Karin Price Mueller is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com, a personal finance web site that offers smart and objective advice on everything money. She also writes the Bamboozled consumer affairs column for The Star-Ledger, and a monthly money column for Inside Jersey magazine, and she's been the recipient of many national and local journalism awards. Mueller lives in Monmouth County with her husband — Star-Ledger reporter Mark Mueller — and their three kids and two English Mastiffs. Whatever they don't eat goes into her retirement savings accounts.
Karin Price Mueller
How to handle Social Security payments to a lost loved one
Q. After my dad died, I didn’t realize his bank account was still collecting Social Security benefits. This happened for seven months. No one has stopped the payments. What do I do? Can we keep the money that was already deposited?
Should I leave Wells Fargo after the scandal?
Q. After this Wells Fargo scandal, I’m thinking of moving my accounts and my mortgage. Should I?
Taxes on income from a side business
Q. How much income does my side business need to make before I claim it on my taxes
How to handle Obamacare insurers leaving NJ
Q. What does it mean now that some insurance companies are dropping out of Obamacare in New Jersey? What if I already have a policy with one company that’s leaving?
Taking your Required Minimum Distribution
Q. I have a small pension and Social Security. I also have to take Required Minimum distributions (RMDs). That altogether covers most of my expenses. plus I take out an extra 10k a year from my IRA. Should I take the IRA money all at once or monthly?
Penalties for a forgotten inherited IRA
Q. I apparently inherited an IRA from my aunt five years ago, but I just found out. What taxes might I owe because I haven’t taken distributions? But I didn’t know it existed!
Differences between microcaps and penny stocks
Q. Are microcaps and penny stocks the same thing?
What to do if you’re home is damaged by rain
Q. What is the proper wait time to give the insurance to answer your rain damage to your home?
A CPA, an accountant or tax preparer: Which is the right one for you?
Q. What’s the difference between a CPA and an accountant and a tax preparer?
Helping parents with joint bank accounts
Q. I want to open a bank account with my mother so I can help make sure her bills are paid. Should we be on the same account or are there possible problems I’m not thinking of? Instead of could get online access to her account I guess, but what I could do then would be limited, right?