Evolving Personal Finance » Entries tagged with "grad student"

Winning a Fight with the IRS

Winning a Fight with the IRS

I’m very, very excited about the content I have to share with you today. The story comes from someone who found EPF while searching for resources regarding grad student taxes and how to argue with the IRS. After emailing back and forth a few times about how to approach her problem, she offered to share her research and work with you through EPF. I will refer to this reader as Amanda in this post. Thank … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school, taxes

Why Don’t More People Do Their Own Taxes?

Why Don’t More People Do Their Own Taxes?

First, I need to get this out of the way: I don’t consider using tax software to be “doing your own taxes.”  I hear that kind of language all the time, but I disagree with it.  When you use tax software, you are not using your brain and you don’t gain any understanding of how income taxes are calculated or why.   I have observed that very few people I know prepare their own tax returns, despite … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school, taxes

How to Tell If Your Means Are Just Not Enough

How to Tell If Your Means Are Just Not Enough

I write quite often on this blog about the virtue – nay, requirement – of living within your means.  Even though I am earning a salary that many would consider laughable for my education and experience, I am determined not only to live within my means but give and save as well.  I think everyone else should strive for this too – whatever your income, you shouldn’t be running up debt for your living expenses.   However, … Read entire article »

Filed under: budgeting, choices, debt, frugality, grad school

Organic Search Terms

Organic Search Terms

EPF’s organic search traffic has really spiked up in the past couple weeks – well, at least in comparison with what it used to be!  Just last week I started looking at the search terms leading people to EPF (people, not bots).  Today I’d like to take a look at a few of the search phrases.     Post with the Most   By far my most popular post in terms of being found by the wider internet is the … Read entire article »

Filed under: blogging, grad school, retirement

Earned Income: The Bane of the Graduate Student’s Roth IRA

Earned Income: The Bane of the Graduate Student’s Roth IRA

This is my contribution to The Roth IRA Movement started by Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents.  The post will briefly touch on the advantages of the Roth IRA account but will focus on how graduate students can determine whether or not they have earned income (now: taxable compensation).  For more posts with greater detail on various aspects of the Roth IRA, please visit the Movement’s page.  Also, I am not a CPA or financial … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school, retirement

Why You Should Save for Retirement While In Graduate School Part 2

Why You Should Save for Retirement While In Graduate School Part 2

aka Why You Should Save For Retirement Even with a Low Income   This is the second half of a two-part post intended to inspire graduate students and others with low incomes who are currently not saving for retirement to start.  Check out the first post for my assumptions and an argument concerning compound interest.  Please remember that I am not a financial planner or CPA and you should not consider my opinions financial advice targeted for … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices, retirement, savings

Why You Should Save for Retirement While In Graduate School Part 1

Why You Should Save for Retirement While In Graduate School Part 1

aka Why You Should Save For Retirement Even with a Low Income   This two-part post is intended to inspire graduate students who are currently not saving for retirement to start.  The graduate students I refer to in this post are those who are being paid a living wage while in school – that is, they are not taking out loans for tuition or living expenses and can keep their must-have living expenses (rent, utilities, food, etc.) … Read entire article »

Filed under: choices, featured, grad school, retirement