Using Taxes to Better the World

Posted On: 2006-10-20
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It's Brian Preston, the Money Guy, restoring order to your financial chaos. Retirement, investing, taxes. You've got financial questions, he's got financial answers. It's Brian Preston, the Money Guy.

It's October 20, 2006. You know this week, we're due for a financial chaos topic, and what we're going to talk about today is the tax smart way to better the world. And what I mean by that, is I'm going to give you some creative ways, some new thing that have popped up, either company's lowering and changing the way they do business, or even through legislation, ways that you can get money more effectively than what's been going on in the past. And this is going to serve several purposes. I know quite a few of my older listeners who are on the leading edge of this technology boom of podcasting, that listen and subscribe, have asked why do you focus everything on all the younger people out there. Us retired individuals would love to have some information as well, so this is, if you've sent me those emails complaining about that, this is your day and this is your podcast. Now we're also going to talk about in this podcast, I've got to start off, I normally don't do this, we typically jump right into the financial chaos topic, but today I'm going to go over an email from Lauren. I want to talk about some of the things that she wrote me. It's a real short email, it shouldn't take too long to clear up, and then there at the end I'm going to talk about Wesley Snipes and his tax trouble. If you haven't heard about this, you need to stick around because it will show you, no matter how much money you make, how many people you surround yourself, you can still make stupid decisions. And if you make enough money you can find somebody who will tell you it's a smart idea. So hang around for that, and then I'm going to close out the show by telling you once again, who I am, what my background is, because I got some emails saying, why don't you ever talk about your firm. Well, the reason I don't talk about my firm is I'm a bad marketer. I love doing what I do for a living, but I do not trumpet myself or market this firm probably like I should. So I'm going to take your advice and actually close out the show by telling you a little bit about Preston and Cleveland Wealth Management.

But jumping right in to this email. I want to read this to you. It says, "Brian, I have a question regarding 529 savings plans. I am planning on attending graduate school in the fall of 2008 to obtain an MBA, and am trying to decide what my best savings options are for the next two years in order to help pay tuition and other living expenses. MBA programs are quite expensive, and I would like to try to minimize the amount of loans I have to take out. Are 529 savings plans the best investment vehicles over the next two years to save for school. Or, would I be better off investing in other mutual funds and/or stocks or bonds. I have been contemplating purchasing a condo, I am currently renting, to live in for the next two years, and then potentially sell it either when I enter school or when I graduate when I help pay for the tuition. However this option would leave me with very little to contribute to any other savings plan. Any thoughts would be very appreciate. Thanks, Lauren."

Now Lauren, I want to talk to about something with this. Now first of all, 529 plans, you know, are ideal for starting out when your children are very young. I started a 529 plan for my daughter as soon as she was born, and I contribute $100 a month to it, and I'm hoping by the time she enters college it's going to be a substantial sum of money. Now, in just refreshing what the college savings...