The Wisdom of the Gaucho

Considering the proximity to the dreaded April 15 th date you may be on the lookout for a Certified Public Accountant for yourself or your business. Choosing a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a difficult decision. Along with your stock broker, banker, and tax preparer, who you choose as the CPA for your individual or business needs can have a strong financial impact upon you. You are placing a great deal of faith in this individual, and you should take steps to ensure you're picking a good apple.  Here are some steps you can take to make sure you locate a reputable, competent, knowledgeable CPA:  1 - It's all about the letters. Make sure that you select a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). A CPA has an undergraduate college degree that includes a large amount of accounting courses, passed a grueling 17 hour test, completed 2 years of selected experience under the supervision of another CPA, and attends 40 hours of training per year (known as Continuing Profe...

In the decade-and-a-half since their introduction, people have come to appreciate the incredible power of the Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Roth IRAs allow individuals to save money for their retirement and let it grow tax free. Yup, you heard correctly; tax free. Roth IRAs are retirement accounts that are maintained by a registered financial institution, but created and directed entirely by you, the investor. These accounts can contain any number of investments including Certificates of Deposit, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, even real estate. You can open a Roth IRA through a brokerage firm (such as Charles Schwab, E-Trade, TD Ameritrade), a Mutual Fund Company (exp. Janus, Fidelity, Vanguard), Banking Institution (Wachovia, Bank of America, or Washington Mutual) or diversified financial company (Citigroup, ING). These accounts can be opened in person, via telephone, or even online. It pays to do your research to find out each companies sp...

With all of the recent turmoil in the United States housing market , many people are revisiting the pros and cons of renting versus buying a home. For starters, buying a home is a terrific long term investment, and while short term price appreciation may be unlikely, long term price appreciation is quite certain. There are many other factors to consider outside of potential price appreciation when deciding whether to rent or buy a home. While there are many advantages to owning your own home, not everything is a bed of roses. Like every major financial decision there are pros and cons to owning a home. First of all, some of the positive attributes of home ownership: Owning your own home does give you the discretion and flexibility to do virtually whatever you want with your property both inside and out. Paint a room neon green? Sure. Have a life size statue of Elmo made out of corn cobs in the back yard? Go right ahead. You can do just about anything you want since you...