Tax Return Ballers

There is a species of people who are scarier than the vampires and werewolves from Twilight. I call them Tax Return Ballers. You have to be very cautious of tax return ballers because they are very deceiving! They camouflage themselves with the wealthy in the months of February through April, and then camouflage themselves with the poor throughout the rest of the year. If you have a decent sized tax return coming to you, I want to give you a few pointers before you treat your crew to Benihanas or hit up the closest outlet mall and ball out-of-control.

1. How much is in your savings??

Savings accounts are your reliable best friends. The best friend that you loan money to, and whenever you need that money back, they have it with interest! I'm going to make you a promise and I've always been told to never make a promise that I knew I couldn't keep. The promise is: NOTHING IS PROMISED! That's a promise that will stand true forever & ever.

Your job isn't promised!
Your car remaining functional isn't promised!
Your health isn't promised!
The tree behind your house standing tall and never falling on your roof isn't promised!

With these promises remaining true, it would be wise to have an emergency fund. Most investors suggest that you have 3 months of living expenses (food, bills, gas, etc.) in your emergency fund. Tax returns are a good time to get a head start on your emergency funds.

If you're savings account is looking decent, you can purchase a few c.d.s. I dont mean Glee's greatest hits. I mean Certificates of Deposits. You give the bank a certain amount of money and they hold it for a specific amount of time (6 months, 1  year, 5 years), and they give you that money back at a specific date (called the maturity date). C.D.'s offer higher interest rates than savings accounts, because you don't have as much access to the money you put in a C.D. as you would in a savings account.

You could also open an IRA, but we'll cross that bridge later on a future blog!

2. Vacations!!!

If you say, "Dreek, I'm already saving!" I would say "Where you going this year?" If you say "Savannah" or "North Georgia" I'm going to slap you in the mouth. The U.S.A. is a great country, but its sad how many people never leave their homes to visit the tons of attractions the country has to offer. This year, I decided to skip the international trips and focus on my homeland, so hopefully I will be going to New Orleans, D.C., Vegas, California, NYC, and Florida. If you work hard, I suggest that you play harder!!

3. Pay Down Debt


Do you have a car in the garage that just loses value every time you go for a ride? Pay the sucker off! That's one less bill every month which means more money to save! Pay a little toward your mortgage or student loan. Make sure you tell your loan holders that you want to apply this extra payment to your principal.

4. Home Improvements


Pay somebody or head to home depot and do some home improvement projects. If you've seen the world and your savings are bursting out of its seams, spend money on improving home base. Landscaping projects? Unfinished basements? Need fencing for your backyard? Want a pool?? I've already told you about my boy Brian at Summit Design & Build http://summitdesignandbuild.net  This guy is your one stop shop for all of your home improvement needs.

 Closing Statement:


The purpose of this blog is to encourage you to spend your tax return dollars on things that will be meaningful and long-lasting. Maybe you won't have a big tax return this year, but you would like one next year. Tell your HR person to change up your W4s. Lets say your married with 2 kids. If you just file Married with 0 deductions, your paycheck will be a little lighter but you'll get a big return next year. If you file single with 0 deductions, your paycheck will be a lot lighter, but your return will be greater! I look at it like a savings account! The Government in this case is the savings account, and you will get your money back next year in the form of a tax return. Plan with your families and spend wisely! & Oh yeah! Stay away from the Tax Return Ballers! & if you have the tendencies of a tax return baller.....CUT IT OUT!

Signing off,

Fatdreek

"No Better Than a Homeless Man"

When I graduated college and got my first "real" job, I was put in a dilemma! I was used to checks from:

Mcdonalds
Kroger
Save-Rite
Ingles
Cutting grass with Jack
Target Container
1 week at Race Trac (Gas Station)
Being an electrician's apprentice for my dad & granddad
Grounds crew @ PCC
cleaning pools with Eric

when I got my first check from Kemron Environmental Services, something clicked in my head that I was rich.  I wasn't Donald Trump rich but I was Hood Rich!! I immediately went to the mall and bought 3 pair of shoes and 5 hats (No Lie) I had bought so much stuff, I had to buy an extra suitcase to take back home to Georgia for my monthly return. I think for the first 5-6 checks, I bought all kind of stuff:

More hats & more shoes
Birthday gifts for anybody & everybody
a lot of wings @ hooters
every hip-hop c.d. ever made
tons of gas to drive to D.C. to see my homey Big Milt (wuddup homes)
stocks in Sirius Radio (a success when they merged with XM) and stocks in Tweeter (a fail when they closed their stores)

The moral of the story is that, saving was not my strong suit. I had a talk with my best friend Jack who told me that living check-to-check makes me no better than a homeless man who lives under a bridge. That resonates with me until this day. From that conversation, I saved up enough money for a down payment on my 1st home (a lot better than shoes & hats), and I'm slowly but surely getting that savings to where my homey Jack would be proud!

I'll have ways that I save all the time on the blog from time to time so stay tuned and here's to making it to the 1% of the wealthiest people in America!