S Corp vs. LLC

Talking to my accountant recently, I discovered that forming an S Corporation for my business would save me about 15% on taxes. Here's why:

I would actually pay myself a "reasonable" salary out of the income from my business, creating an expense for the business, which is deducted from the taxable income of the S corp. LLC's are taxed as a self-employment tax.

I would be able to split my FICA, Social Security, and other contributions with the S corp, creating a tax advantage.

Any additional income from the S corp can be paid out in dividends to stockholders, mainly myself, which are taxed at a lower rate then income.

Now, I am no tax expert, but it might be something to look into for your business, and of course, talk to your tax professional about.

I don't know about you, but the more money I am able to keep, the harder I work!

Facebook's Others

If you are like me, you use your personal Facebook account for a variety of reasons... Staying in touch with friends, staying in touch with clients, finding new clients, community involvement etc.

Having a Facebook page is about as important as having a telephone number. I have recieved new customers, connected with old friends, and found out new information through Facebook.

That is why I was surprised me recently. I was sending a Facebook message to someone I wanted to contact, and recieved a message asking me to pay $1 to have my email go to their Inbox, otherwise it would go to their "Other" box.

Being cheap, of course, I didn't pay the dollar. But I did go to my account to see if I had an "Other" inbox. Sure enough I did!

Browsing through it, I was amazed how many messages I had missed from people I wanted to hear from that went into this "Other" inbox. I had messages from prospective clients, people from charitable organizations I was involved in, and so on.

What surprised me more, was that you can't stop it. If you click on the edit preferences button, it takes you to this screen, which only enables you to make it more strict, so that you won't hear from even more people Facebook judges as Others!

Does anybody else feel like they're on a bad episode of Lost?

Major Change to the "Real" Real Estate Game

The greatest real estate game of all time is Monopoly. Don’t try and argue. It’s a fact. We were surprised a few years ago when Monopoly disregarded paper money in favor of a new debit card system that allows players to digitally manager their real estate investments and also cut down on those who like to sneak a $500 bill when the banker isn’t looking. I'm guilty... Don't tell my sister!

Recently an even bigger change was made as Monopoly gave the good citizens of the Internet the ability to add a new game piece while retiring one of the originals. So which Monopoly piece is getting th ax? The iron.

My girlfriend rejoiced at the news and asked if we could retire the iron in our home as well. While my dry cleaning bill is sure to increase, the retiring of the iron from Monopoly begs the question…why? Irons are in pretty much every home out there. Why not get rid of the battleship? Who has a battleship at their house? Well, this guy:

The car, hat, boot, dog and wheel barrel make sense for the best real estate game of all time to maintain, but a thimble?

So what’s the new piece being added to Monopoly? Here it is:

 

 

It’s a cat. Me? I would have gone with the robot. The other new piece options were a guitar, a diamond ring, and a helicopter.

I can live with these changes but if they start changing my home on Baltic Ave to a pad on Kardashian Place, or I’m going to have real issues.

Real Estate Headlines

Here's your weekly collection of real estate headlines:

RISMedia unveils a growing trend that has people turning real estate trash to treasure.

Fox News has a list of the latest real estate buzzwords you’ll need to know.

The LA home from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is up for sale for $2.1 million. No word if the deed has to be transferred from Freddy Kreuger.

The Guardian explores how housing markets are fairing around the world.

USAToday examines whether it is better to rent or to sell a house.

The Wall Street Journal showcases a $100,000 closet. And no, it’s not a bank vault.
Inman has a list of 5 aesthetic issues that turn off buyers.

CNN Money warns if you’re remodeling your kitchen, check costs first.

And finally, you have to check out this amazing home with incredible architecture and eco-friendly design called, Edgeland House.