Almost everyone qualifies for the standard deduction or itemized deductions that reduce your taxable income. These are often the largest deductions available to you. 

Self-employed workers and business owners may have more opportunities to save on their tax bills, but employees still have plenty of savings opportunities available. As an employee, you can deduct contributions made to IRAs, HSAs and FSAs. 

Each year, the IRS allows you to deduct unreimbursed expenses for qualifying medical expenses if they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). These expenses can come from:

• Preventative care
• Medical treatments
• Surgeries
• Dental and vision care
• Psychologist and psychiatrist visits
• Prescription medications
• Prescription appliances (glasses or contacts, false teeth, hearing aids, etc.)
• Travel expenses paid to receive this medical care (mileage, bus fare, and parking fees)

Whether you’re required to file a tax return will depend on several factors, including your gross income, filing status, age, and whether you’re a dependent on someone else’s federal income tax return. And you may have to file even if you don’t owe any tax.

According to the IRS, income includes money, property or services. Any income is taxable unless the law specifically exempts it, and all taxable income must be reported on your tax return. Some nontaxable income must be reported, too, even though you won’t pay taxes on it.

A dependent is a person you’re responsible for supporting. If you can claim a dependent, you can become eligible for certain tax breaks, including the child tax credit. You may also qualify for head-of-household status.

You may have a dependent if …

• You have a qualifying child younger than 19, or under 24 if they’re attending school full time. Your child must either live with you for more than half the year — or qualify for an exception — and must not provide more than half their own support. Your child also can’t file a joint tax return, except to claim a refund.
• You have a qualifying relative. Your qualifying relative either has to share a specific family relationship with you or must live with you all year long. You must provide more than half their support, they must earn very little, and they can’t be claimed as a dependent by anyone else.

Tax filers are treated differently based on household status. To inform the IRS of which rules apply to you, you’ll have to choose a filing status. There are five: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household and qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.

Life insurance’s primary purpose is to prevent financial hardship for your loved ones. Whether it’s burial expenses or mortgage balance you worry about, a proper life insurance policy can help your beneficiaries avoid this misfortune. First, let us clarify two fundamental distinctions. A funeral is different from proper disposal of the body.

No one is entitled to a funeral (for those who say, “I don’t really care what happens when I die”), so if no one pays for your funeral service, guess what? The local government will take over and bury you in a potter’s field or cremate your body.

If, however, your loved one insists on having a proper burial and funeral service, they can pay for this themselves (which you may not want to burden them with) or use any assets you left behind to pay for it.

The person who signs the contract with the funeral home is legally obligated to pay for it. Hence, buying a policy isn’t really for you. It’s to prevent the extra headaches someone you love has to go through when they need to deal with all you left behind.

Final expense life insurance refers to specific protection individuals purchase to cover charges and affairs that are associated with your such as burial, funeral service, or final medical bills. Final expense policies are whole life with a fixed premium amount that lasts for as long as the insured lives.

A life insurance beneficiary is an individual, entity, trustee, or estate named by the policy owner to collect the death benefit proceeds upon the insured’s death. There are two types of beneficiaries:

1. Primary beneficiary: The first one in line to collect the death benefit upon the insured’s death.
2. Contingent beneficiary: Also known as a secondary beneficiary, is the second one in line to collect the benefit if the primary beneficiary is deceased.

Life insurance death benefit is the amount of money the insurance company pays the designated beneficiaries upon the insured’s death, provided the policy was in force at the time of the incident.

Most policies have a 31-day grace period wherein you can pay the premium with no penalty or interest. If you have a term policy and do not make the payment within this grace period, the insurance company will usually terminate the policy. If you have a permanent policy, you can authorize the insurance company to draw your premium from your policy’s cash value.

If you already have a policy, it will usually have a lower premium rate than a new policy you would buy. If you’re buying a permanent policy, the cash value will also be smaller for several years. Keeping all these factors in mind, it might be worth considering a new policy if you have any significant changes in your life circumstances, such as if you:

• Are recently married or divorced
• Have or adopt a child (or became a grandparent)
• Have children or grandchildren who are about to enter college
• Provide care or financial help to a child or elderly parent
• Receive an inheritance
• Retire (or your spouse retires)
• Start a business
• Change or lose your job or salary

A simple way to answer this is by asking: “Do I have anyone dependent on my salary to sustain their standard of living?” In other words, if you were to pass, would those still alive have issues covering the cost of your burial? Covering rent or mortgage payments and other bills? What about any remaining medical costs? Would they have enough money to cover those and still maintain their normal life? If the answer to any of these is “No, they wouldn’t,” then you should consider what life insurance options work best for you and your needs.

No. If you buy a policy on your own life, you become the owner of the policy. As the owner, you can name anyone as beneficiary, even a stranger!

Only someone who has an "insurable interest" can purchase an insurance policy on your life. That means a stranger cannot buy a policy to insure your life. People with an insurable interest generally include members of your immediate family. In some circumstances your employer or business partner might also have an insurable interest

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much of the family income do I provide?
• If I were to die, how would my survivors, especially my children, get by?
• Does anyone else depend on me financially, such as a parent, grandparent, brother or sister?
• Do I have children for whom I would like to set aside money to finish their education in the event of my death?
• How will my family pay final expenses and repay debts after my death?
• Do I have family members or organizations to whom I would like to leave money?
• Will there be estate taxes to pay after my death?
• How will inflation affect future needs?

As insurance experts suggest that you purchase five to eight times your current income.

Permanent insurance (such as universal life, variable universal life and whole life) provides long-term financial protection. These policies include both a death benefit and, in some cases, cash savings. Because of the savings element, premiums tend to be higher.

Term insurance generally has lower premiums in the early years, but does not build up cash values that you can use in the future. You may combine cash value life insurance with term insurance for the period of your greatest need for life insurance to replace income.

Term insurance covers you for a term of one or more years. It pays a death benefit only if you die in that term. Term insurance generally offers the largest insurance protection for your premium dollar. It generally does not build up cash value.

All policies are not the same. Some give coverage for your lifetime and other cover you for a specific number of years. Some build up cash values and others do not. Some policies combine different kinds of insurance, and others let you change from one kind of insurance to another. Some policies may offer other benefits while you are still living. There are two basic types of life insurance: term insurance and permanent insurance.