The IRS recently released guidance, in a question and answer format, addressing how employers are to administer and seek recovery of the new COBRA premium subsidy enacted under the American ecovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). The Act provides that an individual who has been involuntarily terminated on or after September 1, 2008, through the end of 2009 is required to pay only 35% of the group health insurance premium to secure COBRA continuation coverage (up to nine months).

The newest IRS Guidance focuses on two broad areas 1. Form preparation – the mechanics of how an employer recovers the COBRA premium subsidy through a payroll credit claimed on IRS Form 941, and 2. administration and eligibility. The new guidance also addresses common inquiries surrounding the timing of when the subsidy begins and ends.

How The Subsidy Will Work: Former employees and their family are “assistance eligible employees” if they are eligible for COBRA health insurance continuation coverage as a result of any involuntary termination occurring from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. Those individuals are required to pay only 35% of the group health insurance premium that would otherwise apply.

Under the IRS Act, the “person to whom the premiums are payable” – generally, the employer – pays the other 65% of the COBRA continuation premium. The employer module then be reimbursed by means of a federal payroll tax credit claimed on Form 941.

Payroll Credit Usually, an employer can claim the payroll credit for the COBRA premium subsidy on Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. To do so, the employer should enter the amount of any COBRA premium assistance payments paid on behalf of employees for that quarter on Line 12a. The amount entered should equal 65% of eligible workers’ total COBRA premium payments – not amounts received from former employees.

In its Guidance, the IRS indicated that there has been some confusion surrounding the proper number of individuals to be reported on Line 12b as having received COBRA premium assistance reported on Line 12a. The guidance clarifies that only one individual should be counted for Line 12b purposes in a situation where a former employee has also secured coverage for other qualifying individuals such as a spouse and/or children.

Clarification has come that the COBRA premium reduction applies as of the first period of coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009, for which a qualifying involuntary terminated employee is eligible to pay 35% of the premium. The exact date of coverage is contingent upon the period to which premiums are charged to the plan. The 35% premium subsidy generally applies until the earliest of three events: (1) when the former employee secures other health insurance coverage; (2) the date that is nine months after the first day of the first month for which the special COBRA premium subsidy provision applies; or (3) the date the individual is no longer eligible for COBRA continuation coverage.

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One of the most important choices to make when you want to a home is to time the interest rates exactly right. If you think interest rates are going to increase, you will want to lock in a lower rate now, but if you think rates may still fall considerably, you may want to wait before you commit to a home loan.

How are these interest rates determined in the first place, and will understanding that help in the decision making process? Interest rates are actually the price of money, and just as the law of supply and demand dictates price, the law of supply and demand will influence the price of your mortgage: its interest rate.

Inflation is one of the very important factors in interest rates. There are two major things to watch when it comes to inflation. The Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index are the primary two factors.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures the changes in producers producers need to pay to produce goods. If the prices of raw products go up, you can be sure prices in general will increase.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in prices of a fixed ?market basket? of consumer goods. Most people are more familiar with CPI since it more directly affects what they pay for goods. The so called ?basket of goods? used is steady so that economists can measure how prices change, but since food and energy are included, they are often eliminated to reduce volatility. What remains is considered the ?core? inflation rate which is a superior indicator of overall prices and inflation.

GDP is another fairly good predictor of inflation as well as interest rates. The Fed (Federal Reserve Bank-the Central Bank of the United States) is responsible for maintaining the economy on an even keel-not a lot of growth, which will cause inflation and not too little, which will cause a recession. The Fed has the tools to intervene in the economy in certain ways so that it can decrease rates to slow the economy down and increase them to speed it up.

Another important indicator is the unemployment rate. If the economy is experiencing low unemployment, inflation will most likely follow since salaries have to increase to attract candidates. If the economy has high unemployment, interest rates will go down because salaries will fall because employers do not have to offer higher salaries to keep employees. Lower wages equal lower prices which means lower inflation.

Watching these interest rate indicators will help you to choose when it is a good time to enter the mortgage market. In general, a slow economy, with high unemployment, means that interest rates will be coming down, and you should hold off on your loan for a while. Higher GDP with low to no unemployment signals a road to higher interest rates.

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There are a plethora of bank owned properties that are popping up for sale all over the world. However, many people want to know what they can do in order to turn these properties into a home of their own.

Bank owned properties become sole possession of a bank when payment has not been rendered on the property by the tenant who had previously owned the home. Many people call these dwellings by many different names, foreclosure homes is a term that you have probably heard many times before.

Today’s real estate market has a plethora of bank-owned houses that they are just trying to get rid of. The sad thing is, because of the economic stature of the world many people are hesitant to invest any means of money into new property.

The people that do decide to purchase the homes are the ones that are making a wise decision to turn the investment into a positive financial tool.

In many accounts these dwellings are extremely cheap. Banks do not get any money from holding onto the houses so they are quick to give the dwellings to someone that they know will be able to meet the financial obligations of the property.

If you are serious about purchasing a bank owned property the very first thing that you do in order to claim the property is make an offer on the home. You do not need to make a large offer but it should be a number that the bank will be willing to work with as far as payment is concerned.

In many accounts if you make a legitimate offer on a home that has been foreclosure you will inadvertently end up getting the property. The bank will run all of your information to ensure that you can afford to pay for the home that you are desperately seeking for your very own.

Normally the bank takes several days to come to the conclusion if they are going to grant you with the property or not. As long as your bid on the property is fair you should have nothing to worry about as far as the approval process is concerned.

After you have gotten an heads up from the bank, it would behoove you to hire a home inspector to come look over the property with you. The inspector will ensure that everything in the property is working in the way that is should be.

All of the things that the inspector notes will need to be taken care of out of your pocket if you choose to purchase the home. Many repossessed houses are bought as is which means that any imperfections of the home will have to be rectified by the person that purchases the domicile.

People obtain these properties for many different reasons. A lot of people will choose to purchase the homes to live in them, while other people want to purchase the home in order to make an investment by renting it out or selling the home after they have fixed everything that was wrong with the domicile.

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Due to the current financial situation, many people are now thinking to give out their property on rent. This is a good way to make sure that the property is being maintained and extra income starts coming in as a bonus.

It will not be easy for you to find the right tenant, someone who will not use the property badly and will not give you hard time. Therefore, the best thing is to hire a letting agent when you look for a tenant, so that they solve all the issues.

Letting agents have their own style of working and it is important that you know everything about the terms and conditions before you hire one. Another wise thing to do would be to compare service charges for different letting agencies to get an idea of the market.

Not hiring a letting agent will put you under a lot of stress with all the decision making. Therefore, a better way is just to hire one and free your mind of all the tension. If you are thinking about why anyone would hire a letting agent, then consider this; letting agencies would always be more experienced than you are, they would have a full knowledge of the market and will use this information in a better way to make sure they give you the right estimation for the rent of your property.

After an agent has given you the rental value for your property, you have the right to discontinue his/her services if you are not happy with the result. Nevertheless, if you decide to continue with the services, you cannot change your mind afterwards.

Aside from giving you the right estimate for the rental value of your property, a letting agent will find solutions to other property related legal issue affecting you also in different ways. He will explain to you the legal obligations set for the tenant and the landlord. He will also help you in issues regarding implementation of these rules, mortgages, and insurance for the property. He will explain to you the different types of tenancy and help you decide if the property should be rented furnished or unfurnished.

A good letting agent makes sure that he finds the most suitable tenant for your property. He will always try to get you an increase in rent if you make certain expenditures. Then he will take care of the marketing of the property at a predefined cost and show the property to the tenants. He will always focus on the positive aspects of the property in front of the tenant.

Arranging for all the insurance work can mean a lot of hassle for the landlord. The best thing would be to hire a letting agent who would assist you for this or at least figure out from where to get it done. The agent will also help you take care of other tasks such as transferring the council tax liability to the tenants or taking care of the metre reading. All this work can be tiresome for the landlord alone, so the best solution is to acquire the services of the letting agent.

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At first glance, TradeKing vs OptionsXpress isn’t even close. In fact, the TradeKing did a quick tally and although bias, the results heavily favored the cheaper discount broker. However, upon looking into it further, you can see why there are still so many people who love OptionsXpress. Here’s a comparison guide that you definitely should take a look.

TradeKing vs OptionsXpress – Trading Commissions Comparison

Equity Trades

• – $4.95 a trade, same price for a broker assisted trade
• OptionsXpress – $14.95 per trade, with no additional fees on broker assisted trade

Options Trades

• TradeKing is $4.95 + 0.65 per contract
• OptionsXpress is $14.95 minimum, then $15 per 10 contracts

Margin Rates Comparison

The numbers below represent TradeKing and OptionsXpress Margin Fees Schedule respectively.

• $0 – $49,999 – 6.50% vs 6.25%
• $50,000 – $99,999 – 5.50% vs 5.25%
• $100,000 – $249,999 – 5.50% vs 5.00%
• $250,000 – $499,999 – 4.50% vs 4.75%
• $500,000 – $999,999 – 4.50% vs 4.50%
• $1,000,000+ – 4.50% vs 4.00%

With the exception of one range, OptionsXpress’ margin rates are consistently lower than TradeKing’s rates. At over $1 million, the rate is significantly lower.

Other Features of the Two Brokers

Barron’s rank better in terms of customer support, research and trading platform. In my opinion, both trading platform is superb and it almost comes down to personal preference. TradeKing’s customer support is ranked higher, although I’ve always gotten my questions answered at both of these stock brokers. At the end, it may come down to price, which TradeKing clearly wins, except for those that want to borrow money through margins.

A brilliant idea that only OptionsXpress has is that they allow you to open a practice account and trade with virtual money. This way, you can get used to the trading platform without putting any of your real money on the line. Readers have told me that it’s also great for beginners, because it gives them a closer look at the market when they first start out. You can click here to learn more about the free practice account.

So TradeKing or OptionsXpress?

For some people, it’s all about the price so the answer is easy – go with TradeKing. For almost everyone else, what seems to work for them is to just open an account with both and play around with the platform for a while to see which one they like since it’s free to do so. The other advantage of doing this is to attend the free webinars and educational videos which are very valuable.

The bottom line is that they are both solid companies that will be sure to please your trading needs, so it all comes down to personal preference.

Special Bonus Available Today

To make the offer more enticing, both brokers will reimburse your account transfer fees from your current broker if you switch to them.

• For , they reimburse you up to $150.
• For OptionsXpress, the reimbursement is up to $100.

In addition, OptionsXpress is giving away a free guide on trading options.

• Get a Free Investment Book from OptionsXpress on Trading Options When You Open and Fund Your Account

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Related Articles at Investing School:

• Best Stock Brokers
• OptionsXpress Promotional Code and Review
• TradeKing vs Scottrade – Online Stock Trading Comparison
• Etrade vs Tradeking vs Zecco – Trading Commissions Comparison
• ShareBuilder Review – Stock Broker for Automatic Investing

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