Financial

Why Medicare Should Be Part of Your Retirement Planning

The premiums and coverage vary, and you must realize the differences.   Medicare takes a little time to understand. As you approach age 65, familiarize yourself with its coverage options and their costs and limitations. Certain features of Medicare can affect health care costs and coverage. Some retirees may do okay with original Medicare (Parts A and B), others might find it lacking and decide to supplement original Medicare...

IRA Withdrawals That Escape the 10% Penalty

The list of these options has grown.   An IRA, or Individual Retirement Account, is a tax-advantaged savings account that is subject to special rules regarding contributions and withdrawals. One of the central rules of IRAs is that withdrawals prior to age 59½ are generally subject to a tax penalty because policymakers sought to create a disincentive to use these savings for anything other than retirement.1 Yet, policymakers acknowledged...

Your Emergency Fund: How Much is Enough?

An emergency fund may help alleviate the stress associated with a financial crisis.   Have you ever had one of those months? The water heater stops heating, the dishwasher stops washing, and your family ends up on a first-name basis with the nurse at urgent care. Then, as you’re driving to work, giving yourself your best, “You can make it!” pep talk, you see smoke seeping out from under...

1099 Forms

Explaining these ubiquitous forms and their uses.    What is a 1099 form? This is a record of payment from an individual or entity, showing a payment, generated for your records. The individual/entity sends a copy to both the payee as well as the I.R.S.1 Who might be sending 1099s? Clients send their freelancers 1099s, recording work performed. Banks send 1099s to reflect interest from a savings account. A...

Tolerate the Turbulence

Look beyond this moment and stay focused on your long-term objectives   Volatility will always be around on Wall Street, and as you invest for the long term, you must learn to tolerate it. Rocky moments, fortunately, are not the norm.   Since the end of World War II, there have been dozens of Wall Street shocks. Wall Street has seen 56 pullbacks (retreats of 5-9.99%) in the past 73...

Tax Considerations for Retirees

Are You Aware of Them?   The federal government offers some major tax breaks for older Americans. Some of these perks deserve more publicity than they receive.        If you are 65 or older, your standard deduction is $1,300 larger. Make that $1,600 if you are unmarried. Thanks to the passage of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, the 2018 standard deduction for an individual taxpayer at least 65...

No, That Is Not the I.R.S. Calling

Watch out for crooks impersonating I.R.S. agents (and financial industry professionals).    Do you know how the Internal Revenue Service contacts taxpayers to resolve a problem? The first step is almost always to send a letter through the U.S. Postal Service to the taxpayer.1 It is very rare for the I.R.S. to make the first contact through a call or a personal visit. This happens in two circumstances: when...

Is Generation X Preparing Adequately for Retirement?

Future Financial Needs May Be Underestimated If you were born during 1965-80, you belong to “Generation X.” Ten or twenty years ago, you may have thought of retirement as an event in the lives of your parents or grandparents; within the next 10-15 years, you will probably be thinking about how your own retirement will unfold.1  According to the most recent annual retirement survey from the Transamerica Center for...

Your 2019 Financial To-Do List

Things You Can Do for Your Future as the Year Unfolds What financial, business, or life priorities do you need to address for 2019? Now is a good time to think about the investing, saving, or budgeting methods you could employ toward specific objectives, from building your retirement fund to lowering your taxes. You have plenty of options. Here are a few that might prove convenient.  Can you contribute...

A Look at HSA’s

Health Savings Accounts may provide you with remarkable tax advantages. Why do higher-income households inquire about Health Savings Accounts? They have heard about what an HSA can potentially offer them: a pool of tax-exempt dollars for health care, a path to tax savings, even a possible source of retirement income after age 65. You may want to look at this option yourself. About 26 million Americans now have HSAs....