Retirement Articles
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When Should You Stop Deferring Taxes
Conventional investment advice has been turned on its head by changes in the fundamentals of the economy and markets. Next, fundamental changes in the government, demographics, and the economy will force changes in tax policy and tax planning advice. The age-old advice to defer taxes whenever possible could become a thing of the past, at […]
Key Estate Planning Questions Every Investor Must Answer
Estate Planning can be confusing and even intimidating to most people. They do not deal with the issues regularly, so the terms and concepts can be confusing. Most estate planners are not helpful, as discussed in our October 2008 visit (available on the web site archive). They are not adept at simplifying and explaining concepts. […]
RMD Relief for 2009, Not for 2008
Congress and the IRS disappointed investors in late 2008. The steep decline in IRA values caused many investors to ask for a suspension or reduction in required minimum distributions from IRAs and other qualified retirement plans for those over age 70½. Congress did not act, and the IRS said it had no authority to suspend […]
February 2009
It Isn’t All Factored in Yet February 27, 2009 09:00 a.m. When the asset declines began in 2007 (and even before that) a number of investors and advisors began saying all the bad news already was factored into market prices. This mantra was repeated during and after each leg down in the markets, and especially […]
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Why You Must Convert Your IRAs
Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA has been a valuable tool to consider since the Roth was created in 1997. There are two reasons why a conversion is worth far more consideration now than in the past. First, a brief review of the basics. A Roth IRA has “back-ended tax benefits.” There are […]
Long-Term Care Insurance Policies and the Credit Crisis
The financial crisis is raising new concerns about long-term care insurance policies. In December Conseco announced it was transferring most of its 140,000 long-term care insurance policies into a nonprofit trust supervised by the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner. No new money will be put into the trust to pay claims, and insurance rater A.M. Best warned […]
When You Should File Gift Tax Returns
Too often people neglect to file gift tax returns. A smart plan is to file a gift tax return even when not required to. In some situations that provides substantial insurance. Gifts above the annual exemption amount ($13,000 for 2009) potentially are taxable and must be reported on Form 709. The gift might not be […]
January 2009
January 29, 2009 10:25 a.m. Optimism Makes a Comeback Financial stocks soared Wednesday. Wells Fargo alone gained over 30%. Last week I discussed the sort of policies the government should implement to right the financial system and resolve the crisis. The recommendation involved having the government set up one or more bad banks to take […]
