Andrea Coombes, an editor at Bankrate, translates complex personal finance topics into understandable language that helps people live their best financial lives. She’s a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and over the past 25 years has worked as a financial coach, personal finance writer and editor, and volunteer tax preparer.
Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch and many newspapers nationwide. She's been interviewed on local and national TV and radio, including NPR's All Things Considered, CBS News, NASDAQ and Marketplace.
Andrea has moderated panels on how to invest for retirement, how to use 529 college savings plans and more, and she's an experienced personal-finance speaker who has presented to groups on a variety of topics such as how to budget, improve credit, manage debt, and build savings. She's also worked as a personal financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, helping people reach their goals. For two tax seasons, she worked as a volunteer tax preparer.
A lot of people are nervous about managing their money. I'm here to say: It's not rocket science. There are small steps each of us can take to slowly start moving towards our long-term financial goals. We can do this, people.
— Andrea Coombes, CFP®
The new tax law hiked the SALT deduction cap to $40,000. That’s good news for taxpayers in high tax states, but it’s a temporary boost.
In a progressive tax system like ours, more than one tax rate applies to your income. Your marginal rate is your top tax rate.
If you’re self-employed, you’ll need to make estimated tax payments. Here’s how to figure out how much you owe and when it’s due.
Excise taxes apply only to specific products. They may be charged either as a percentage of a sale or on a per-unit basis.
A consumption tax applies to the purchase of a good or service. Sales taxes are a type of consumption tax.
These 9 states have no income tax, but before you move there, keep in mind that taxes shouldn’t be your only consideration.
If you need help with a tax debt or dispute, creating an estate plan, starting a business, or another legal question related to taxes, a tax attorney might be able to help.
Your adjusted gross income, or AGI, is your gross income minus a handful of items. Here’s how it works and why it matters.
