Kiplinger's Personal Finance

let me explain

Some time ago I promised in this column that Kiplinger’s Personal Finance would steer clear of politics. I have tried very hard to keep that pledge. But in the December issue, I unintentionally crossed the line. What got me into hot water with some of you was how I characterized the new tax law. I said that the ballooning federal deficit was “exacerbated by the latest tax law.” I also said that “I’m still feeling the pain of the new tax law on my family’s budget.” That unleashed a number of reader e-mails. Several readers said that everyone they knew got a tax cut, so what’s the deal with me? A few readers noted that federal revenues following passage of the new tax law actually increased. The comments from Greg nicely (and in…

uber law ripple effect

Regarding California Assembly Bill 5, which reclassifies a group of independent contractors as employees (“Ahead,” Dec.): I do tax returns for a number of individuals who work for Uber and Lyft. In my experience, they end up with very little income once expenses are subtracted from their payments. As self-employed contractors, their small-business tax return (Schedule C) allows them to subtract expenses such as cell-phone charges, fees and mileage in support of their passengers. None of those unreimbursed employee expenses will be deductible from their tax returns as W-2 employees. The result will be much higher reported incomes and much larger tax withholding, and thus a significant reduction in the cash they can spend. As employees, they will still wear out their cars but won’t get the benefit of expensing…

kiplinger's personal finance

EDITORIAL EDITOR Mark K. Solheim EXECUTIVE EDITOR Anne Kates Smith MANAGING EDITOR Frederic Fane Wolfer SENIOR EDITORS Sandra Block, Jeffrey R. Kosnett EDITOR AT LARGE Janet Bodnar SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nellie S. Huang ASSOCIATE EDITORS Miriam Cross, Ryan Ermey, Kaitlin Pitsker CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Lisa Gerstner, James K. Glassman ART DESIGN DIRECTOR Stacie A. Harrison ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Natalie F. Kress ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AND NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Paul Vizza (202-887-6558; Paul_Vizza@kiplinger.com) SALES DIRECTOR Jim Marron (917-621-6627; Jim_Marron@kiplinger.com) DIRECT RESPONSE Anthony Smyth (914-409-4202; anthony@smythmedia.com) ONLINE SALES DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS AND ADVERTISING Andy Price (Andy_Price@kiplinger.com) REGIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGERS Maggie Kinsky (Maggie_Kinsky@kiplinger.com), Stevie Lee (Stevie_Lee@kiplinger.com) DIGITAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN MANAGER Neshmia Tahir KIPLINGER.COM GENERAL MANAGER Robert Long SENIOR INVESTING EDITOR Kyle Woodley TAX EDITOR Rocky Mengle SENIOR ONLINE EDITOR David Muhlbaum ONLINE EDITORS Lisa Kiplinger, Robert Niedt, Rivan V. Stinson, Andrea Browne Taylor CONTRIBUTING WRITER Dan Burrows DIGITAL PRODUCT AND DESIGN MANAGER Jenny Cohan AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT MANAGER Ben Demers WEB…

great getaways that won’t break the bank

BUDGET-MINDED TRAVELERS looking to get away in 2020 will find plenty of deals, thanks to new airline routes, increased competition among hotels and airlines, and a strong U.S. dollar. To get the best fares and rates, you’ll want to sign up for fare alerts, compare flight and hotel prices on search sites, and be flexible with your travel dates. Not sure where you want to go? We’ve asked industry experts to weigh in with their top picks of places you can visit for less in 2020. Europe at a discount. In the past year, flights to some European destinations, including Paris, Madrid and Barcelona, have become more affordable thanks to new routes and increased competition among carriers, says Tracy Stewart, content editor at Airfarewatchdog.com. You can find flights to Rome from New York,…

track your donated dollars

Most of us give to charity because we want to make the world a better place. But many donors fear that their contributions won’t be used efficiently or may even be misused. ImpactMatters.org, a new charity-rating system, seeks to address those concerns with an online tool that measures the impact of every dollar donated to a particular organization. For example, a $25 donation to Shared Harvest Foodbank, an Ohio-based charity, will provide a meal to 13 needy people, and $25 donated to Paralyzed Veterans of America will increase benefits claimed by a disabled veteran by $250, according to ImpactMatters’ analysis. Charities are given a one-to five-star rating. ImpactMatters bases its ratings on charities that serve the same cause so donors can make an apples-to-apples comparison. Elijah Goldberg, executive director of ImpactMatters, says its…

should you bank with google?

Daniel Latimore is a senior vice president for banking at research and consulting firm Celent. Why are Apple, Google, Facebook and other tech companies interested in offering banking and financial services? It’s not that banking is where the money is, but rather that banking is where the data is. Big tech has grown by monetizing data. By offering a checking account, credit card or other financial product, these companies can gather specific and detailed information about your income, spending, cash flow and other financial habits. Are the tech firms really becoming banks? For now, they are wading into specific parts of financial services and generally partnering with existing financial institutions. For example, Google will soon offer checking accounts in partnership with Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union. Often, the tech company will be the…