Personal Finance Blog

Posts Tagged ‘State’

Many personal finance articles have been written on the issue of money.  Can’t say I have been moved to action by many.  First I’d like to say it is ok that you feel down about the current situation about your personal finances.  I give you permission to feel your feeling for the next 24 hours and then pull yourself by your boot straps and let’s what we can do. 

There exist many a definition, I want to share with you  my personal finance definition:

Financial freedom is not an event, it is a skill.

I bet right now with the current economic situation you are saying to yourself, “I just wish I could the lotto!”  Boy don’t we all and yet statistics and personal finance facts show that the majority of people who win the lottery, end up broke and worse off before their winnings! Imagine that.  You among the many seeking wealth, riches, fame few people realize that money isn’t the solution to their problems;  the way you think about money is the problem and the solution. 

I can almost see you going oh yeah, give me the money and I’ll show you change in mindset!

My favorite entrepreneur of all times, Henry Ford was once asked, “What if you lost everything you own?” He responded without missing a beat: “I’d have it all back and more within 5 years.”

Being a master of your own personal finance is not about what is in the bank; it’s about the ability to acquire the skill that will show you how to produce new streams of income and wealth based on your knowledge and experience.

So before we go any further on this issue let us tackle the real problem here that is impeding your personal finance for good!  Why you might ask?  Well without the mastery of these 5 steps, your desire for your goal for financial success and financial freedom is highly unlikely!  This is why big players in any industry have coaches, Oprah has a life coach, football players and basketball players have coaches and mentors.  Tiger woods after every bad game will go in for coaching and training.  Why?  Those who achieve great financial success do not go it alone.  They always have a team.  Those who achieve great poverty have the do it yourself mentality!

Why is it important to plan personal finances?

5 Steps That Will Guarantee You Become Master Your Personal Finances

1. How do you think about money? Say you come up with an idea to do something. Do you think that will never work?  Are you afraid to follow through?  Are you scared of loosing money or do you see every dollar spent as an investment?

2. How do you manage and invest your time?  The average man has at his disposal  6 discretionary hours.  This is time they can do whatever they want.  No work, no chores etc.  Many will watch T.V., attend pricey sports events, spend money on meals at a restaurant and movies, see where I am going with this? Do you do personal finance budgeting?

3. How do you leverage the talents and life experiences you ALREADY POSSESS?
Most people see their experiences as failures.  They only talk of how they tried to do something as failed.  Thomas Edison failed more than I care to count, and yet he persisted to light the whole world. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas A. Edison

4. Do you have a mentor and/or coach with a proven personal finance curriculum? This is the true measure of your desire for financial freedom.  This is where you literally put your money where your mouth is, can’t afford a mentor you say?  Well what was the last book you read? Gossip magazines do not count as literature sorry ?!

5. What do you think is “risky,” and what do you think is “safe and secure”?  Most people never break into the realm of the 5% wealthy group who own 95% of  the worlds resources because they want to play it safe.  They want the money, the fame, the accolades but they feel they should not have to go through the process of creating this wealth.  No wonder the internet and other places are full of scams and get rich quick opportunities.  Remember this success does not  happen overnight, but one night success does happen.  Someone once said to me, it takes 3 years to be an overnight success!

Taxes are an inevitable fact of life. Where ever you may reside paying taxes is indispensable for each and every earning individual! This justifies clearly that most of the individuals do not mind paying taxes of any sort! After all it’s us who get the benefits of these taxes in return in form of the infrastructures and civic amenities in the country!

Especially, Maine state income taxes seem the easiest of all!

Many a times when people migrate to the Maine, the state income taxes seem to be lost. You often stop worrying about them. To be precisely honest, almost all of us forget about the taxes all round the year and click on to them as emergencies close to the due dates!

Here are a few important factors determining and defining the Maine state income taxes:

1. Due date

Due Date – that’s an interesting and real alarming term. As paying taxes is indispensable until & unless you are unemployed, people often miss out the due date! And to avoid the fines it is almost unquestionable to file the taxes before the due date.

Well, this year you won’t miss it – mark it on the calendar in your room right away – for Maine state income taxes the due date is April 15.

2. What is your bracket?

Knowing your bracket is quite essential to identify as to what sort of income tax payee are you?

In order to know your bracket you primarily need to evaluate the amount of taxes you need to pay. Main state income taxes highly depend on these brackets.

The Maine state income taxes are divided into 4 key brackets.

Another factor defining these brackets is your marital status – that is, it is different for those who are single and those who are married.

As per your income levels, the brackets define the percentage of taxes that you need to file.

i. For the singles, the 4 brackets are as follows:

• 2% for first $ 4,450 income.
• 4.5% for income between $ 4,451 – $ 9,100.
• 7% for income between $ 9,101 – $ 18,250.
• 8.5% for income $ 18,251 and above.

ii. For married couples the 4 brackets are as follows:
• 2% for the first $ 9,150 income.
• 4.5% for income between $ 9,151 – $ 18,250.
• 7% for income between $ 18,251 – $ 36,550.
• 8% for income $ 36,551 and above.

3. Understand the forms you need to fill in.

Filing the taxes of course requires filling the forms. There are forms specific for all sorts of taxes. The best way of understanding the forms and knowing which one you ought to fill in is approaching the professionals. They would not only guide you the right way of filling the forms, but also help you smoothly go through the process.

Those planning an economical fining of taxes and hence doing it themselves, read through the following tips:

i. 1040-ME
1014-ME is the most common form you would be required to fill in. It is quite a long a detailed form.
ii. 1040S-ME
1040S-ME is almost a shorter version of 1014-ME.
iii. Determinants for the form
What you do all round the year to gain income determines the sort of form you would need to fill in. Those who are self employed need to fill in various other forms.

Hence, moving to Maine, you have nothing to worry about in the taxes.

State income tax system is quite similar to its Maine counterpart, except for the amounts!

The easiest way to understand federal income tax, state income tax and all those other concepts that come with them is by understanding what the progressive income tax scheme is. Simply put, this scheme tells that the tax charge rate rises as income gets larger. For instance, if you compare federal income tax brackets to state income tax brackets,  you will find lots of trend similarities.

Basically, except for those living in Alaska, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Washington, South Dakota, and Wyoming, every employee in the United States needs to know about state income tax. Majority of the states, 34 actually, impose state income tax aside from federal income tax. There are also cases where  states allow cities to apply an income tax rule above the state income tax and federal income tax. This applies in New York City, for instance. In this city, aside from a state income tax (the maximum from which is 8.14%), there is also a city income tax that reaches to 4.00%. Living in a city that applies two tax rules is definitely more expensive if compared to the cases in “federal income tax only” cities.

The state income tax rates usually range from 1% to 10%.  Although the state income tax rule carries different rates, it works in the same way as the federal income tax rule. California,  has the highest rate of state income tax. It has a maximum tax rate of 10.3%. Illinois, on the other hand, has the lowest. It levies a flat tax of only 3%.

For more information you may need and tips On State Income Tax Brackets and Rates visit, stateincometaxbrackets.com