An effective tax strategy to minimize the taxes you pay is a critical component to anyone’s overall financial plan.
What is tax-loss harvesting and will it work for you? “For many investors, tax-loss harvesting is one of the most useful tools for reducing capital gains taxes.” When securities and certain other assets such as real estate, are sold at a loss to offset a capital gains tax liability, the process is known as “tax-loss [...]
Tax planning involves far more than scrambling in April to defer income and boost deductions. If you want to minimize what you pay in capital gains tax, reduce your year-end tax bill, and give less of your estate to Uncle Sam, you should be aware of the short- and long-term tax consequences of all your financial moves.
Taxes are complicated, and full of regulations and ever changing laws. Depending on your situation, your tax return may be simple, or involve a series of very detailed steps. If you don’t know what you’re doing, tackling a complicated tax return by yourself can potentially create problems, i.e. audits, and trusting a local tax preparation service isn’t always a foolproof option either. A trusted tax professional, someone whom you’ve selected and whom you feel comfortable working with, is a valuable asset
Tax Scams: IRS Dirty Dozen It is tax time, and with it will come many offers to lower your taxes and, in some situations, avoid them altogether. These helpful hints may be grouped together under one heading: Scams. Tax scams are prevalent throughout the internet; here are a few that are so obvious that following [...]
Because of the accumulation benefits of tax deferral, many individuals have successfully created substantial IRA or 401K accounts or other qualified plans. It is not uncommon for these accounts to have amassed seven figures of total dollars. It is also usually the case that little attention has been focused on what will happen to [...]
Be A Surgeon, Cut The Tax Tumors Out Of Your Retirement Accounts. In 1999, at the age of 27, I woke up in a hospital emergency room. The doctor explained that I had arrived at the ER several hours earlier because I had had a seizure. The MRI revealed a large tumor and referred to [...]
Let me say that all of America knows where to find Safety—CDs, money markets, and treasury bonds. All of America knows where to find an opportunity—the stock market. However, many do not know where to find safety, an opportunity for growth, liquidity, and income on the same dollar, at the same time, with no risk [...]
As people get close to their retirement years, objectives and goals must adjust from accumulation to income distribution, and portfolio investment risk must be also be addressed accordingly. There is no good reason for investors at or near retirement to have stock or bond market risk, especially in the current low-interest-rate environment. So, where can [...]
"In a perfect world, you would enter retirement with your home paid off, $2million in savings, and not a penny in debt. Unfortunately, our world is far from perfect."-Donna McElroy Most financial planners urge their clients to eliminate as much debt as possible before they retire. While this is indeed a sensible approach to avoid [...]
Most people over 50 years old are aware of the penalty for withdrawing money from their retirement plans (401k or IRA) before age 59 ½. By doing so, the IRS would levy a 10% penalty for early withdrawal against the account holder. However, many of these same retirees and pre-retirees are unaware that at age [...]
