Telling Tips is a series of articles from local experts to help you save money, make better decisions and plan for a better future.
1. The area in lower Manhattan called ‘Wall Street’ is named after:
A: The Wall Street Journal
B: The wooden wall built by Dutch colonists to defend New York against invaders
C: The Wallapoo Indians who inhabited the area
D: George Washington, when he met with Congress in that area in the late 1700s and couldn’t get any legislation passed
2. How did the Dow Jones industrial average get its name?
A. To honor Dowelli Jones, the wife of the Revolutionary War naval hero, John Paul Jones
B. To honor Bradley McDow, the economist, and Garett Jones, the Macroeconomist
C. From Charles Henry Dow, Wall Street Journal founder, and Edward Jones, a statistician, who started an average of mostly railroad stocks in 1884
D. From the Dow-Jones land development company, which gave the land to build the New York Stock Exchange
3. Which would you rather have?
A. $100,000 today or…
B. A penny that doubles every day for a 31-day month
4. Who is the saying, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes” attributed to?
A. Julius Caesar
B. Benjamin Franklin
C. Uncle Sam
D. Alexander the Great
5. If you receive an IRS notice that you owe money, you should:
A. Write a check immediately
B. Check to be sure the notice is correct before sending in the money
C. Return to sender, marked “deceased”
6. The advantage of a Roth IRA over a traditional IRA is that with a Roth IRA:
A. Contributions grow tax deferred
B. You can roll a Roth IRA into a traditional IRA
C. Contributions are not tax deductible
D. Qualified distributions from a Roth IRA are tax free
7. Which are the three major credit bureaus in the United States?
A. Experian, Equifax, TransUnion
B. American Express, Master Card, Visa
C. Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Manhattan
8. When you marry, your credit report:
A. Is merged with your spouse’s credit history
B. Stays the same. The only information on both spouses’ reports are joint accounts or those for which one spouse is an authorized user.
C. Shows your spouse’s debt in a separate section
D. Is wiped clean so you can start again
9. If your credit card is stolen and the thief runs up a total debt of $1,000, but you notify the issuer of the card as soon as you discover it is missing, what is the maximum amount that you can be forced to pay according to Federal law?
10. Tax credits are preferable to deductions because:
A. They are computed before you figure your tax bill
B. You don’t have to save receipts to claim credits
C. They cut your tax bill dollar for dollar
1. (B): This barrier was built in 1653 to protect colonists from the British and Native Americans.
2. (C): In November 1882, Charles Henry Dow and Edward Jones started their own financial reporting firm, Dow, Jones & Co., in the basement of a candy store, publishing a two-page summary of the day’s financial news called the “Customers’ Afternoon Letter.”
3. (B): Start with a penny and double it every day. One cent becomes two, which becomes four, which becomes eight and so on. At the end of a 31-day month, you’ll have $10,737,418.24
4. (B): Benjamin Franklin, who actually wrote “Our Constitution is in actual operation. Everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
Tax Tip: Child in college? Work or live in New York State? You can still make a contribution to the New York State 529 college plan and take a New York State tax deduction. This contribution can mean between $600 and $1,100 in your pocket!
Have a good week.
Joseph Reisman, of Joseph S. Reisman & Associates, has been serving tax prep and business accounting expertise from his Coney Island Avenue office for more than 25 years. Check out the firm’s website.