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 [...]
Beginning January 2015 an employee will be able to contribute up to $18,000 pre-tax into his or her 401(k). This article details the change plus provides additional information regarding COLA adjustments to IRAs, etc.
Life is hectic. How many times has, “I’m just really busy” been the answer you’ve received when asking a friend how they’re doing? We handle the time crunch with shortcuts. We like our apps, AAA diamonds, three out of four star movie reviews, Yelp and the like. But there are times when shortcuts are due [...]
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 [...]
Last week the IRS released guidance indicating distributions of after-tax dollars contributed to retirement plans could be converted free of taxes to a Roth IRA effective January 1, 2015. Additional information may be found here.
A longevity annuity is a deferred income vehicle with payouts beginning at an advanced age and continuing throughout an individual's life. This tool while nominally attractive at best makes sense in limited circumstances and at worst should be avoided by everyone saving for retirement. Much like Twitter has had it easy for any halfwit to [...]
Many strategies exist for determining the "proper" time to file for the receipt of SS benefits. Each comes with pros and cons and is only as good as the situation to which it's applied. Some people are blessed with longevity and/or wealth and can afford to defer benefits while others have lousy genetics and/or poor [...]
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling provides much needed guidance on the issue of whether bankruptcy protection is afforded to inherited IRAs. While the bankruptcy protection afforded to ERISA qualified plans (as well as contributory and rollover IRAs) is clear the protection given to inherited IRAs hadn't been as well-defined. In Clark, et ux v. Rameker the U.S. Supreme Court [...]
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.