Bob Carlson of Retirement Watch on how to manage your taxes and planning strategies to pay less
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More and more retirees stay active. Some work or start businesses. Some have hobbies. Technology and other changes in the economy make it possible for more and more seniors to pursue avocations. But too many seniors overlook big tax breaks from these activities. Over the years I’ve driven through the horse country of Virginia many […]
Insurance products can be great tax shelters. Annuities and cash value life insurance have tax breaks sanctioned by Congress. But a price of the benefits is that there are a number of tax traps. It is easy to fall into one of these traps, and the result can be expensive. Even worse, an entire estate […]
Health care or long-term care can eat up a big part of a retiree’s budget – or the budget of a retiree’s children. Fortunately, the tax law can help pay for a big part of that burden. Deductions for medical expenses seemed to disappear when the rules were changed in 1986. Now, you can deduct […]
The 90% marginal tax bracket is alive and well. Most people believe that such high marginal tax rates ended with the 1981 and 1986 tax cuts. For most taxpayers, they did. But those high marginal tax rates exist today and are reserved for retirees. Many of you who recently completed your federal income tax returns […]
What you don’t know about retirement can hurt you. In fact, just a few wrong decisions in your investments, taxes, or estate planning could completely derail your retirement plans. Worse yet, the rules of the game keep changing, making it harder to keep up. For these reasons, I’ve assembled all the key points – everything you need to know — into one comprehensive report. Click here today for free access.
You’re smart to be saving money for your children’s or grandchildren’s future. You can be even smarter. By paying a little attention to which assets you put in each family member’s name during Estate Planning, you can use the tax law to dramatically reduce the family’s tax bite on this money. The kiddie tax allows […]
It is not always a good idea to keep money in an IRA as long as possible. In most cases, it makes sense to let income and gains compound tax deferred for many years. But that can change as you get older. You might benefit by taking more money out of an IRA than you […]
The IRS recently created a tremendous opportunity to improve your financial and estate planning. In a surprise to everyone, the IRS in early January issued new rules for taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from IRAs and other qualified retirement plans after age 70 1/2. The previous rules, described in detail in my Retirement Tax Guide, […]
Most of you invest through both tax-deferred accounts (such as IRAs) and taxable accounts. You also own both stock and bond investments. To maximize after-tax returns, you want to know which investments should be primarily in the taxable accounts and which in the tax-deferred accounts. First, don’t let the taxes drive your portfolio allocation. Decide […]
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