Paying For Your Retirement At the end of long years of work, you may be looking forward to one thing: retirement. That retirement will be a lot more rewarding (and fun) if you have money to pay for it. Planning for retirement is one of those things you should do long before you need it.…
New Tax Reform Bill In every election cycle, it seems like American taxpayers ask lawmakers for tax reform. Let’s face it, none of us want to pay more tax than we absolutely must. In fact, many of us try to take every deduction available to us when filing our annual tax returns. Taxpayers with chronic,…
Most people enjoy giving presents and watching people open them. Gifting is also an important tool used while preparing an estate plan, but some gifts may be taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. Federal Gift Tax Explained In 2017, individuals can give up to $14,000 per person to as many people as they want. Spouses…
Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Most of us pay taxes like income tax, sales tax, and capital gains tax. When it comes to estate planning, both death and taxes come into play. Fortunately, we can use strategies for reducing taxes that we owe. Income…
Lower Taxes? It’s Happening! In 2016, American taxpayers made one message loud and clear: it’s time to deflate our bloated tax code. Actions in D.C. have raised expectations for many Americans that upcoming tax reform will lower their tax burden. Goals President Trump campaigned on many issues, including the need for tax reform that lowered…
You’ve worked hard all your life and accumulated a nice house, bank accounts, and valuable personal property. And you’d like as much of this as possible to go to your family, right? Most people would rather process the payment to their beneficiary. And not Uncle Sam. Unless you plan carefully, though, some of the money…
People Are Living Much Longer Today & Collecting Social Security Longer Than In Previous Generations And in many cases, women outlive men. Those who are in their 60s can elect to receive their retirement benefits earlier or later. Each month, 10,000 Baby boomers are turning 65. For those who have diseases that are known to…
Gift Tax Exclusion – What Does It Mean? There are two freeways to make gifts without incurring gift taxes. The first one is the annual exclusion on the second one is your lifetime exclusion. It’s 2017 so you can gift $14,000 this year to as many people as you want using the annual exclusion. Plus,…
Deciding How Long To Keep Tax Records & Which To Shred Can Be A Bit Of A Guessing Game Some keep every single piece of paper or file in the world and others tend to pitch things faster than they should. All documents are not created equal. Some must be kept longer than others; the…
One Way To Lower Your Tax Bill For 2016 Is To Accelerate Deductions Before December 31 Contributing to your favorite cause when it is a 501 (c) 3, is a terrific way to get another deduction. Did you know you can supercharge the tax benefits of your generosity by giving appreciated stock or property rather…