Jared Daniel, CFP®, CRPC®

In the case of Mitt Romney's Tax return, the total charitable Contributions given was 3M, of that total 1.5M was donated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as tithing. So he donated an additional 1.5M to some other charitable organization. When you pay a Tithe to your church, you are able to deduct that charitable contribution as long as it was donated to a Qualified Tax Exempt Organization. Some organizations such as churches and religious organizations do not have to obtain a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For other organizations make sure they have obtained such a status if you are concerned about the tax deductibility of your donations. Regardless, of whom you donate to, you the donor carry the responsibility to keep records of your donations, this includes, receipts, cancelled checks, or letters of acknowledgment from the organization.

Maureen, HSA (Health Savings Account) are useful for individuals that have high deductible health plans. These HSA's allow you to deposit your own funds pre-tax allowing you to avoid taxation on your qualified medical expenses. If you have a high deductible plan, you may consider contributing some of your income to an HSA, as an individual you can contribute up to $3,100 per year or $6,250 for a family. However much like an IRA if you withdraw any funds from your HSA that is not considered a qualified medical expense you will be subject to taxes and a penalty of 10%. I would caution you with regards to how much you contribute. Take some time and look at your historical medical expenses to determine how much you should contribute.

Jillian, The first questions that comes to mind is "What is the purpose of consolidating?" As you mentioned you could save money over the term, your monthly payment may be lower. However additional information would prove to be useful...What type of student loans are these...are they Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans? Or is there a mix of Parent Plus, Grad Plus or Private Student Loans, as these generally carry a higher interest rate and will also be based on your credit worthiness, even in the case of consolidating them. My suggestion based on incomplete information and all the fact would be to consolidate your higher interest student loans into a possible lower interest rate. Do not include your low interest rate loan, most providers will allow you to select which loans will be part of the consolidation.

When it comes to tracking all your debt, I might offer a free solution to you. I would suggest that you utilize Mint (https://www.mint.com/) through this website you will be able to consolidate all your finances both assets and liabilities, it will help you track all of your balances, payments, and even provide you will special offers and some good financial advice and tools.

At the end of the day the 2 factors that will impact your loans is the interest rate and the term (or the rate in which you repay principal) I would suggest that you seek for the lowest combined effective interest rate for all your loans and then make as many principal payments as you can afford...now in saying this principal payments to your student loans and Mortgages, should come second to other debt payments as the interest paid is currently tax deductible. Make sure you are focusing on your other debts such as Credit Cards and other Personal secured and unsecured debt.