, it is unlikely they would meet all of them.
But this age limit does not mean young people cannot use a credit card.
Analysis: It’s not a bad idea to get a big tax refund
CHICAGO — Getting a big tax refund is supposed to make you feel guilty.
Financial planners say it means you’ve had too much withheld from your paychecks. You let the government keep your money and failed to collect interest for all those months. You also deprived yourself of the opportunity to earn an even greater return.
Technically, they’re right.
In a perfect world, your withholding would be exact and you and Uncle Sam could just call it even. And you would put all the extra dollars in every paycheck to work instead of waiting for a fat check the following year.
But if you count on a refund, don’t feel bad. It doesn’t necessarily make you a lousy money manager, especially in these challenging, low-interest-rate times.
And you have lots of company.
Even with increasingly sophisticated tax software that makes it easier to calculate proper withholding, most people choose to come out way ahead at tax time. A