Op-Ed: Financial Focus, How to get a Higher Tax Refund Next Year?

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Can you get a higher tax refund this year if you haven’t filed yet? Yes and No! The options now are very limited. Why? Simply because tax planning is NOT the same thing as tax preparation, and tax preparation is NOT tax planning. Tax planning is learning and applying the tax rules to your lifestyle. After keeping all those receipts, you apply them to your tax filing the following year. Thus, the absolute best way to maximize your 2020 tax refund next year is to start learning, and applying the rules from January 2020 now, and yes, six

By Síle Moloney

Dear Readers, I hope you’re all well! I don’t say that lightly. Thank you for your patience, and for sticking with us during what we know, you know, has been a pretty crazy, and unprecedented time for everyone. After two and half months on hiatus due to circumstances related to the pandemic, this year’s seventh edition of the Norwood News is out now. Indeed, that is a story in itself (but for another day). We’re happy to be back, and to share plenty of interesting community news with you, so let’s get to it! After months of lockdown

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Before coronavirus, the number of people working from home or self employed made up 13 percent of America’s economy. We now believe that by choice of both employees and employers this number will grow to close to 20 percent by the end of the year. Is working from home a new and important topic for at least 35 percent of America’s now home-working employees therefore? Absolutely! Notwithstanding tax implications, your work-from-home savings and costs should be examined and written up as part of your household budget. For example, commuter related expenses are no more, right? That includes travel, clothing

By JASON GONZALEZ

Renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner, William Faulkner, once said, “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” The murder on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, Minnesota of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, has given rise to worldwide outcry. The uproar has manifested into protests that have spanned the globe, and has civilians from all races, religions, and sexual orientations calling for police reform and the termination of systemic racism. As unrest permeates

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

If you heard the jobs report and the stock market news last Friday, you would have thought we were just about all the way back! President Donald Trump held a press conference shortly after the report was released and said it was “stupendous”. In May, we actually ADDED 2.5 million jobs, and unemployment tracked in at under 14 percent. The doom and gloom experts thought it was going to be 20 percent. After all, in April, it was reported by the government that we lost 20 million jobs. So, how was the government wrong? Were the numbers tampered with?

By Síle Moloney & David Greene

On Tuesday, June 2, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was joined by a number of other Bronx elected officials, community groups and clergy who gathered in the cold light of day at East Fordham Road and Grand Concourse to witness first-hand the trail of destruction left in the wake of Monday night’s looting and riots. It was reported by NYPD that the riots and looting were orchestrated by organized gangs, and not by protestors who have been rallying for police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands

By NYC Census 2020

As of May 10, only 47.8 percent of Bronx households have responded to the 2020 Census. If the trend holds, the Bronx stands to lose millions of dollars in funding for our essential services, just at the moment when we’re all relying on them the most. If we don’t fight forces that prevent a full count, our funding for schooling, housing, and hospitals is at risk. The census shapes the funding we get for our public services, and the more of us are counted, the more funding we get. That’s critical money for our hospitals, health care, emergency

By Síle Moloney

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a Small Business Emergency Grant Program for small businesses who have been impacted by looting and experienced damage to their storefronts, with Bronx businesses receiving priority. The City will begin providing grants to small businesses of up to $10,000 per business, thanks to $500,000 in initial funds received from SOMOS Community Care. The grants will help with recovery, including repairs, security systems, locks, and more. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will work with Small Business Services to assess the level of need throughout the city, with the intent

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

When Frank Pirraglia, 21, saw the devastation caused by looters on Fordham Road last Monday night, he realized it was also a call to action. “After seeing all the violence and destruction, I realized I needed to get out there and do my part to try and help clean up,” he said. On Tuesday morning, it was clear Pirraglia would be part of a larger contingent of volunteers taking swift action to remove the debris left by looters. Such actions were reminiscent of those taken by Bronxites in the 1970s to rebuild their community in the wake of