2020 W2 Tax Withholding Estimations- How To Do It!
Are You Sick Of Guessing Your Tax Obligation?
Most of us are. Too much withholding? Too little? Am I going to get hit with a penalty? Or a big bill at tax time? Or a huge refund?
Well, the Feds have put together a really nice tax estimator that is very easy to use and quite useful.
This is a great resource for all employees to use during the year to check that their tax withholding is reasonably accurate. The nice part of this tool is that it provides for a large variety of contingencies, such as supplemental payments, multiple sources of income, and other complicating factors.
I suggest that you do your own estimates using this tool, AND give it to all of your employees to check their situation prior to submitting or updating their W2 forms.
Direct Access to the ENGLISH VERSION of the estimator
New Federal Requirements For Employment Form I9
Effective January 31, 2020, all employers are now to use the new updated Federal 9 employment form. You may use the old form until April 30, 2020, giving you time to make adjustments to the new form. However, AFTER APRIL 30, 2020, THE NEW FORM with the 10-21-2019 date (lower left-hand corner) is REQUIRED.
Information regarding the completion of I9 forms can be found on the following government website: Government website information for I9
A handbook for completion of the I9 can be found here: HANDBOOK DOWNLOAD . However this handbook is dated 2017, so may need changes for the new 2019 I9 form.
The NEW form for I9 can be found at these government links:
A government "widget" for completion of this form on-line that can be printed can be found here: Link To Widget
Note: WCRM is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any link. ...
The Risk Of Being An "Eeyore".
Do you identify with Eeyore?
How did you feel when you saw this clip? Did you identify with Eeyore? Or were you sad because of his disposition?
How you relate to this clip may reflect on your mortality and morbidity to a myocardial infarct.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2752100
Rozanski et. al. in their recent meta-analysis of over a quarter-million people identified that a positive outlook on life has a statistically significant reduction in ischemic myocardial events of all types, as well as reduced mortality overall.
Yes, you read that correctly. A positive attitude had a positive impact on the mortality of individuals.
The article (link here) provides a nice discussion of the study parameters and confounding or co-existing risk factors, including other associated behavioral habits with positive and negative outlooks (i.e. optimism vs. pessimism).
What You Think Does Matter
In...
CPT Lookup Tool
I just ran across this online tool that can provide you with payment information from different insurance companies, based on CPT code.
https://www.pinnacleservice.co/cpt-fee
Please note: This is NOT a product of WCRM. There is no promotional element that we receive for this posting. We do not receive anything of value (or anything at all) for this posting.
WCRM does not provide any assurance of this tool's accuracy or suitability for your own use. This is provided as a "as is" link for informational purposes only. If you use this tool, you (or the provider of the actual tool) assume responsibility for its use.
WhiteCoat Risk Management provides these articles to help improve general risk awareness in all aspects of your life. It is not responsible for any actions you take or fail to take regarding any aspect of your financial planning or risk management. This article is provided for information purposes and is not...
It's Time To Think About Income Differently
Dollars For Hours
Let's face it.
Working for a living has its limitations. You can only do so much with a dollars-for-hours mentality. You only have so many hours in your life, and frankly, you can't, (shouldn't) or don't want to use all of them for generating income.
You are limited by this equation:
Total Earned Income = Hours worked x Dollars per hour
After you max out at working 24 hours per day, your upside financial income is limited by the amount you earn per hour. And you can't generate more hours. Or can you?
Creating Financial "Time"
What if you could generate more time to earn income? Would you do it?
Well, you can't generate more of YOUR time to create income, but you can leverage your time, using a variety of income strategies to generate more income. It's using a strategy of creating "passive income". There are many different types of passive income that one can...
Alexa, Quit Recording Me
Do you have one of the "smart" speakers in your house? The ones that you can ask questions of, and make your life "easier".
I don't. I don't want one. I don't have one. And although I say, never say never, I have no plans to ever have those in my house.
Perhaps I am paranoid, but I don't like my personal space being invaded. I am not afraid of computer technology, video phones, and the like, but I want them to only be listening (i.e. recording) or watching (i.e. video recording or transmitting images), when I say it's ok. That's one of the reasons I WhiteCoat Risk Management has video shutters available for our computer cameras. No software can bypass a piece of plastic over the lens of the camera.
Back to Alexa.
Yes, those smart speakers creep me out. I don't like the idea of being "listened to" all the time. And these are everywhere. So you need to be diligent in shutting off those...
Hidden Risks In Grandparents' Homes.
It's the holidays.
Time to visit Grandma and Grandpa.
All of those little grandkids (and sometimes great-grand-kids) to visit at the homes of the grandparents. A wonderful time for all.
Or is it?
Putting aside the dynamics of families, there is another serious threat to the safety and well being of the grandkids...and they are the hidden risks in the homes of people without children.
I myself had my first grandchild just a couple of years ago, with additional little ones to follow. Let me just remind everyone this ... little kids can and will get into things that you think are safe and secured. It's like God has provided the littlest people with built-in burglar instincts. And we have to police the situation to keep them safe.
A recent poll from the University of Michigan suggests that medications are often not sufficiently safely stored when grandparents are visited by little ones. This is very important because up to...
The Risk Of Gastro-esophageal Reflux
Long acting proton pump inhibitors to reduce the incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) has skyrocketed in recent years.
For those people who require this type of therapy, it certainly is a God-send, but as with all chronic use of medications, there are worries about various side-effects and long term use health impacts. Obviously, if there is a more natural way to help reduce GERD, that would be preferable. (Don't start, stop or modify your use based on this article. Only modify your use after instruction from your physician).
A significant element to GERD is what you eat and drink. A recent article supports the reduction of coffee, tea and soft-drinks and replacement with ... you guessed it ... water!
Read more about this topic in this recent article by Mehta, et. al.
WhiteCoat Risk Management provides these articles to help improve general risk awareness in all aspects of your life. It is not...
The Risk Of Auto Debt
Here is the hard fact: Automobiles are getting more and more expensive, taking a greater percentage of your monthly income to purchase a vehicle.
Today, it seems like for most people, having a reliable vehicle is a necessity, not a luxury. But for others, they buy their vehicle for luxury, even when they really can't afford it.
The Cost Of Financing A New Auto
There are ways of intelligently using someone else's money for purchasing a new auto. Low-cost financing (such as 0.9% rates) can be a good use of your credit, and get you into a more affordable auto. But here is the catch: Don't refinance any remaining balance of your existing vehicle into any new loan.
Rolling in unpaid balances from older vehicle loans is becoming a common event. It is been estimated that about 1 in 3 people who finance a car in 2019 are rolling over debt from a prior auto, with an average carryover balance of nearly $5000. Both of these numbers are increased,...
The Hidden Risks IN Your Auto
Automobile Risks
We all know about the risks of driving our cars and the potential for serious harm in an accident. Because of that, countless safety features have been built into them to help protect us. That protection can be against our own bad driving habits...or those of others. Seat belts. Airbags. Side impact guards. Tempered glass. Children seats. Lane change monitors. Driving speed indicators. Automatic braking. Hands-free phones. And even more developments in the future.
The Hidden Risks In Automobiles
But you probably don't know of a hidden danger in your auto that is typically ignored. Yes, ignored by auto manufacturers and the consumers who purchase automobiles. It's a risk that can impact each occupant of the auto, at any time, without warning, wreaking havoc on your health and safety.
So what are these hidden risks?
Infectious Disease.
Your car is teeming with billions of...
