Federal Tax Brackets 2010

By MoneyBlueBook

Death and taxes. You can try to fight them both tooth and nail, but at the end of it all, it's a losing proposition. Especially when it comes to taxes, the government is going to want its fair share cut of your salary and business profits one way or another, whether you like it or not. Rather than engage in tax evasion and possibly live the remaining years of your life on the run as a tax fugitive from the long arm of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you might as well confront the issue of taxes head on. All we can do is try our best to understand how income taxes work and take reasonable steps to minimize their effects on our financial lives as much as possible.

One of the most introductory ways to plan for the effects of income taxes is to recognize how the various marginal rates are applied to the corresponding tax brackets. Because the United States does not yet currently engage in a flat tax system, our taxable incomes are broken down into different taxation ranges with specific taxation percentages assessed depending on where they fall along the tax bracket spectrum. Although our 2010 tax returns won't be filed until April 15, 2011, for planning purposes, it's always good to find out the new changes to the tax code as early as possible. Let's examine some of the upcoming tax rate changes that are being projected for 2010 and compare them to the previous year's 2009 tax brackets.

Projections

By MoneyBlueBook

Update: New FDIC and NCUA Insured Limits Extended Until January 1, 2014

After months of bank failures and gloomy economic news, we finally have some good tidings from our federal government. No, it's not another round of stimulus checks for those of you who have been hoping and waiting with bated breath, but rather, it pertains to the FDIC insurance that guarantees the safety and security of bank deposits.

The current increased FDIC insurance limits of $250,000 were scheduled to be rolled back to the previous $100,000 limits on the last day of 2009. However just recently, Congress voted to extend the deadline for four more years - through December 31, 2013. Those of us who have significant amounts of money in the bank or sizable funds invested into long term certificates of deposit (CD rates) undoubtedly have been nervously eyeing the impending December 31 expiration date of the $250,000 threshold. Thus this news ought to come as a tremendous welcomed relief. Those of us who have been considering renewing our certificates of deposit can now consider maturities with a longer time horizon without fear of falling outside of federally protected limits.

Avoid Banks That Are Not FDIC Insured, Or Credit Unions That Are Not NCUA Protected

As many of you may know, if you have money in a bank account, your bank deposits are generally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to the maximum current limit of $250,000. Similarly, if you have money saved in a credit union account, your deposits are

By MoneyBlueBook

Update: Projected Have Been Released!

The following represents the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)'s officially released 2009 federal income tax brackets. Read 'em and weep - or perhaps rejoice, depending on where you stand on the whole federal income tax bracket sliding scale. Regardless, you're going to be getting close and personal with the marginal rates when you file your 2009 tax return in early 2010. Let's have a look at some of the tax changes shall we?

Official IRS Tax Rate Schedule Updates For Tax Year 2009

Via the Wall Street Journal, the following graphical table below gives you the official marginal tax brackets for married couples filing jointly as well as the marginal rates for single filers for 2009. The previous year's numbers are also provided to give you an idea of some of the more noticeable changes since 2008. The income numbers listed in the chart below are taxable incomes, and thus they have taken into consideration all available personal exemptions as well as any of either the standard or itemized deductions, including all pre-tax above the line 401k and deductible IRA contributions.

As key portions of the marginal tax tables are pegged to inflation, quite a few numbers must be annually revised. Thus you will note that there are quite a few key changes for the 2009 tax year compared to the year prior. However, while overall tax numbers appear to have nominally increased on the whole, taking into consideration the effects of inflation, effective tax rates may actually have remained level or

By MoneyBlueBook

Tax Cuts, Social Spending, and New Jobs - But What About Stimulus Checks?

A second economic stimulus package for 2009 is on the way and from the looks of things in the news, it appears newly minted President Barack H. Obama and his Democrat controlled House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are determined to ram the lucrative spending proposals through the legislative meat grinder no matter what, much to the chagrin of skeptical and deficit-weary Congressional Republicans.

As Congress debates the wisdom and intricate details of the current version of the 2009 economic stimulus package, it's clear that something needs to be done very soon to jumpstart and save our suffering economy before we spiral into a full blown economic depression. The unemployment rate is rising fast and everywhere you turn, there seems to be a never ending stream of unemployment and layoff news being announced everyday. The stock market has already shed more than half of its value since its peak in 2007, and billions to trillions of dollars worth of wealth have already been eliminated from the economy. Major banks and financial giants like Citibank, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase, once the financial pillars of our economy and the lifeblood of our credit industry, are now clinging onto U.S. government bailout money for dear life - hoping to still be in business at the end of every quarter.

With its almost limitless resources, it's clear the federal government must intervene somehow and put this broken economy and financial system back on track to prosperity.

By MoneyBlueBook

Goodbye 2008 and Good Riddance - Hello Year 2009!

Happy New Year everyone! As much as I'd like to be forward looking, sometimes it's hard not to recap the past. I think 2008 will go down as one of the worst years in American history in terms of the economy and national morale. Since the start of last year, there has been this gloomy gray cloud of recession worries and depression fears that has persistently lingered over the heads of all Americans. Despite our attempts to shake its clutches by turning our attentions to more exciting events such as the media circus and hype surrounding the historic presidential election of���� Barack Obama, the first African American to be voted into the White House, it appears the ominous clouds will follow us into 2009 and beyond for the foreseeable future.

Who To Blame and Where To Go From Here

Those who want to take the easy way out by blaming the credit crisis and current economic woes on the Bush administration, or on the Democratic Congress, or even on the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - have their sights on the wrong culprits. The primary blame should be placed on ourselves - the credit and home hungry American consumer who pushed housing prices to astronomical and unsustainable levels. Weaned on easy credit and driven to consume to great excess over the last few years, our abandonment of the age-old practice of saving and living within our means put us on the road to financial disaster that finally

By MoneyBlueBook

After two decades at the same coverage limit, the U.S. government has finally stopped dragging its knuckles and raised the FDIC insured limit for bank deposits from the previous FDIC limit of $100,000 - up���� to the new limit of $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank. For your average bank customer, this means that he or she will now receive full FDIC insurance coverage up to $250,000 for the total sum of their single accounts (checking, savings, and CD deposits) at each banking institution. Other account category types like joint accounts and trust accounts will also each enjoy separate increased $250,000 limits at each bank. However, retirement accounts held by banks as FDIC insured deposits will remain at the previous $250,000 limit.

For those who don't know, the FDIC stands for the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federally run government organization that protects bank customers from the loss of their deposits in the event of a catastrophic FDIC-insured bank failure. The protection afforded by FDIC insurance is near iron-clad as it is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. There is no need for bank depositors to apply for FDIC insurance or even to request it as coverage is automatic. Below are the new and current FDIC insurance coverage limits for deposits at FDIC insured member banks. The new FDIC limits are effective starting October 3, 2008 and tentatively scheduled to expire on December 31, 2009. While the FDIC does not directly cover deposits held in credit union institutions,