According to a recent study conducted by MetLife – the Qualified Retirement Plan Barometer – your 401(k) plan is probably falling short, because most plans simply don’t do all that a 401(k) plan ought to do. According to The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, many plan sponsors aren’t offering important plan features that could greatly enhance your retirement savings plan. What features are lacking? Primarily “help tools” and services. Studies show that plan participants who use the “help” tools and services provided by their employers tend to outperform participants who did not use these tools. In other words, if your employer…
President Barack Obama is focusing his 2011 economic recovery efforts on stimulating small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, the President’s new budget proposal includes a package of initiatives aimed at boosting small businesses and entrepreneurship, to include: Permanently eliminate capital gains taxes on certain investments in small businesses (making permanent a provision of the small business jobs act passed last September); Expansion of the New Markets Tax Credit, which encourages private sector investment in start-ups and small businesses operating in lower-income communities; Initiatives at the Small Business Administration, the Energy Department…
The Tax Guy, Bill Bischoff at Smart Money recently outlined the most important ones. When should I report the income from a 2010 conversion? The benefit of a Roth IRA is paying the tax upfront rather than when you withdraw the funds during retirement, thus locking in a known tax rate. Now, though, you still have to choose whether to report that income during 2010, or elect to spread it out evenly in 2011 and 2012 (50/50.) For most, stretching it out will be the best option. Still, for some it might be better to report it all in 2010,…
As we age, our needs and demands change. Senior Life Care Planning’s goal is to educate and assist you in achieving quality of life and peace of mind. Before the care journey becomes overwhelming, it's important to have trusted professionals guiding you on your path. Our philosophy is to provide a dedicated service and attention to our clients to make the aging process empowering and rewarding. We are often asked: How can I protect my assets to take care of my spouse, or to leave them to my children? Do I have to spend all of my money on the nursing…
Taxes can be a pain for all of us. But if you are a small business owner, managing your business taxes eats up valuable time and energy that you know you could put to better use elsewhere. Of course, if you think managing your tax filings is time-consuming, you sure won’t want to try your hand at an audit! In a timely article, Barbara Weltman of the Wall Street Journal last week compiled a list of 10 things to keep in mind when filing your business taxes to help avoid any undue IRS attention.Most of her advice is common-sense and…
The Social Security Administration recently put the kibosh on a technique some retirees were using to boost their monthly benefits. But even though that loophole is essentially closed, experts say there are still plenty of ways households can legally maximize the amount of income they receive from Social Security. — MarketWatchThe risky strategy of the Social Security “do-over,” is no longer available, under new rules issued by the Social Security Administration in December. Few people took advantage of this loop hole, but here is basically how it worked: You claim benefits at an early age, and then years later repay…
Even the best laid plans don’t stand up to a whirlwind Congress, and as Deborah Jacobs of Forbes reports, many are finding themselves in a position of giver’s remorse rather than buyer’s remorse this January, and not over Christmas presents. Before Congress put through the new tax law, the gift tax was set to revert to 55% instead of the 35% of 2010, and on that basis it was solid strategy to make use of your lifetime limit while the tax was so low (indeed, I’ve mentioned articles with this advice in previous posts.) Of course, now that the gift…
New Year’s resolutions never stick terribly well, as we are just a few weeks into the year and we have forgotten about them already, but if your resolutions were for proper retirement planning (and they should be) then you simply can’t allow them to lapse. Consider it a New Year’s follow-up, then, and perhaps take a cue from Robert Powell of MarketWatch and his recent list of eight retirement-planning resolutions for 2011. There is a good deal of specific information to be gleaned from that article and the entire eight resolutions, but it can also be boiled down to three…
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