On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew demanded and received the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller. Miller's forced resignation was as a result of an IRS Inspector Generals Report that revealed the IRS in certain areas of the country, using discriminatory practice towards conservative non-profit groups. The area that was highlighted in the report included two IRS employees in Cincinnati, Ohio who were overly aggressive in the handling of applications for tax exempt status of tea-party specific groups. When interviewed by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, former Commissioner...

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Continuing our First Time Home Buying… One of my favorite people, Britney Jones, just bought a new home. As a prospective buyer myself, I was very interested in learning through Brittney’s experience and picking up a few pointers from her.  I was able to catch up with her and ask her some of the questions I had about home buying. Junious Williams (“JW”): First, tell the readers of MyBlackCoffee a little bit about yourself. Britney Jones (“BJones”): My name is Brittney Jones. I graduated from the University of Houston-Main Campus on May 13, 2011 with a degree in Education:...

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Home ownership is a staple of a financially healthy family. As Dave Ramsey says, “The paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice.”  By your mid-20s, home ownership should become one of your life goals. Buying a house is not like going to the grocery store and picking up everything on your list. It requires planning, preparation, and patience. Planning: Know how much money you can afford monthly for a mortgage payment. You want to avoid being house poor. House poor means spending a large proportion of your income on making a mortgage payment, but leaves...

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You Wasn’t With Me Liftin’ In The Gym! I was in the gym earlier this month (very rare) and I started thinking. Personal fitness is very similar to personal finance.  You set goals, you work toward them every week, and your success won’t happen overnight.  If you want to be strong, you’re going to have to work out three to four times per week. Make sure you eat right and maintain the proper diet, so your body gets everything it needs to get stronger. Also, build a workout plan that gets the results you want. Similarly, if you want to be financially secure, you’re going to have...

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