Blog – Page 21

Individual Retirement Accounts – Roth IRAs

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement arrangement. It is a personal savings plan that gives you tax advantages for setting aside money for retirement. An account must be designated as a Roth IRA when opened. Read More... IRAs, Roth … [Read more...]

Individual Retirement Accounts – Kinds of IRAs and Prohibited Transactions

You can open different kinds of IRAs with a variety of organizations. You can open an IRA at a bank or other financial institution or with a mutual fund or life insurance company. You can also open an IRA through your stockbroker. Any IRA must meet Internal Revenue Code requirements, which are listed below for various arrangements. Read More... IRAs - Types of … [Read more...]

Individual Retirement Accounts – Backdoor Roth IRA

Generally, you can only contribute to a Roth IRA if you have taxable compensation and income less than the top of the phaseout range for your filing status (see chart below). If your income is greater than that threshold amount, you are prohibited from contributing directly to a Roth IRA. A "backdoor Roth IRA" allows a taxpayer to bypass income limitations by first making a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then converting it into a Roth IRA. If the conversion happens soon … [Read more...]

Identity Theft and Your Taxes

Your identity an money can be stolen in a tax-related scam via email ("phishing"), fax, phone, or letters. Some recent examples of identity theft scams are: Phone Scam... Email phishing scam... tax transcript... IRS refunds... Read More... Identity Theft and Your Taxes … [Read more...]

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-exempt or custodial account set up with a qualified HSA trustee to pay or reimburse certain medical expenses incurred by an individual, his or her spouse, and qualified dependents. The medical expenses must not be reimbursable by insurance or other sources, and distributions from HSA funds will not give rise to a medical expense deduction on the individual's tax return. Read More... HSA Client Handout … [Read more...]

Hobby vs. Business?

If an individual, partnership, estate, trust, or an S corporation engages in an activity that is not conducted as a for-profit business, expenses (other than cost of goods sold) are not deductible. This rule does not apply to corporations, other than S corporations. if an activity is considered a for-profit business, deductions can exceed income, allowing the resulting loss to offset other income. Read More... Hobby vs. Business … [Read more...]

Death of a Taxpayer

When a taxpayer dies, there are certain returns that still need to be filed, a responsibility that falls onto the personal representative. Personal Representative Under state law, a personal representative is the person appointed by a court to administer an estate. The term includes both executors (appointed when decedent has a will) and administrators (appointed in the absence of a will). A personal representative nominated in a will has no authority over estate assets unless appointed … [Read more...]

College Financial Aid Planning

Individuals who want to attend College but cannot afford the costs outright must find alternative funding through various types of financial aid. Many factors affect eligibility for federal financial aid; therefore, all students should apply for financial aid every year even if they think they do not otherwise qualify. Read More... College Financial Aid Planning … [Read more...]

Quarterly Market Review: April-June 2019

The Markets (second quarter through June 28, 2019) The second quarter was full of ups and downs for stocks as investors had plenty to worry about. Throughout the quarter, the trade war between the United States and China ebbed and flowed as news continuously changed from positive to negative. Employment was steady and the unemployment rate remained low, but wage growth was moderate at best. Manufacturing and industrial production hit a snag during the second quarter, as did business fixed … [Read more...]

How Does the Federal Reserve Affect the Economy?

“The Fed's mission The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. Its mission is to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. For more information on the Federal Reserve, visit federalreserve.gov.” If you follow financial news, you've probably heard many references to "the Fed" along the lines of "the Fed held interest rates," or "market watchers are wondering what the Fed will do next." So what exactly is the Fed … [Read more...]