October is the kickoff season for financial aid. That’s when incoming and returning college students can start filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for the next academic year. The FAFSA is a prerequisite for federal student loans, grants, and work-study, and may be required by colleges before they distribute their own institutional aid to students.  How do I submit the FAFSA? The FAFSA for the 2022-2023 school year opens on October 1, 2021. Here are some tips for filing it. The fastest and easiest way to submit the FAFSA is online at studentaid.gov. The site contains resources and

Should you contribute to your 401(k) at work? The short answer is yes. Unless you absolutely cannot afford to set aside any dollars whatsoever, you should contribute to your employer’s 401(k) plan. A 401(k) plan is one of the most powerful tools you can use to save for your retirement. The first benefit is that your pre-tax contributions to a 401(k) plan are not taxed as current income. They come right off the top of your salary before taxes are withheld. This reduces your taxable income, allowing you to pay less in taxes each year. You’ll eventually pay taxes on

Tax planners often develop checklists to guide taxpayers toward year-end strategies that might help reduce taxes. Typically, suggestions are grouped into several different categories, such as “Filing Status” or “Employee Matters,” for ease of reading. Although Azzad Asset Management does not offer tax advice, we are often able to steer clients in the right direction and to help them ask the right questions of their tax preparers. As year-end approaches, it might be wise to review each suggestion with your tax professional under the categories that may apply to you. Filing status and dependents If you’re married (or will be

Year-end investment decisions may sometimes result in substantial tax savings. Tax planning may allow you to control the timing and method by which you report your income and claim your deductions and credits. The basic strategy for year-end planning is both to time your income so that it will be taxed at a lower rate, and to time your deductible expenses so that they may be claimed in years when you are in a higher tax bracket. In terms of investment planning, investing in capital assets may increase your ability to time the recognition of some of your income and