How the SSA calculates benefits Last week, I began a discussion on our Social Security system. The annual statement, beginning in May of this year, can only be accessed online. We went over the procedure for creating an account and accessing that online statement. An important part of the annual statement is the data entered [...]

Giving up a rental to foreclosure “Be well… Do good things… Keep in touch.” This is one of Garrison Keillor’s more famous, if not the most famous, quotes from “The Writer’s Almanac.” It’s short, but it sure does say a mouthful. I have a nephew, Andrew Veenstra, who graduated from Sparta High School last week. [...]

Foreclosures, home equity loans The tax return preparation business is a whole lot more complicated today than it was when I started preparing taxes back in 1978. The Internal Revenue Service has to deal with many more preparers today than in 1978. Of course, we probably have to deal with more IRS people today than [...]