How to deduct 529 losses from your taxes

I found this very interesting article on Marketwatch.com discussing the little known option of deducting losses on 529 plans. It is an interesting concept, and is quite logical.

Here’s the rundown: losses on a 529 are deductible to the extent they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income. To be able to claim the loss, [...]

Happy New Year! Here’s my financial to-do list

Happy New Year, fellow cheap bastards! Everyone looks at the beginning of a new year as a new beginning of sorts, and it seems like everyone likes to put together their list of resolutions. I’ve never really liked the practice or the term, mainly because most people come up with stuff like “I want to [...]

My babies got cash for Christmas – what to do?

We are parents of 7 week old twins. Although they aren’t old enough to even think about shopping, they had family members who gave them money for Christmas. Since they can’t spend it for themselves, it leaves us as parents with the dilemma of what to do with the money. Since they aren’t old enough [...]

Withdrawing from Upromise without a 529 account

Upromise is promoted as a program to help save for college by sending earnings to a linked 529 college savings account. But what do you do if your 529 account isn’t affiliated with Upromise, or you just don’t care about saving in a 529 account? Luckily, you can request a check for the amount of [...]

$25 bonus for opening a Upromise account and shopping online

Here’s a way to get your college savings started with a quick $25 bonus! Now until 12/31/2007 when you open a new Upromise account and make a purchase through their online mall Upromise will give you a $25 bonus credit. To get started, visit Upromise or click the link to the left where you can [...]

Freebies for new parents

With the birth of the twins and all, this has been a wild week. So many things to do. So many things to learn. And nowadays, so many products to be pitched for baby. Baby products are a big business, and before your baby makes his first poopie you’ll probably start getting advertising for baby [...]

Learning about 529 plans

Over the last week or so, I have started reading up on 529 plans. For those of you who don’t know, 529s are tax advantaged accounts for college savings. There are lots of details available, but essentially it is the college savings equivalent of the Roth IRA. You contribute after-tax dollars into the account and, [...]