Deep Blue Publications Group

Today I'll answer some tax questions-but first some tips for people who can't file their returns by Tuesday. For federal taxes: If you can't file your return by Tuesday, request a six-month extension by filing Form 4868 electronically or by mail. See the form for instructions. If you file this form by April 15 and your tax return by Oct. 15, you will avoid a late-filing penalty. However, if you owe additional federal tax for 2013, you must pay it with this form by April 15 to avoid interest and possibly a late-payment penalty. You can avoid this late-payment penalty (but not interest) if at least 90 percent of your total 2013 tax liability is paid by April 15 through payroll withholding, estimated tax payments or payments made with Form 4868. If you haven't completed your return, "the best thing is to pay in about 10 percent more" than you expect to owe, says Michael Gray, a San Jose certified public accountant. For California taxes: There is no need to request an extension; you automatically get one until Oct. 15. However, as with federal taxes, you must pay at least 90 percent of what you owe by April 15 to avoid a late-payment penalty. You can make this payment online from your bank or savings account without a fee using the Franchise Tax Board's Webpay system-or with a fee by using your credit card. Or you can mail a check with Form FTB 3519. (Certain high-income taxpayers must make this payment electronically.)

The rise of social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter has been unprecedented over the last couple of years. LinkedIn now has some 313 million users and in Q2 2014 its revenues rose by 47 per cent to USD534m reported the Wall Street Journal on 31 July 2014. McKinsey estimates that there is a GBP772bn opportunity for business to use social media. All of us use social media in one form or another but when it comes to applying it to the workplace, the asset management industry has remained largely apathetic. This would appear to stem from a fear of falling foul of compliance in what has become a tightly regulated market. One of the pillars of any asset manager's marketing strategy today should include social media but it's important to understand the potential roadblocks. This prompted SEI recently to publish a brief on the subject entitled "Stepping in to Social Media", in which eight tips and considerations are presented for investment managers. "I think it's true to say that all asset managers have been reluctant to get into social media. From a compliance perspective, there's a lot less control over the way information is broadcast and who you, as a firm, are communicating with," says Lori White (pictured), Marketing Regulation Counsel, SEI. "The reluctance has largely been from compliance officers as they look to get comfortable complying with existing regulation." Click here to continue reading

Looking for ways to attract additional clients? Here are some helpful suggestions from a variety of industry sages, including Ron Carson, founder of Omaha, Neb.-based Peak Advisor Alliance, a coaching program for financial advisors.

Unlike Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, we trust that you can handle the truth. No matter your age, securing a comfortable retirement is a huge concern. Folks want the whole truth about their financial outlook, but straight answers are hard to come by. Both sides of the mainstream media habitually present opinion-tainted partial facts. Case in point: the unemployment numbers announced earlier this month. One side is cheering because unemployment dropped to a six-year low, while the other side is calling it pure fraud. I found author and libertarian-about-town Wayne Root's remarks in a recent article for The Blaze particularly telling: The middle class isn't getting richer, it's getting poorer… The only people being hired are your grandparents. 230,000 of the new jobs went to those in the 55-to-69-year-old age group. In the prime working age group of 24 to 54 years old, 10,000 jobs were lost… It means grandma and grandpa are desperate and willing to take grandson's low wage job to survive until Social Security kicks in. The US workforce is now the oldest in history. And if grandpa has to work (out of desperation) until the day he dies, there will never be any decent jobs for the grandkids. Here's the part Root gets wrong: Baby boomers are not working until Social Security kicks in. They're working well past that point, because they feel they must. Smart boomers know they can't afford to wait until robust interest rates return; they're taking action to protect themselves now, lest their circumstances become truly dire.