Austin's Asian American Financial Fanatics

As we approach year-end, it’s is very important to examine the contents of the balance sheet accounts to verify that the recorded assets and liabilities are supposed to be there. More and more small businesses are using QuickBooks and attempting to keep track of their own books. If you use QuickBooks and are not familiar with reviewing the balance sheet, you may want to look into a training program to help you better understand the article.  There is a QuickBooks Training Community online that is highly recommended for learning the program.

It is quite possible that some items on the balance sheet are still listed in an account that should have been flushed out of the balance sheet a long time ago, which can be quite embarrassing if… Continue reading

On August 14, 2010, the U.S. Social Security program turned 75. Celebration of the event, however, was overshadowed by fears for the program’s future. Among them:

* How safe is the system that provides benefits for 37 million Americans–among them the elderly, the disabled, and surviving spouses and children of deceased wage earners?

* Can the government use Social Security funds for other programs?

* When today’s high school students reach retirement age, will there be anything left for them?

These questions reflect real concerns. Not all Social Security recipients depend totally on their benefits. But a great many have no other source of income, so every nickel counts.

Cost of Living Adjustments, or… Continue reading

What is the cause of the current economic non-recovery?  Lets take a look at Reagan’s term and the booming economy under his watch.  It all starts with privatizing small businesses says Shaun Lawrence, a CPA from Irvine, California.  ” The more new clients I take on, the more businesses in general are being started. There is a direct correlation with my firms growth and the job market and wealth of the Orange County region. The Obama administration just needs to find a way to fund and encourage small business growth.” Economists at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) agree. In a just-released SBA report, they blame a good part of the job loss on government tampering with “the natural forces of the marketplace.”… Continue reading

Two types of pension plans are offered by companies to their employees: A defined benefit plan that promises a specific lifetime benefit to covered workers at retirement age and a defined contribution plan that is a savings plan for employer and/or employee contributions. At retirement, defined contribution plans distribute these contributions with accrued interest either as a lump-sum payment or as a lifetime annuity.

The number of defined contribution plans continues to grow faster than the number of defined benefit plans, but most of these plans piggyback (provide supplemental pensions) with defined benefit plans. Only 1 and 7 workers covered by a pension plan has a defined contribution plan only. Defined benefit pension plans will continue to be the major… Continue reading