Bad Debt Management – The Right Way

The reason so many people get into trouble with their finances is not just because they spend too much, but also because they have bad debt management. When the bills come in every month, many people are inclined to either just pay the minimum amount or avoid paying it altogether if they’re too high for their current budget. If not followed up with, companies can stand to lose millions to delinquent payments from customers.

As a business, it can be difficult to hire a full time staff to follow up with these customers who have either refused to pay or who aren’t prepared to pay each month. This burden of time ultimately leads to a burden on revenues and bottom lines. Collection agencies are a good alternative from trying to manage debt collection “in house.” With the right collection company, you can recover a large portion of your lost revenues over the short term, and close to all of your receivables over the long run.

Business collection outsourcing is a process whereby a small business can contact an independent collection agency such as www.psicollect.com to call delinquent consumers on their behalf. These agencies are relatively inexpensive when you consider the cost of hiring full time employees to handle your debt management in the first place.  Bad debt recovery is a challenging venture, which is why having a strong team of individuals on your side to help is always important. Trained professionals are able to get the money your business is owed to take all of the headache away from you.

Two new healthcare related tax provisions for 2013

The 2010 Healthcare Act, known as “Obama care”, is being implemented gradually.  Now that sitting U.S. President, Barack Obama, has been reelected for a second term and the U.S. Senate continue under Democrats, it is highly unlikely that the Act will be eliminated during the second term.  Two new tax provisions will come into play in 2013.

First, a $2,500 annual maximum contribution limit will be in place for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).  In the past some plans limited annual contributions while others didn’t giving employees another tax free subtraction from their salary.  Funds can be used for qualified childcare as well as medical expenses.  The total contribution will be capped at $2,500 starting in 2013.

Second, the qualifying threshold for Itemized Medical Expense Deduction has been increased from 7.5 percent to ten percent for most individuals.  This applies to your medical expenses over 7.5 percent of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).  However, if you reach age 65 before December 31, 2013, you can extend the current 7.5 percent limit until the tax year 2016.    If your spouse reach the age 65 in 2014 through 2016, the current 7.5 percent rate will continue through 2016.  Everyone will be subject to ten percent rate in 2017.