Top 10 Ways to Avoid an IRS Audit

Red FlagContrary to popular belief, it is possible to drastically decrease your chances of suffering an IRS audit through several proactive measures. While not fool-proof, simply considering taking these steps will go a long way to helping you avoid the headaches that an IRS audit can bring. Being aware of the IRS audit process – as well as common red flags – will position you much better to avoiding an audit.

Here are several tips to help you avoid an IRS audit:

  1. Be truthful 100 percent of the time: Many people still do not realize that the IRS has a complex computer system meant to catch lies and mistakes on tax returns. If you are not being truthful, there is a much better chance that your return will be audited.

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You Need A Budget Software – First Glance

Hearing the name floated around a few other personal finance blogs and having it personally recommended to me, decided it was time to try You Need A Budget.

As a Quicken user, I’m comfortable with the program’s functions and a little reluctant to switch to something new. Recently I’ve become more frustrated with the program’s budgeting capabilities, and considering the strong recommendation came from another Quicken user, I decided it was worth a try.

There are Four Pillars which You Need A Budget is based on.

  1. Give Every Dollar a Job

  2. Save For a Rainy Day

  3. Roll with the Punches

  4. Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

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Book Review: Generation Earn

Generation Earn The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving BackThose of us in our twenties have been called a lot of things by our elders, but never have we been referred to as “Generation Earn”.

Kimberly Palmer, senior editor at US News & World Report and author of the Alpha Consumer column, decided she was fed up with the negative labels associated with young professionals and wrote a book to debunk the myth!

Finally… an advocate for those of us on the other end of the perspective.

Generation Earn

The Young Professional’s Guide to

Spending, Investing, and Giving Back

My interest piqued just from the table of contents. Broken into only three sections, the book still covers a wide spectrum of ideas, and current ones at that.  Job Juggling, Not Your Parents’ Retirement, When Parents Are Landlords, Lessons in Modern Frugality, and The New Rules of Philanthropy to name a few.

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Book Review: The Skinny On Series

Remember when Cliff Notes were the lifeline to all those classics you had to read in school? It was a novel idea – taking complex topics, like literature, and breaking it down into quick and easy to understand guides. Then emerged the “Dummies” series whose tagline is “Making Everything Easier” and covered how-to guides from computers and software to religion and spirituality.

Now a new series has hit the market, The Skinny On, which plans to bring the Cliff Notes concept into the 21st Century. Based on the idea that our brains adapt to changing environments, the books are tailored to match the “faster, more staccato, bottom-line and visual reading experience” of the digital era.

The author, Jim Randel, graciously sent me two copies to review:

Networking: Maximizing the Power of Numbers

Creativity: Thinking Outside the Box

Just as the website claims, it only took about an hour to read each during my Thanksgiving roadtrip.

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