Category: Personal Finance
Tips to Start Planning for Next Year’s Tax Return
For most taxpayers, the tax filing deadline has passed. However, planning for next year can start now. Being organized and planning ahead can save time and money in 2014, so here are a few things you can do now to...
High wage earners can consider a “backdoor” Roth IRA contribution
High wage earning clients often have a modified adjusted gross income that is too high to enable him or her to deduct a traditional IRA contribution or contribute directly to a Roth IRA. This is a very interesting article on...
Simplified Home Office Deduction
The IRS has recently announced a simplified safe harbor method that individuals may use to compute their home office deduction. This safe harbor calculation is an alternative to the current calculation and allocation of actual expenses otherwise required under IRC...
All Retirement Income is Not Created (or Taxed) Equally
Whether you are nearing retirement or already retired, you may want to consider your retirement income needs. Budgeting for taxes and making sure your withdrawals will cover them could keep you from being caught off guard when the tax bill...
Social Security Benefits: Key Considerations before You Make a Decision
As more Americans remain healthy well into their 80's or byond, the picture of retirement for those lucky folks could be changing. Often, they have the capacity and interest (or need) to continue some form of work as a senior citizen. ...
New for 2013 – “In-Plan Roth Rollover”
For the past few years, plans with designated Roth accounts could allow an individual to roll over an amount from a non-Roth account into the individual’s designated Roth account in the same plan, but only amounts the individual could have...
Parents and Students: Don’t forget College Tax Benefits for 2012 and Years Ahead
Reminder to parents and students that now is a good time to see if you qualify for either of two college education tax credits or any of several other education-related tax benefits. In general, the American opportunity tax credit, lifetime...
Foreign Asset Reporting for Individuals
Ownership of foreign assets comes with a myriad of tax reporting considerations, many of which come with steep penalties for non-compliance. Individuals who own certain foreign assets need to be aware of Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets)...
Client Question: What is the Earned Income Tax Credit?
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been reducing the tax burden of working people since 1975. EITC can be a boost for workers who earned $50,270 or less in 2012. However, according to the IRS, one out of five...
SR Client Question – What is the difference between a SEP IRA and a SIMPLE IRA?
SEP IRAs (simplified employee pension individual retirement arrangement) and SIMPLE IRAs (savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement arrangement) are retirement plan options geared toward small businesses. Both types of plans are easy to administer and require no annual...