Taxes

There are certain questions of life we all want answered. What happens when you die? Does my life have meaning? How long should I keep tax records? Personally, my answer about keeping tax records is biased because I’m a safety man. I would wear a belt AND suspenders—just in case. But the length of...

Estate planning. It’s such a noble phrase. It conjures up images of passing on to your loved ones a lifetime of hard work and success—leaving a legacy. But the road to distributing your estate is filled with potholes that may hijack your good intentions. Pothole # 1. Probate Court. If you...

The IRS wants its tax money and it wants it now. Even if you pay all the taxes you owe when you file your tax return for the year, you’ll be charged an underpayment penalty if you didn’t pay enough taxes during the year. The provision to hire 87,000 new...

In 2012, the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) established, for the first time, a permanent estate tax and gift tax exemption. The exemption is the amount an individual can pass on at death without paying estate taxes. The legislation set the exemption at $5 million per person, indexed for...

Your company offers a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) that allows money to come out of your check before taxes and then you use that money to pay for eligible out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. In 2022 you can contribute up to $2850. Great deal, right?   But there’s a downside to Flex Spending...

Here we are again in the final quarter of the year when thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and Christmas and… reviewing your financial house. Oh, that’s not on your list? Well, let’s put it there because financial issues cannot be on automatic pilot. Things change and you need to keep...

Anyone 70 ½ years old or older with an IRA has discovered the pesky government requirement that forces you to take money out of your IRA whether you want to or not. The annual required minimum distribution is the government’s way of saying, “You haven’t paid taxes on your...