Getting audited by the IRS is no fun. Some taxpayers are selected for random audits every year, but the chances of that happening to you are very small. You are much more likely to fall under the IRS's gaze if you make one of several common mistakes.

That means your best chance of avoiding an audit is by doing things right before you file your return this year. Here are some suggestions:

Don't stand out. The IRS takes a closer look at business expenses, charitable donations, and high-value itemized deductions. IRS computers reference statistical data on which amounts of these items are typical for various professions and income levels. If what you are claiming is significantly different from what is typical, it may be flagged for review.

Have your documentation in order. Be meticulous about your record keeping. Items that will support the tax breaks you take include: cancelled checks, receipts, credit card and investment statements, logs for mileage and business meals, and proof of charitable donations. With proper documentation, a correspondence letter from the IRS inquiring about a particular deduction can be quickly resolved before it turns into a full-blown audit.

Remember, the average person has a less than 1 percent chance of being audited. If you prepare now, you can narrow your audit chances even further and rest easy after you've filed.

For one reason or another, you may find yourself in a situation where you've lost track of a retirement account like a 401(k) or pension.

There are several ways this can happen:

Luckily there are several handy but little-known ways to retrieve retirement account information:

	Contact employers. Getting in touch with employers who administered a 401(k) or pension plan is one of the easiest ways to retrieve lost retirement benefits. If the account was active from 2009 or later, you can search the Department of Labor's Form 5500 database, which collects the annual information submitted by plan administrators. Often the exact person you would need to get in touch with is listed on the form.
	Use the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits. The registry is created by a nonprofit organization that offers a free service to link up employees with their lost retirement benefits. Visit www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com and enter the Social Security number of the employee. It will locate any unclaimed accounts and then provide information about getting in contact with the employer maintaining them. Note that accounts will only appear as unclaimed if the employee's mailing address is out of date, or if the employee didn't respond to the employer's attempts to pay out the account.
	Check the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). The PBGC is a government agency that insures and tracks company pensions, and it keeps a list of unclaimed pensions online. You can search a person's name or the name of the company. Note that pensions will continue to exist at the PBGC even if the company that provided it no longer exists.

Once you've located a lost retirement account, you can roll it over into an IRA if it's yours, or you can take several approaches if it is an inherited asset. Reach out if you'd like to discuss your options regarding tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

If you're like most people, you've adopted a set of New Year's resolutions for 2018. Things like losing weight, quitting smoking or drinking, saving a certain amount of money, and finding a new job are among the most common resolutions.

Also, if you're like most people, you won't keep them. Sociological research has shown only about 10 percent of resolutions are maintained more than a few months. Rather than setting resolutions for yourself this year, try this approach instead: adopt new habits.

Here's why habits can be more useful than resolutions:

Habits avoid the feeling of failure. Resolutions often drift into obscurity because you feel like a failure when the goals are unmet. Any setbacks or backsliding on the way are devastating, because you are that much further away from meeting your goal. As soon as you practice a habit you feel like a winner. By eating a salad as part of a healthy eating habit, you get a positive feeling of achievement: "I'm doing something that's good for me right now." If you were focused on a weight loss resolution, eating a salad seems like a futile gesture: "I'm still ten pounds from my weight loss goal. How long do I have to keep eating like this?"

Habits avoid the letdown of success. Strange as it may sound, achieving a resolution can be just as harmful as not achieving it. If you're one of the 10 percent of people who achieve a resolution, you might be surprised that you feel let down afterwards. "Is that it? Is that all I've been working for?" This famously happened to Alexander the Great, who set out to conquer the entire known world of the classical era. When he'd beaten everyone, Alexander supposedly "wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer."

With a focus on habits, you no longer get hung up on the goal line. Why not consider changing a habit or two? Perhaps the true feeling of success is practicing a positive habit over and over again, with no end in sight to the satisfaction it brings.

The IRS recently announced mileage rates to be used for travel in 2018. The standard business mileage rate increased by 1 cent to 54.5 cents per mile. The medical and moving mileage rates also increased by 1 cent, to 18 cents per mile. Charitable mileage rates remained unchanged at 14 cents per mile.

2018 Standard Mileage Rates Mileage Rate/Mile     Business Travel 54.5¢ Medical/Moving 18.0¢ Charitable Work 14.0¢

Here are 2017 rates for your reference as well.

2017 Standard Mileage Rates Mileage Rate/Mile     Business Travel 53.5¢ Medical/Moving 17.0¢ Charitable Work 14.0¢

Remember to properly document your mileage to receive full credit for your miles driven.