You might not have to pay as much as you think, or anything at all

The first thing everyone wants to know when it comes to late taxes is whether they will be charged any penalties and interest. In fact, fear of penalties is enough to keep some people from filing their taxes. But some late filers don’t have to pay any penalties at all. Arming yourself with information can help you make the best decisions when it comes to dealing with your late taxes.

If you’re due a refund, you don’t owe the IRS any penalties or interest. That’s right. None. Zippo. Zilch. That means you can file a late return without having to worry about getting … Read more...

…I will pay a boatload in taxes.

The Mega Millions jackpot has reached a record high of of $640 million, shattering the previous U.S. record of $390.

Coworkers are pooling money to buy tickets on their lunch breaks, local liquor stores and bodegas are crowded with anyone feeling even remotely lucky, and Twitter users are fantasizing about blowing the money on everything from classic cars to cupcakes to AK-47s.

But no matter who is lucky enough to win the money, there’s one sure thing they’ll be spending it on: taxes. Before you start training those baby snakes to kill Congressmen, you’ll have to pony up to Uncle Sam a pretty hefty chunk of change.

The federal tax rate … Read more...

We hate losing money about twice as much as we like making it. Seriously. Several studies show that if you unexpectedly lose $1, you won’t be happy making just $1 back — you need $2 to reach an even keel. That’s one reason market volatility makes folks so nervous; when losses hurt more than gains help, a market that bounces around a particular level still makes people unhappy.

Here are a few ways you can ease the pain:

1. If you’re going to own stocks, own them forever. It’s not hard. Think about a company’s product. Ask yourself if people will still use it in fifty years. If yes, and the stock is fairly cheap, buy. If no, don’t. Sure, you

It’s hard to miss the headlines about hedge fund collapses. It seems like every day there’s a story of another hedge fund that blew up thanks to esoteric bets on mortgages, metals, or currencies. One easy lesson to draw from this is that the hedge fund concept has been thoroughly debunked. But a better lesson is to ask how you can behave more like a smart hedge fund owner.

I don’t mean to suggest that any small investor should play with the financial high-wire act that some funds use. Nor should typical investors play around with complex securities like stock options — if a team of MIT-educated PhDs could lose billions of dollars on ‘risk-free’ options trading, it might … Read more...