Year: 2020
“Assuming you have income in retirement, you will be subject to at least some income taxes in your golden years.” Once you are retired, the only tax you won’t have to pay will be—can you guess? Yes, payroll taxes. However, there are plenty of other taxes to be paid, advises Forbes in the article that […]
“Research shows that moving 401(k)s to after-tax contributions would boost tax returns in the short term, but leave retirees worse off.” Overhauling the retirement savings system is the subject of considerable talk in Washington these days, with the focus on how to give an immediate boost to government tax revenues. With retirement fund accounts being […]
“For obvious reasons, including control, privacy, asset protection, etc., many clients are interested in putting assets into a trust. For many retirees, their IRA is among their biggest assets. It’s only natural to want to put the IRA into a trust.” An IRA may not be placed into a trust while the account owner is […]
“One Justice from the Florida Supreme Court commented that the expensive litigation far outweighed any savings resulting from the pre-printed form.” Here’s a real world example of why what seems like a good idea backfires, as reported in The National Law Review’s article “Unintended Consequences of a Do-It-Yourself Estate Plan“. Mrs. Ann Aldrich wrote her […]
“A strong long-term care plan spells out where you would like to live, how you plan to get around, and who will oversee your financial and health decisions when you’re incapacitated.” Starting to plan for elder care should happen when you are in your 50s or 60s. By the time you are 70, it may […]
“Planning for changes to the estate tax and the valuation discount for small businesses can be challenging. Here’s how to take advantage of them now.” Trying to anticipate changes in the tax codes is like trying to time the stock market—a nearly impossible task. Most tax pundits guessed right when they said that President Trump […]
“Under the new law, not only must all of the tax on IRAs and plans benefits be paid much earlier than it was before, but the rate will likely be much higher too, since that income will be bundled into the recipients’ peak earning years.” The demise of the stretch IRA is causing many IRA […]
“A suspicious email, a strange phone call from an unknown number, an overzealous financial adviser, a close family member: what’s the connection between all these people and things? It’s financial elder abuse.” Financial elder abuse is defined as the “fraudulent or otherwise illegal, unauthorized or improper act or process of an individual, including a caregiver […]
“The kiddie tax was created long ago to prevent wealthy parents from cutting their taxes by transferring a large amount of investments to their dependent children, who would be taxed at a lower rate.” Families were hurt by a change in the kiddie tax that took effect after 2017, but they’ll be able to undo […]
“While it’s not the best idea to expect your benefits alone to support you in retirement (after all, Social Security is only designed to replace around 40% of your pre-retirement income), some retirees have no other option but to depend on their monthly checks to cover the majority of their expenses.” According to the Social […]
