As the Spring real estate season flourishes, and escrows close by the thousands, many home buyer’s fantasies of ownership become reality. For many, the house hunt is a quest for the the holy grail of more square footage. But the reality of home ownership is this: you furnish and decorate the spaces in your home according to their planned purpose (e.g., dining room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.) only to realize that you spend 80 percent of your time in 20 percent of your home’s square footage!

Most homeowners who have formal living and dining rooms rarely use them (Thanksgiving and Christmas are but two days of the year). Similarly, millions of square feet in great rooms, breakfast nooks, laundry rooms and hallways and even “spare” bedrooms go underused - space wasted most or all of the year. 

5 things you should know about this law when buying funeral goods or services

Since 1984, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has enforced the provisions of the "Funeral Industry Practices" law -- usually referred to as the "Funeral Rule" -- which governs the sale of funeral goods or services in the United States. The rule specifies the type of information and disclosures that funeral service providers must provide to consumers in order to protect the latter from unscrupulous business practices.
While the Funeral Rule contains a wide array of provisions concerning the sale of funeral goods or services, consumers should be aware of the following five key points whenever they purchase funeral goods or services:

When you sell a stock, you owe taxes on your gain — the difference between what you paid for the stock and what you sold it for. The same holds true when selling a home (or a second home), but there are some special considerations.

How to Calculate Gain
In real estate, capital gains are based not on what you paid for the home, but on its adjusted cost basis. To calculate, follow these steps:

1. Purchase price: _______________________ The purchase price of the home is the sale price, not the amount of money you actually contributed at closing.
2. Total adjustments: _______________________ To calculate this, add the following:

We recently launched a new website, www.udrivebenefits.com. While we have been offering insurance and consulting services for health benefits for many years, this new website focuses exclusively on health-related challenges and solutions. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers, which provides a quick introduction to our new website.