The following is a summary of the most common items relevant to the majority of American taxpayers. Complete information written in the IRS tax speak we know and love may be found here. 2015 income tax brackets STANDARD DEDUCTION: Singles and married persons filing separate returns may clam a deduction of $6,300 (up from $6,200 [...]
The following was sent to us by friend and colleague Rick Dreyfuss – a former executive at The Hershey Company active in public pension reform who now serves as a business consultant and actuary. The Pension Dance As a national firm with headquarters in Pennsylvania we like to stay current with local politics. Doing so [...]
In a September 6th speech at the AFL-CIO convention U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, called for an increase in the estate tax. In 2014 up to $5.34 million of an individual’s estate may be exempt from federal estate tax with a 40% tax rate applied to any excess over this amount. If Senator [...]
On Monday Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced a series of measures the Obama administration will be taking to discourage U.S. companies from using mergers with foreign companies to reduce their corporate taxes. The measures like so many taken by the Obama administration show just how little a grasp it has on how free enterprise works. [...]
During the 2012 Presidential campaign Mitt Romney stepped in a giant pile of political dogs**t with the following: "There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that [...]
All of these strategies are perfectly legal but their use by the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie of the Democratic Party smacks of hypocrisy. Apparently one's "fair share" is fair solely in the eye of the beholder. See ya at the voting booth!
A couple of recent studies highlight the (willful?) financial ignorance of the American public: The audit confirmation service Confirmation.com polled college-educated investors about the Bernie Madoff fraud. The findings are interesting: 27% of respondents never heard of Bernie Madoff or are aware he perpetrated a stock market fraud 50% of respondents between the ages of 18 and [...]
Apparently the IRS is too busy administering Obamacare and auditing non-profits with Tea Party ties to notice their literature is inaccurate.
The problem with Federal entitlement programs is they're outdated. SS benefits at age 65 were fine when life expectancy was 67. Unemployment benefits were fine when job loss was frictional. In today's America retirees are living longer. The unemployed are out of work for longer due to structural changes. Social safety nets necessarily become a fiscal burden. One [...]
One of the most attractive features of the Roth - the ability to avoid Required Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") - is under attack by the Obama White House. Under the clever euphemism of "harmonizing Roth RMD rules with other retirement accounts" President Obama's fiscal 2015 budget calls for a provision that would require Roth IRAs to [...]