Well, the calendar is about to turn – Phew!

This year of years has been quite a roller coaster, but hopefully the continued distribution of vaccines and the eventual signing of the latest stimulus package will keep the light at the end of the tunnel shining and coming ever closer.

That stimulus package helped highlight how our work realm was far from immune from 2020’s twists and turns. Between individual payments and PPP forgiveness, we answered questions surrounding, and tried to provide guidance through, areas that we never imagined would exist when the year began.

But it is coming to an end.

So as we prepare for 2021, I first wanted to take some time to acknowledge those who did not make it through the year because of the pandemic. No matter one’s politics, it is strikingly said that more than 330,000 people have lost their lives in the US because of COVID-19. That number is more than one in every 1,000 people in the country and more than the populations of the cities of St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The year’s slow slog has made it difficult to appreciate the enormity of the situation at times, but it has added up to a large number and should be noted.

For those of us lucky enough to have made it through, hopefully we can at least find some solace in that, and possibly even some power. We have not traveled an easy path, but it has also not been impossible. Times of tragedy also present times of surmounting immense obstacles and helping others scale them. It often takes many good stories to outweigh the power of one bad tale, but those good stories do still exist.

Let us rally around that while also helping it pushes us toward a year that has to go better than the last one.

It has to, right?

So as you do whatever you need to do to send 2020 on its way, also lift yourself up to what may be coming. 

In this year of all years, we are finally approaching the end. The close of the year usually comes with celebrations and gatherings, but now, well, 2020.

It is easy to let this drag one down for there are few of us who will be enjoying the holiday season in exactly the way that we have in the past. In a time when everyone is missing something, other things are being added to that list.

My wish for you, though, is that this situation hands you the power to do something new that you will love. All those traditions that we normally enjoy started somewhere, right? There is always a year one, so instead of making 2020 a footnote or afterthought in the way we do things, why not make it a beginning?

Chances are you still have some extra time (and quite likely a bit more over the holidays) to do with as you wish. So do something that you have been wishing to do. Have a game you have been wanting to play, do it. Have a holiday special you used to love but have not seen in years, watch it. Ever look back on the year and wish you read more, grab a book.

And if through all of this you find yourself wishing you were spending more time with some people, draw them in. Many of these are things that can still be enjoyed together from afar. Embrace that, enjoy it with someone else. Before you know it, you may have started a new tradition that helps you grab some joy in future holiday seasons.

That joy is our wish for you this December no matter what or how you celebrate. It is something that everyone deserves and something we all owe it to ourselves to find.

Happy Holidays! 

We have all been holding too much weight on our shoulders for almost the entire length of this year. No matter what we believe, what political party we are in, or how deeply the pandemic affected us personally, everyone felt it. Now, vaccines are arriving during the holiday season as a gift that hopefully is helping many start to feel a little bit less of that weight.

And since I believe this is a time period that we will eventually learn a lot of lessons from, maybe this is a chance to start doing that. Because doesn’t the removal of that little bit of weight feel so good?

Almost all of us are carrying more than we need to even in the best of the times. You know that thing that lingers in the mind that you wish you didn’t have to do? Well, of course, that often means we don’t do it as soon as we could even if just getting it out of the way would remove the strain that it is placing upon us.

So yes, an easy lesson is that ending procrastination can help make things feel better. But of course, we all know that already. That is an easier-said-than-done situation.

But what if you could think of it in another way? What if instead of thinking about how you should get it done but just don’t have the will for it, you had someone else do it? I know most will read that and also file it under easier said than done, but I wager that if you’re doing that, it is easier to do than you realize.

For something that we have definitely learned this year is how many people have the means to work from home. You can take advantage of this with such online freelancer marketplaces as Fiverr or Upwork. And of course, there are some tasks that are sensitive enough that you will not feel comfortable offering them up in such arenas, but there are many other tasks you are spending time on that could be handled there.

Those tasks that feel too sensitive for a freelancer do not automatically still have to be done by you, though. You can still partner with someone who has the skills to handle the pieces of business that you hate doing. Do you never quite get those marketing plans implemented? Well, there are many out there who know how to do that and love doing it. Do you never quite get around to getting your books or tax situation in order? Well, we certainly can guarantee that you know someone who can help you there.

Consider shifting those tasks to someone else a holiday gift to yourself – one you very much deserve. You got through this year after all, right?

Last week was National Tax Security Awareness Week and you can be forgiven if you forgot to include that as part of your holiday season celebrating. You can also, however, be forgiven if you used it as an excuse to have some cake, because, well, cake.

Let’s start with just accepting the fact that this happened as good news. The IRS and state tax agencies remain constantly vigilant about securing data and retaining confidence in their transactions and activities. And sure, one could be cynical and say this is in their own best interest, and it is, but it is also in the interest of every taxpayer. So in the interests of continued security, I wanted to hit upon a few highlights brought up during the week that all should keep in mind.

A big one is the increase this year of people who are working from home and how this could add some new vulnerabilities. If you always worked in an office where there were company measures being taken to protect sensitive information, you may have never given a thought to how that protection takes place. If now you are handling this at home, you must take on some of the onus to maintain safety. So make sure you have given some thought to this, and if you have not, ask your employer what steps you should be taking on your personal machines to make sure all is as it should be.

When it comes to thinking of one’s machines, too, this does not only mean computers. If you are looking at company email on a cell phone, it is also a machine where information is passing through. A simple thing to remember here is that when those annoying notifications pop up to upgrade your phone’s software, do it. These almost always will include some increased security measures and help you at least stay a little bit ahead of the game.

On the more personal protection side, give a little extra attention to where your computer is pointed when you shop online. If you are going to complete a credit card transaction on a site, make sure it has a web address that begins with “https” (the S is for secure communications) and look for the padlock icon in the address bar.

This time of year lends itself to some other schemes, too, as we shop more online. Recently I read about people receiving calls from scammers claiming to be from Amazon speaking of large charges on their account and using this a way to get information out of them. And how many of us don’t have some activity going on in Amazon? This makes us already primed (pun fully intended) to think it’s not that wild that something is going on with our purchasing on the site.

Finally, do not do any of this shopping or viewing of potentially sensitive information over public wi-fi networks. This an area you may not realize is a possible weak spot, but if you’re getting information over a network that did not require a password to access, assume that someone can see the information going through that network also without a password.

Well, it’s officially December. That means 2020 is almost over, right?

It may indeed mean that, but it also means that it is time to start thinking about filing taxes. (I know, right, didn’t we just do this?)  And there are a few things special to this year that one should keep in mind.

First, I have mentioned it in the past, but I would again like to note that even if you do not itemize deductions, there is a $300 charitable donation deduction available to everyone this year. So if you have the means to give, let the tax bonus be a little extra push to help someone else.

As always, keep an eye on your mailboxes as the calendar turns. Forms will start arriving and even if you are not ready to file immediately, keeping all those things together in the same place will save some time when you are ready. Beyond that, there are probably some things that you know you’re going to need that may not come in the mail and/or that you already have (receipts, bank statements, etc.), so why not throw them in a folder and get things started.

Before any of those forms arrive, too, keep in mind that any money you make is most likely taxable. So be sure to have records of all that, no matter in what form it came. For too many this year, that means remembering that unemployment income is taxable.

This also includes money earned in freelance gigs. Those who worked a lot in this area have become accustomed to receiving a Form 1099 reporting that money but remember that this has changed this year and you should instead be watching for a Form 1099-NEC this year. (Although there are still other reasons you may get a 1099, so do not just toss it in the garbage if you get one.)

Also new for this year, keep a hold on that Notice 1444 that you may have received along with any Economic Impact Payment this year. Of course, that came months ago and you may not have the notice anymore. If this is the case, at least be sure to note down how much you did receive so we have the numbers to work with.

For even that simple act is one of the things that can save some time and headache in a couple months. Most of the individual actions you need to do to get ready to file your taxes do not take much time, when you let them all build up and try to do it all in one morning, though, then it feels very heavy. A little prep work helps with that and couldn’t we all do with having things feel a little lighter right now?