Nvidia Stock Loses $600B, X & Visa, and Win 1 Million Travel Points

Welcome Back, Fellow Parent

For Part 2 of our 3-part Tax Series, I’m covering what you need to know as an owner of a small business or side hustle. In case you missed or deleted it, you can check out part one HERE.

Tax season is the perfect opportunity to keep more of your hard-earned money. Knowing which deductions you qualify for can significantly lower your tax bill, freeing up cash to reinvest in your business.

Our goal as always is to minimize our tax liabilities so we can use as much money as possible to invest in the future.

Here’s a quick look at 15 must-know deductions:

• Home Office Deduction: Deduct a portion of your home expenses used exclusively for business. The simplified option allows you to deduct $5 per square foot of your office space (up to 300 square feet).

• Business Vehicle Expenses: Claim mileage or actual costs for business-related driving. You have two options: use the standard mileage rate or calculate actual expenses, which include fuel, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation.

• Startup Costs: Write off up to $5,000 in your first year of business.

• Office Supplies and Equipment: Deduct items like paper, pens, computers, and furniture. For larger equipment, consider a Section 179 Deduction.

• Marketing Costs: Fully deductible expenses for ads, websites, and branding.

• Professional Services: Accountants, lawyers, and consultants qualify.

• Health Insurance Premiums: Self-employed? Deduct premiums for yourself and your family.

• Education and Training: Courses, certifications, and books count if they enhance your business skills.

• Employee Benefits: Contributions to retirement plans and payroll taxes are deductible.

• Travel and Meals: Business trips and 50% of meals for client meetings qualify.

• Interest on Business Loans: Deduct interest on loans for business expenses.

• Depreciation: Claim deductions on equipment and assets over time.

• Software and Subscriptions: Business tools like QuickBooks and Canva are eligible.

• Bad Debts: Write off unpaid invoices if you use accrual accounting.

• State-Specific Benefits: Don’t forget local tax credits or incentives

These deductions can make a huge difference in your bottom line, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

Staying informed and organized is essential to maximizing your savings and staying compliant with tax laws.

Click below to explore actionable tips and in-depth explanations for each deduction. Your business—and your wallet—will thank you!

Money News  

Here’s a quick roundup of interesting things happening across the markets:

The biggest headline by far this week is Nvidia’s stock losing ~$600B in value in one day. This is the largest drop in the history of the stock market. This is all due to the DeepSeek launching it’s open-source language learning model last week. It supposedly matches or outperforms ChatGPT and was created for a fraction of the price.

Do you have a Chase credit card? They just launched this crazy giveaway where 10 winners will each win 1 million travel points each. I never jumped on the travel points bandwagon (I prefer cash back), but even this grabbed my attention. If you enter and win please let me know!

In the UK, nearly half of all toys sold in 2024 cost less than £15 (or $19 USD). This is due to inflation and wage stagnation, both of which we’re dealing with in the US as well.

A law change will now allow part-time works easier access to their employer’s retirement plans, including 401k and 403b.

X (formerly Twitter) is partnering with Visa to create the X Money Account, which will allow peer-to-peer payments. Essentially this will serve as a direct competitor to Zelle and Venmo. It’s an interesting approach and I’ll be curious to see how it pans out. Especially with social media data merging with financial data.

Newsletter Highlight  

I wanted to share more about a newsletter I’ve been following for awhile now, called The Profit Ladder.

It’s written by Jay Melone, who is in the business to help consultants and coaches monetize their business by turning their expertise into scalable products.

Even if you don’t have a coaching business yet, it’s a super interesting newsletter and I’d highly recommend it. Jay provides a lot of really great information - all for free.

You can hit below to check it out. Make sure to confirm your subscription - it tells the Gmail giants to keep it out of your promotions folder.

If you do end up checking it out, please let me know! I’d love to compare notes and hear what you think. It’s one of the very few newsletters which makes it into my save for later folder to go back and reference.

I’m constantly reviewing and adding to my list of free newsletters I’d recommend. Let me know if any are particularly helpful to you so I can share with the community.

Outro

Thanks for reading, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

I love writing content knowing it’s helping at least one family out there. 🤑

See you next week,

The Dollar Dad

P.S. I finally got around to creating a tools page on the blog! I’m keeping a running list of all of the tools I’d recommend to start and grow your business.

Did a friend send you today’s newsletter?