Health Savings Accounts may provide you with remarkable tax advantages. Why do higher-income households inquire about Health Savings Accounts? They have heard about what an HSA can potentially offer them: a pool of tax-exempt dollars for health care, a path to tax savings, even a possible source of retirement income after age 65. You may […]
Steps to get your credit rating back toward 720. We all know the value of a good credit score. We all try to maintain one. Sometimes, though, life throws us a financial curve and that score declines. What steps can we take to repair it? Reduce your credit utilization ratio (CUR). CUR is credit […]
This popular retirement savings vehicle comes in several varieties. What don’t you know? Many Americans know about Roth and traditional IRAs, but there are other types of Individual Retirement Arrangements. Here’s a quick look at all the different types of IRAs: Traditional IRAs (occasionally called deductible IRAs) are the “original” IRAs. In most cases, […]
They should not be left ill-informed or unaware. Talking about “the end” is not the easiest thing to do, and this is one reason why some people never adequately plan for the transfer of their wealth. Those who do create estate plans with help from financial and legal professionals sometimes leave their heirs out […]
What are the potential benefits? What are the drawbacks? If you own a traditional IRA, perhaps you have thought about converting it to a Roth IRA. Going Roth makes sense for some traditional IRA owners, but not all. Why go Roth? There is an assumption behind every Roth IRA conversion – a belief that income […]
The legislation popularly known as the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act did not exactly “rewrite the book” of federal tax laws, but it almost seems that way. On January 1, a host of important, new tax provisions entered the Internal Revenue Code, and others were suddenly repealed. Due to these reforms, federal tax law has […]
What can you do to lessen its impact for your heirs? Probate subtly reduces the value of many estates. It can take more than a year in some cases, and attorney’s fees, appraiser’s fees, and court costs may eat up as much as 5% of a decedent’s assets. Probating a “routine” estate valued at $400,000 […]
From one perspective, the answer is yes; from another, no. When you buy a home, are you investing? If you buy it to flip it or buy it as a rental property, the answer is yes. If you buy a home simply to live in it, the answer may be no. Your home is […]
The answer depends on your income. Your Social Security income could be taxed. That may seem unfair, or unfathomable. Regardless of how you feel about it, it is a possibility. Seniors have had to contend with this possibility since 1984. Social Security benefits became taxable above certain yearly income thresholds in that year. Frustratingly […]
Don’t let these slip-ups creep into your federal tax return. No one wants to delay their federal tax refund. As you certainly don’t, filling out your 1040 form correctly is essential. To that end, it is worth noting some of the common 1040 mistakes – the little slip-ups that aggravate both the IRS and […]
