Announcements

How New Tax Laws Affect Small Businesses

A recap of the major changes impacting corporations and closely held firms.   The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act changed the tax picture for business owners. Whether your company is incorporated or held closely, you must recognize how the recent adjustments to the Internal Revenue Code can potentially affect you and your workers. How have things changed for C corps? The top corporate tax rate has fallen. C corps...

The Different Types of IRA’s

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, contributions to a traditional IRA are tax deductible: they reduce your taxable income,...

A New Day for 529 Plans

Federal tax reforms lead to new possibilities for these education savings accounts.   Do you have a 529 college savings plan? Have you thought about opening a 529 plan account? If the answer to either question is “yes,” you should know about two major changes that broaden the possibilities for 529 plans. They may give your family some new options. You may be able to pay K-12 tuition with...

Are Financial Advisory Fees Tax Deductible?

In some cases, they may be.  Read on. Do you itemize your tax deductions? Then you might have a chance to partly or fully deduct the cost of the advisory fees you pay for the investment, legal, and tax advice you receive.   Under federal tax law, you may deduct “investment fees, custodial fees, trust administration fees, and other expenses you paid for managing your investments that produce taxable...

Why Having a Financial Professional Matters

A good professional provides important guidance and insight through the years. What kind of role can a financial professional play for an investor? The answer: a very important one. While the value of such a relationship is hard to quantify, the intangible benefits may be significant and long lasting. A good financial professional can help an investor interpret today’s financial climate, determine objectives, and assess progress toward those goals....

How the Tax Reforms Will Take Effect

Some of the impact of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act will be felt later than January 1.   President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act into law on December 22, and on January 1, some key details of the Internal Revenue Code will abruptly change.1 There will be night-and-day change, both figuratively and literally. On January 1, the federal estate tax exemption will double; the...

Should We Reconsider What “Retirement” Means?

  The notion that we separate from work in our sixties may have to go.   An executive transitions into a consulting role at age 62 and stops working altogether at 65; then, he becomes a buyer for a church network at 69. A corporate IT professional decides to conclude her career at age 58; she serves as a city council member in her sixties, then opens an art...

The Republican Tax Reform Plan

What is in it? What could its changes mean for you, if they become law?  Major changes may be ahead for federal tax law. At the start of November, House Republicans rolled out their plan for sweeping tax reforms. Negotiations may greatly alter the content of the bill, but here are the proposed adjustments, and who may and may not benefit from them if they become law. The corporate...

Credit Card vs Debit Card

Debit or Credit? Choosing between debit and credit is a bit of a catch-22. Debit cards that draw funds directly from a card holder’s bank account have become increasingly popular since their debut over 30 years ago and their usage has now surpassed credit cards.  But using a debit card presents more risk to the consumer than using a credit card.  While many debit card issuers are improving the...

The Equifax Data Breach

Have you been affected? If so, how can you try to protect yourself? On September 7, credit reporting agency Equifax dropped a consumer bombshell. It revealed that cybercriminals had gained access to the personal information of as many as 143 million Americans between May and July – about 44% of the U.S. population. The culprits were able to retrieve roughly 209,000 credit card numbers, in addition to many Social...