Thirty-Five Minutes to Riches

Double-check your taxes

Time it takes: 35 minutes

Next April remember this: Before you seal the envelope or tap the key that whisks your return to the IRS, spend 35 minutes looking for easy-to-spot errors. Overlook a dependent (the one at college may count) and you could owe an extra $1,000 in taxes. Transpose your Social Security number and your refund may never arrive. Did you sign your return?

Keep more of your paycheck

Time it takes: 30 minutes

A generous tax refund means you are overpaying the government. To have fewer dollars plucked from your paycheck, claim more exemptions on your W-4 form (to see if you can, use the withholding calculator at irs.gov). Print out a W-4 at the IRS site or from your company's intranet. With last year's tax return, a pay stub and a calculator handy, filling out the worksheet on page 2 takes about half an hour.

Get a tax break for day care

Time it takes: 35 minutes

Make this the fall that you finally sign up for a flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent-care expenses. Your boss takes pretax dollars from your paycheck; you tap the account for contact lenses, day care and the like.

Pay less for your cell

Time it takes: 1 minute

Know what your employer hates? Raises. What he likes? Perks that cost him nothing. At some firms, employees qualify for cell-phone discounts of up to 20%. To see if you get a Verizon discount, go to verizonwireless.com/getdiscount and plug in your e-mail address; for AT&T, go to wireless.att.com/home.

Cut drug costs

Time it takes: 16 minutes

Many employers use a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) such as Medco or Caremark to administer prescription drug coverage. Call your PBM or go to its website (have your prescription drug coverage card handy) to check mailorder prices and sign up.

No more waiting rooms

Time it takes: 15 minutes

Can't get in and out of the doctor's office in 35 minutes? You can see a physician's assistant or a nurse practitioner in about 15 minutes, or so, says MinuteClinic, one of the largest of the chains of walk-in medical centers cropping up in pharmacies or stores such as Target or Wal-Mart. That's fine for basic ailments like earaches, strep throat and pinkeye. Your insurance may not be accepted, which could leave you footing the entire $59 ear-infection fee. But you can stop by at lunch and not miss hours, or even a day, of work.

Burn more calories

Time it takes: 30 minutes

Nibbling an extra 100 calories a day will pack on 10 pounds in a year. Doing moderate exercise for 30 minutes a day will prevent that gain - and save you money. Obese Americans spend 26% more out of pocket on health care than normal-weight workers, according to a study in Health Affairs. They also take nearly twice as many prescriptions and earn $1.42 less per hour.

Be like Buffett

Time it takes: 35 minutes

It takes seven seconds on a high-speed Internet connection to download Berkshire Hathaway's annual report (available at berkshirehathaway.com/reports.html). Reading Buffett's letter to shareholders might take a full 35 minutes. The wisdom therein could put your investing head on straight for 35 years.

Save for college

Time it takes: 35 minutes

A state 529 college savings plan is the best way to invest for your kid's higher education. With one check, you can buy a diversified portfolio that becomes more conservative as your child nears school. See Money Magazine's guide to 529s in every state (link below).

Stick with your local 529 if it's a Money pick. But if your homegrown options are fee-laden and offer no local tax breaks, go with the Utah Educational Savings Plan (800-418-2551; uesp.org). Click on the Forms tab and download the program description and "form 100." Figure on 15 minutes to read, 19 minutes to fill out the agreement, one minute to fax.

Automate your savings

Time it takes: 10 minutes

If a $10,000 minimum investment is keeping you out of mutual funds, you have a quick work-around. Lots of funds let you in for much less if you agree to have your investment automatically taken out of your bank account. With T. Rowe Price's automatic asset builder (troweprice.com), you can invest in T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth (TRBCX), T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX) and many other exemplary funds with just $50 a month.

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