I. Initial Guidance. Your friend and fellow Kendall alum, Axl Rose, is seeking your guidance about personal finance. For the past year, Axl has been stressed out in trying to make ends meet on a monthly basis. Most months he has been running in the red. In addition, he has had to dip into the savings account that his parents set up for him after graduation to cover his shortage of cash to meet his monthly obligations. Last month he looked at the balance of the savings account, and to his surprise, there was only $1,000 left in the account.
He was talking with a mutual friend a couple weeks ago and he learned that you had taken a personal finance course in your last year at Kendall. He has always respected your financial judgment. He hopes you can get him back to even - and fast!
Upon your request, he has pulled together some recent bank statements and a preliminary analysis of his monthly cash flow. The analysis is presented below:
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Axl Rose
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Monthly Cash Record
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April
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Net Monthly Salary
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$4,100
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Rent
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$1,300
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Food
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285
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Transportation
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220
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Insurance
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65
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Cell Phone and Cable
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148
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Clothing
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418
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Utilities
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138
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Entertainment
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238
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Student Loan Payment
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298
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Credit Cards
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515
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ATM Withdrawals
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650
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II. Tax guidance. One week later, Axl invites you over again for dinner and drinks. During dinner, Axl asks if you know anything about taxes. You indicate that you file your own taxes, but you have a fairly simple return. He shares some of his income tax data and wants your opinion on some of these matters. For example, he is a single taxpayer and is expecting to earn an annual gross salary of $62,000. He is wondering whether to put some money in an IRA retirement account. Finally, he is curious about what his estimated Federal Taxes will be for this coming year.
III. Insurance and other matters. While you are talking to Axl about his budget and taxes, he brings up topic of insurance - both property and casualty and life insurance. While he understands that you are not an expert in these matters, he just is looking for some basic advice. His parents and a couple of friends are telling him about insurable risk and death benefits and beneficiaries. He is so confused. Can you help him