Stay on Top of Retirement Tax Angles
Compounding of earnings and starting to save early have a tremendous positive effect on how much you accumulate for retirement. But to make the most of compounding, you also need to be smart about taxes.If you don’t plan ahead, the federal and state governments could collect a huge portion of your retirement savings. Uncle Sam can…
Do You Owe the AMT?
American educational reformer Horace Mann called education “the great equalizer.”1 In football, it’s been said that turnovers are the great equalizer. And anyone who’s ever watched CBS’s “The Amazing Race,” knows airport delays are the equalizer in a race around the world. In taxes, there’s also an equalizer of sorts. It’s called the alternative minimum tax (AMT)….
How Will Working after Retirement Affect Your Social Security Benefits?
In one survey, 79% of current workers stated they plan to work for pay after retiring.1 And that possibility raises an interesting question: How will working affect Social Security benefits? To answer that question requires an understanding of three key concepts: full-retirement age, the earnings test, and taxable benefits. Full Retirement Age Most workers don’t face an…
Estate Tax Planning Tips for Single People
Estate planning is an important part of your overall wealth management strategy, especially if you’re unmarried. Single parents may worry about who will care for their minor children and whether their surviving kids’ financial needs will be met until adulthood. Likewise, wealthy single people have less flexibility when it comes to shielding transfers from gift and…
Are Your Business Insurance Bases Covered?
Insurance can be complicated, and reading every word of an insurance contract could leave you comatose. That’s where the expertise of insurance professionals comes into play. A seasoned advisor who understands the risk profile of your business will be invaluable. Before you choose a representative, however, you should know how an insurance agent differs from an…
Tax Cheer for Holiday Gifts to Employees
With the holidays fast approaching, you might want to reward your employees for all their hard work in 2018. Gift-giving ideas include gift cards, holiday turkeys and achievement awards. Although your intent may be essentially the same in all these situations, the tax outcome for recipients of your goodwill may be quite different. Typically, it depends on the…
Becoming a Great Place to Work: It is Not About the Money
“It is easy to understand why companies have focused on… pay, parking, cafeteria discounts, etc.” when trying to attract, retain and motivate workers, stated Gallup in introducing its research on its Management Journal website. Why? Because it’s usually fairly easy to tinker with those variables. The problem is, “these factors do not really make a difference to the best,…
IRS Ups the Ante on Retirement Contributions
Every year, the IRS releases cost-of-living adjustments to qualified retirement plan amounts. For tax year 2019, many of the limits applicable to pensions and other retirement plans will increase. But some will remain unchanged from 2018. Annual Adjustments The following limits will increase for 2019 based on the cost of living: The elective deferral limit for…
Make a Tax-Smart Redemption of C Corp Stock
Do you have too much of your net worth tied up in your family C corporation? Consider bailing out some or all of that hard-earned wealth with a stock redemption. Here’s an explanation of why the federal income tax results for stock redemptions are far better today than in the past when much higher tax rates…
Go It Alone with a 401(k) Plan
If your business is essentially a one-person operation, there’s an option to help you save more money for retirement: The Solo 401(k) plan. Ordinarily, traditional defined contribution retirement plans allow annual contributions that are limited to either 25% of salary if you’re employed by your own S or C corporation or 20% of self-employment income if you operate…