Making Easy Money - This is How many are making money

1.Sell something. Dig out that old guitar you never play, those CDs you don't listen to anymore, or your antique toy collections. Go to the pawnshop, put an ad on local internet classifieds, or hold a yard sale in front of your house or on a busy street corner (just display the item with a big sign announcing the ridiculously low price). Price items at half of what somebody would be able to buy them for anywhere else, and you may be able to sell them within an hour or two. You can also sell items online at web sites like eBay, Amazon and Craig's list. Sell your gold and silver to pawn shops that really do sell your gold or silver.

2.Fill out surveys online. Companies who want to know what is on the minds of their customers are willing to pay for your opinion. Online surveys won’t make you rich, and won’t allow you to quit your day job, but you can make a little extra cash. When choosing between surveys, read the fine print. There is usually an asterisk near the "you won" part. This means you have to do something like buying stuff before you even get to talk about your prize. Don't fall into these sorts of traps, they are ridiculously difficult and not worth the time. In general, the more companies you sign up with, the more survey requests you’ll receive in your email and more opportunities you’ll have to make money.

3.Panhandle. A panhandler is a person who depends on the spontaneous charity of strangers for their survival. If you really need the cash, you might swallow your pride and decide to ask for help. Make a sign, find a good location, ask politely for money, and say thank you. Cyberbegging is becoming increasingly popular, and there have been some amazing success stories, but these are the exception rather than the rule. While there are some sites on which you can beg just by putting up a brief ad, if you're looking to make any substantial money you'll probably have to build your own site and invest the time and money into it to make it successful.

4."Donate" plasma. Plasma is a component of blood, and the process is similar to donating blood. You're not permitted to actually sell your plasma, but you can be compensated for your time spent donating (and essentially, it's like selling your plasma). Your blood is drawn, the plasma is separated, and the red blood cells are returned to your body. You can make US$20-30 per visit and give plasma twice a week, but you must weigh at least 110 pounds, be between the ages of 18 and 59, and be in good health.[1] Many college students do this to make extra cash. If you haven't been to the doctor in a while, this may be a good way to get a free health checkup.

5.Enter sweepstakes. By choosing sweepstakes carefully, you can increase your likelihood of hitting the jackpot (or at least getting a few useful freebies that you can sell, as mentioned above). Search the internet-- there are even internet databases, some free and some by subscription only, that can clue you in to hundreds or thousands of sweepstakes. Sweepstakes with smaller prizes can be great because you generally have a more realistic chance of winning. Don't, however, waste your time entering a sweepstakes for a prize you don't want and can't easily sell for a good profit. Enter as many times as possible. The more times you enter, the better your odds. It's as simple as that. Before you send in a million entries, however, make sure you know how many entries the rules allow you.

Tips

•     Never pay to join survey panels. All legitimate panels are free.
•     Do not share your credit card information with unsecured sites.
•     Ideally join affiliate programs that offer two tier commissions. That way you can refer your friends or other people who want to make money online. Then when they make a sale you'll earn a small percentage for referring them.
•     Open a separate bank account and separate your business money from your personal money.
•     Always: Instead of thinking of how you must cut down on expenses, think of new ways you can make more money (Without of course spending more money on things that are not necessary for living).
•     Don't obsess about making easy money. Keep a balanced lifestyle. Try not to think about making money, think first about how to help people and solving problems. Then you will figure out eventually that you can get paid for solving problems.
•     When a site has videos of testimonials, most likely they are actors. They are paid to make you give up your credit info, don't trust them.

Source: WikiHow

How to Save On Income Tax

Here are some expert Tips collected from The Economic Times for all of you to use and adapt according to your personal situation on saving Tax. I found this article extremely helpful in pouring some much needed light on saving up on paying tax. read on and use it.

1. Use losses in stocks to cut tax

Can you gain from the short-term losses you made on stocks? Yes, says the Income Tax Act. If you have made any long-term capital gains from sale of property, gold or debt funds, you can set them off against short-term capital losses made on stocks and bring down your tax liability. "Short term capital losses can be set off against both shortterm capital gains as well as taxable long-term capital gains," says Sandeep Shanbhag, director of Wonderland Consultants, a Mumbai-based tax planning and financial consultancy. This can be especially useful for someone who has booked profits on gold ETFs and physical gold this year. Suppose you have sold a property and made a long-term capital gain of Rs 30 lakh after indexation.

At 20%, the tax payable on this long-term capital gain is Rs 6 lakh. However, if you have also sold some junk stocks during the year and made a short-term loss of Rs 3 lakh, you can set this off against the gains from the property. Then the gain from the property will get reduced to only Rs 27 lakh and the tax payable will be Rs 5.4 lakh. However, the law makes a distinction here. One cannot set off short-term gains from stocks against long-term capital losses from the other assets. "Long term capital losses can only be set off against taxable long-term capital gains," says Shanbhag.

How much tax can you save: Setting off a short-term loss of Rs 3 lakh against longterm gains can help you save Rs 60,000.

Proof required: Keep record of your equity trading account statement with details of the transactions that resulted in losses.

2. Get deduction for rent even without HRA

House rent can account for as much as 40-50% of the total household expense. That's why the house rent allowance is exempt from tax to a certain limit. But what if your salary does not include an HRA component or you are a self-employed professional or businessman? Under Section 80GG, you can claim deduction of the rent paid even if you don't get HRA. "Not many people are aware of this deduction," says chartered accountant Mehul Sheth. But there are stiff conditions to be met. The least of the following three can be claimed as deduction: rent paid less 10% of total income; or Rs 2,000 a month; or 25% of total income. Also, the taxpayer should not be drawing any HRA or any housing benefit.

Besides, he or his spouse or minor child should not own a house in the city where he stays and he should not be claiming tax benefits for some other self-occupied house. Whew. Incidentally, if you are living in your parents' house, you can pay rent to them. If your parent has no other income or pays a lower tax, this can bring down your tax liability significantly. However, the rent will be taxable as the income of the parent after a 30% standard deduction. This means, you can pay a senior citizen parent up to Rs 3.43 lakh a year.

How much tax can you save: Given the stiff conditions, one can't claim more than Rs 2,000 as deduction per month under Sec 80GG. But this can bring down your tax by Rs 7,400 a year in the highest tax bracket.

Proof required: Taxpayer has to submit a declaration on form 10-BA that he is paying rent and not receiving HRA.

3. Pay lower tax if someone is ill

The treatment of a chronic illness can be a drain on the finances of a taxpayer. That's why the Income tax Act allows a taxpayer to claim a deduction of Rs 40,000 if he has a dependent who suffers from any of the ailments specified under Section 80DDB. "The deduction is higher at Rs 60,000 if the patient is a senior citizen," says chartered accountant Paras Savla. The diseases include, neurological diseases (including dementia, dystonia musculorum deformans, motor neuron disease, ataxia, chorea, hemiballismus, aphasia and Parkinson's disease), malignant cancers, full-blown AIDS, chronic kidney failure and haematological disorders (haemophilia and thalassaemia). Dependents can include spouse, children, parents and siblings. However, there are a few conditions.

The patient should be wholly or mainly dependent on the taxpayer and should not have separately claimed deduction for the disability. If the amount spent is reimbursed by the employer or an insurance company, there is no deduction. If the taxpayer gets a partial reimbursement of the expenses, the balance can be claimed as deduction.

How much tax can you save: If a dependent is a patient, the taxpayer's liability comes down by 12,360 in the highest income bracket. If the patient is a senior citizen, the tax is lower by Rs 18,540.

Proof required: One needs a certificate of the illness from a specialist in a government hospital.

4. Claim benefits for your political affiliations

Can you lower your tax if you have political connections? Apparently you can. Any amount contributed to a recognized political party can be claimed as a deduction under Section 80GGC (80GGB for corporates). "This is a new deduction and was introduced in April 2010. The donation can also be made to the electoral trust which works for the purpose of conducting elections," says Sheth. Interestingly, unlike other deductions, there is no ceiling on the amount that can be claimed as a deduction. Of course, the deduction is available only if the donation went into the party coffers.

Cash given to individuals doesn't count. Other donations also get you tax benefits. Under Section 80G, donations to charitable organizations get deduction ranging from 50% to 100%. It's a good idea to know how much deduction would be available before you write a cheque. However, There is a ceiling to the deduction a taxpayer can claim in a year. "The quantum of deduction is limited to 10% of the gross total income of the donor," says Tapati Ghose, partner at Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Also, only cash donations are taken into account. Food, clothes and medicines do not qualify.

How much tax can you save: In the highest tax bracket, a donation of Rs 1 lakh to a political party can bring down your tax by Rs 30,900.

Proof required: You must have a stamped receipt of the payment from the political party.

5. Use education loan to lower tax

The rising cost of higher education is forcing people to borrow money to pay the fee of their children's professional courses. The taxman is sympathetic and offers a deduction that can lower the cost of the loan. The interest paid on an education loan is fully deductible from taxable income under Section 80E. Till a few years back, this deduction was available only to the borrower. Now, even a parent or a spouse can avail of it. What's more, this now includes loans taken for vocational courses. "If a parent or legal guardian takes the loan, he can claim deduction for the interest paid for up to eight successive years, starting from the year in which the interest is first paid," says Shanbhag.

However, loans taken for siblings and other relatives do not qualify. Also, the lender must be a recognised financial institution; loans from employers or individuals do not count.

How much tax can you save: If you take a Rs 10 lakh education loan at 10% interest for 8 years, you can save Rs 1.41 lakh in tax in the highest tax bracket. This will bring down the effective cost of the loan to 7% per annum.

Proof required: Loan statement from lender.

6. Disabilities can be tax savers

There are other signs to suggest that the taxman is not the heartless Scrooge he is often made out to be. If a taxpayer suffers from a disability, he can claim deduction of Rs 75,000 under Sec 80U. If he has a disabled dependent, he can claim the deduction under Sec 80DD. Disability includes blindness, low vision, leprosy, hearing impairment, loco-motor disability, mental retardation and mental illness and deduction is available only if the impairment is at least 40%. If the disability is severe (80% or above), the deduction is Rs 1 lakh a year. The dependant could include the taxpayer's spouse, children, parents and even siblings.


Incidentally, the deduction is offered as a lump sum and does not depend on the actual amount that the taxpayer may spend on himself or on the disabled dependent. However, the disabled person should be wholly or mainly dependent on the taxpayer for maintenance, and should not have claimed deduction for the disability under Section 80U separately.

How much tax can you save: A deduction of Rs 75,000 can cut tax by Rs 23,175 in the highest tax bracket. In case of severe disability, the tax is lower by Rs 30,900.

Proof required: A certificate of disability from a civil surgeon or the chief medical officer of a government hospital.

7. Take unlimited deduction for your second home loan

When it comes to buying a second house, the taxman can be very encouraging. Under Section 24b, one can claim deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh a lakh for interest paid on a home loan. But if the taxpayer buys a second house through another home loan and gives it on rent, the entire interest paid on the home loan during a given year can be claimed as a deduction. As Savla says, "If you have more than one house, any one is deemed to be rented out. So the interest income on the home loan for that house can be claimed entirely for deduction, provided the rental income or a deemed income is charged to tax."

How much tax can you save: If you have taken a home loan of Rs 50 lakh at 9.5% for 20 years, your interest payment in the first year will be Rs 4.7 lakh and you can save tax up to Rs 1.09 lakh.

Proof required: Loan account statement from your lender

8. Claim HRA as well as home loan benefits

But you can claim both house rent allowance (HRA) exemption as well as the tax benefits on the interest paid on a home loan. Many organizations do not allow employees to claim both benefits. Their logic is that HRA is exempt if you are paying rent and home loan benefits apply only for a self-occupied house. You can't be doing both at the same time. But this is a gray area in the Income Tax Act. "In legal terms, silence signifies approval.

What Is Reverse Mortgage?

In 2007, the finance minister of India introduced a concept well-known and widely accepted in the West: Reverse Mortgage.

Reverse Mortgage: What is it?

A reverse mortgage (or lifetime mortgage) is a loan available to senior citizens. Reverse mortgage, as its name suggests, is exactly opposite of a typical mortgage, such as a home loan.

How does it work?

In a typical mortgage, you borrow money in lump sum right at the beginning and then pay it back over a period of time using Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs).

In reverse mortgage, you pledge a property you already own (with no existing loan outstanding against it). The bank, in turn, gives you a series of cash-flows for a fixed tenure. These can be thought of as reverse EMIs.

The specific format National Housing Board (the facilitator for housing finance in India) is promoting is one in which, the tenure is 15 years and the owner of the house and his/her spouse continue to live in the house till their death -- which can occur later than the tenure of the reverse mortgage.

Simply put, any senior citizen, opting for reverse mortgage will get annuity (the reverse EMI) from the bank for 15 years. After that, the annuity payments stop. However, they can continue to live in the house.

What are the features of this loan?

The draft guidelines of reverse mortgage in India prepared by the Reserve Bank of India [ Get Quote ] have the following features:

Any house owner over 60 years of age is eligible for a reverse mortgage.

The maximum loan is up to 60 per cent of the value of the residential property.

The maximum period of property mortgage is 15 years with a bank or HFC (housing finance company).

The borrower can opt for a monthly, quarterly, annual or lump sum payments at any point, as per his discretion.

The revaluation of the property has to be undertaken by the bank or HDFC once every 5 years.

The amount received through reverse mortgage is considered as loan and not income; hence the same will not attract any tax liability.

Reverse mortgage rates can be fixed or floating and hence will vary according to market conditions depending on the interest rate regime chosen by the borrower.

How is the loan paid?

With a reverse home mortgage, no payments are made during the life of the borrower(s). Since no payments are made during the term of the reverse home mortgage loan, the loan balance rises over time.

In most areas where appreciation is good, the value of the home grows at a much faster rate than the loan balance. Therefore, the remaining equity continues to grow.

When the last borrower passes, or it is decided to sell the home and move, the loan becomes due. The ownership of the home is then passed to the estate or directed by a living will or will to the beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries now own the home and have to sell the home or pay off the loan. If the home is sold, the reverse home mortgage lender is paid off and the beneficiaries keep the remaining equity of the home.

What happens after the death of one or both of the spouses?

If one of the spouses dies, the other can still continue living in the house. If both die, the bank will give their heirs two options -- settle the overall outstanding loan and retain the house, or the bank will sell the house, use the proceeds to settle the outstanding loan and give the rest to the heirs.

How much of an annuity income can my house generate using reverse mortgage?

The banks have so far not indicated the interest rates. However, we can safely assume that it will not exceed the interest rates used for loan against property -- which is currently in the region of 12 per cent to 14 per cent.

What is a loan to value ratio?

Loan to value ratio means the percentage of loan that you will get for the value of the property that you pledge. The typical rate loan to value ratio is 60 per cent.

So, for e.g., if you pledge a property worth Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million), then the loan amount that you can get is Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million).

Does a person's age affect the amount of annuity paid?

It certainly does. Higher the age, higher the annuity! Everything else remains the same.

Why is this scheme not popular?

Recent reports seem to indicate that a very small percentage of senior citizens only seem to have taken advantage of the facility since its inception. This could be perhaps because better awareness had not been created about the product.

Secondly, the Indian banking industry caps the available loan amount at Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million), instead of providing for an equitable percentage of the property's value, and limits the loan period to a tenure of 15 years.

The product is still evolving and may take on new dimensions depending on how the banks wish to present its consumer appeal.

Source: Rediff

Deciding on a Home Loan?

Are you looking for a Home loan? You dont have enough money to buy your home all by yourself? well then there are many banks which provide a home loan at easy interest rates. Well its really hard to post statistics with the current economical scenario but do research different financial institutions which provide home loans before you zero in on which bank to take your home loan from. Some of the aspects which you need to think about before taking a home loan are, do they have a flexible pre closure option? do they have a fixed rate of interest for a particular period of time. and what is the turn around time for technical valuation of properties and what is the processing fees they charge. Well keep these in mind. and you may get a good deal when it comes to your home loan.

Which is the best Insurance for you?

We all know how important having an insurance is. I learnt it the hard way, i didnt insure myself and my family till pretty late in my life and paid the price. But thank fully, one can start anytime. Buying Insurance is easy, Just think about your priorities and set them right. Think if you want health insurance or life insurance of mortgage insurance and try and figure out something that fits your premium capabilities in the year. But trust me its good to pay insurance it helps in many ways in many situations. So go get Insurance.!

Get Wise Financially

Well, This blog i have started because i feel people like me are all around this world. People who are not safe with their finances or wise with their finances. people like me who dont know how to save for a rainy day or what to invest in. I just thought its best to share my experiences of financial mis judgments so that you out there will learn from the mistakes and become a wiser financial person. Its always good to be safe with your hard earned money and save for the future. I will just list out what are the best financial options from here on. Have a safe and happy financial security.