Kiplinger's Personal Finance March 2022

Your explanation of causes driving the hyperinflation we are facing misses the mark in one key area: energy prices (“Ahead,” Jan.). Soaring energy and gasoline prices are the result of disastrous energy policies at the executive branch of government. Joe Biden could not wait to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline, which was set to deliver 800,000 barrels a day from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Now that oil has to be shipped and trucked. The results are burning more fossil fuel to truck and ship it and higher transport costs to deliver it. Gasoline prices spiked 50 cents a gallon on news of the shutdown, and prices have continued to skyrocket as more pipelines are put out of business. In 2021, gasoline prices shot up a whopping 58%. It…

While you wait for warmer temperatures and longer days, it’s a good time to build a fire (or turn on the gas fireplace) and curl up with personal finance projects. Job one is working on your 2021 tax return, and our cover story, by senior editor Sandy Block, offers a wealth of advice to make tax preparation easier (see page 40). As Sandy points out, the tax overhaul enacted in 2017 was meant to simplify the task by boosting the standard deduction, but lawmakers have tweaked the tax code to provide credits and deductions for non-itemizers. That means more work for you when it’s time to file. Another PF project for anyone contemplating retirement: trying out what the next phase will look like. If you plan to move—or you’re financially flush…

MANY HOMEOWNERS HAVE SEEN their property values shoot up as the pandemic sparked a frenzied housing market. Home prices logged a 19.1% annual gain nation-wide in October, with even larger returns in fast-growing cities, including Phoenix (32.3%), Tampa (28.1%) and Miami (25.7%), according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. If you’re envisioning big proceeds when you sell your house, rising home prices are a cause for celebration. But you may not feel like popping the champagne when you get your property tax bill. As home prices climb, property taxes follow suit. Your tax bill is determined by multiplying your home’s assessed value by the local tax rate. The average tax bill on a U.S. single-family home was $3,719 in 2020, up 4.4% from 2019, according to the most…

Natasha Bowman, author of You Can’t Do That at Work, is founder of Performance ReNew, a workplace consulting firm. The workplace is changing rapidly. How will those changes affect current employees and people looking for a job? We were hoping to move into a post-pandemic workplace in 2022, but with the resurgence of COVID-19, return-to-work plans are changing. Employees can expect to continue working remotely or in a hybrid situation until the pandemic is over. Employers are also looking to hire a more inclusive, diverse workforce that goes beyond race and gender. There’s a war to attract and keep the best and the brightest for talent. Employers have learned that if they don’t want to experience a labor shortage, they’re going to have to revise their mental health and wellness strategies.…

IT’S A REFRAIN THAT HAS APPEARED in our pages time and again, and it’s worth repeating: A credit freeze is the most effective way to prevent certain types of identity theft. When your credit report is frozen, lenders can’t view it in response to an application for new credit, so a criminal who tries to open a loan or credit card in your name is unlikely to succeed. The case for protecting your identity is as strong as ever, given that the number of data breaches hit a record high in 2021, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. But many consumers are dragging their feet. Although more than three-fourths of respondents to an ITRC survey said that they were familiar with credit freezes, only 29% had ever placed one. Reasons…

WITH TAX SEASON UNDER WAY, THE IRS is once again warning taxpayers to be wary of “Offer in Compromise” scams. These promotions claim that they can help taxpayers pay back taxes for just “pennies on the dollar.” Victims often end up paying the promoters thousands of dollars in fees and still end up owing money to the IRS. While the IRS’s Offer in Compromise program allows taxpayers to request a reduction in unpaid taxes, the guidelines are strict, and only a small percentage of applications are approved. To be eligible for the program, you must be up to date on your tax returns and have received at least one bill from the IRS. You’ll be required to provide supporting documents, including a breakdown of your expenses. The IRS will then review…