Software & Game Downloads

quicken.intuit.com Need tips on how to teach your children some basic money management skills? This video will give you some good suggestions on how to get started.

The Tax Save 2007 Open Enrollment period beqins on October 1, 2006 and ends on October 31, 2006. TaxSave Opero Enrollment is y’our opportunity to save tax dollars in the 2007 tax year with the Premium Option Plan and the two Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) – the Unreimbursed Medical Spending Account and the Dependent Care Spending Account

Enrollment in the Premiun Option Plan component of TaxSave is automatic every year. The Flexible Spending Accounts require active enrollment each year. There are a variety ot easy ways to enroll.

You may enroll over the phone by calling Horizon BCBSNJ’s automated voice response system at 1-800-2244426 (October 1 – October 31, 2006).

You may enroll overthe Internet during the same time period at: www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/taxsave.htm and follow the link to the Horizon BCBSNJ Web site.

You ean enroll by obtaining an enrollment kit from your benetits administrator. These forms must ba postmarked by October 31 , 2006, in order to enroll for the 2007 plan year.

TaxSave and Domestic Partners and Dependents Age 23 to 30

State employees are able to add a same-sex domestic partner to their SHBP medical and dental insurance coverage, and New for the 2007 plan year, Chapter 375, PL 2005, permits continued SHBP medical plan coverage for certain dependents unti! their 30th birthday

However, before any premiums that the employee pays for the domestic partner or over-age dependent coverage can be made on a pre-tax basis under the Turbo Tax Save Premium Option Plan, the domestic partner or over-age dependent must be able to qualify as a “tax dependenf’ of the employee for federal tax filing purposes – under Internal Revenue Code Section 152.

Similarly, the domestic partner or over-age dependent must qualify as the employee’s tax dependent before an out-ofpocket medical expense incurred by the domestic partner or dependent can be reimbursed under the Unreimbursed Medlcal Spendlng Account. See IRS Tax Topie 354 – Dependentsfor addjtional information on the requirements for establishjng dependent status for federal tax purposes.

If the domestic partner or over-age dependent is not a “qualified tax dependent” of the employee, any premium deductions made for the domestic partner’s coverage must be made on an after-tax basjs and funds in the Unreimbursed Medical Spending Account cannot be used to cover the domestic partner’s medical expenses

The big news about Intuit’s TurboTax line this year is the development of specialized versions. In addition to Basic, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business, there are now versions for serious investors, retirement planners, and Spanish speakers. All of these programs’ features (minus the Spanish version, which is most similar to Basic) appear in Turbo Tax Premier ($59.95 list), which we review here.

TurboTax Premier looks and acts much the way it has in the past. You can import figures from numerous suppliers of W-2 and 1099 information, which should eliminate all-too-common data entry errors for those whose firms participate. Importantly, payroll-services giant ADP has been added this year, bringing the total number of firms to more than 50.

A new feature called My Tax History brings more data in from your previous year’s return to help save you time (though you still need to review it for accuracy). In the interview mode, you can select a split screen, with the current form showing below. Questions and explanations appear in the main interview window, with fields or check boxes for your responses. FAQs appear in the right pane, and your current tax score (amount of refund or obligation) appears above.

Turbo Tax Premier again offers live help advice, which is now available at a flat fee of $19.95 for up to 10 minutes (last year the rate varied depending on the consultant). More information about the financial professionals you deal with is provided this year, as well as ratings from past users. For $39.95 (for the 1040ez only, or $59.95 with Schedules C, E, and F), you can zap your return to a tax professional, who will review it and return it with remarks (but, as with TaxCut, not sign it as a preparer). There’s also a link to the TurboTax technical-support site.

In the best-selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko tell us how controlling their spending was one of the chief reasons the majority of millionaires are wealthy.  They keep close tabs on their expenditures and most of them can tell you exactly how much they spend monthly on everything.  This is nothing new as studies have shown for years that people who track their spending end up spending less.

In the old days, everyone had to use pencil and paper to do this.  Thankfully, personal money management software exists today to ease that burden.  Quicken by Intuit is generally regarded as one of the best money management software programs.  Where can you get a good deal on Quicken?

Newer Is Better?

One excellent way to save money is by buying an older copy of Quicken from somewhere like eBay.  This program has been around for years and is an extremely stable product.  What that also means is that the differences between last year’s version and this year’s version are pretty small now.  In fact, a lot of the reviews end by saying something like “if you’re happy with what you have then there’s no reason to upgrade.”

Two More Tips

First, if you use the online features of Quicken then buying a one year old copy is probably the best value.  That’s because support for questions, updates, and online access gets cut off after three years.  It’s called being “sunset.”  The software itself is still usable of course, my Quicken is older than three years, but you won’t be able to use some of the advanced online features.  Things like the integrated online bill payment systems and transaction downloading will stop working.  That might not be a problem for you anyway if you normally go directly to your bank’s website.

Second, it’s also best to buy an unregistered copy.  That’s because you can register it yourself just like new software from a store.  Then you’ll be eligible for the discounts that current owners receive on newer versions and other benefits.