Taxes

Capital Gains for Stock Sales

Capital gains represent the difference between the purchase price and the sales price of capital assets.  Capital gains apply to a number of assets including:  stocks, mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), bonds, real estate, cryptocurrencies, stamp and coin collections, precious metals, artwork and so forth.  (More specifically, if the sales price exceeds the purchase […]

Personal Financial Calendar for 2024

As the New Year begins, it’s a great time to take note of important financial events that are coming this year.  This will let you plan for them and avoid penalties and interest charges for missed payments. January Be sure you have signed up for your company’s 401(k) program – especially if your employer offers […]

2024 Tax Law Changes

As you make your plans for the coming year, it’s important to take note of the changes in contribution limits and other tax changes in 2024.  The information that follows was gathered from the IRS and other relevant government agencies. Social Security Social Security payments will increase 3.2% in 2024. 401(k) I view 401(k) plans […]

Tax Refunds — Good or Bad?

Few of us can really say we enjoy filling out our tax forms each April.  One bright spot in this process is if we have a refund coming rather than having to write Uncle Sam a check.  This month we’ll take a look at whether tax refunds are really such a good thing after all. […]

SECURE 2.0 Tax Law Changes

In our January article, we talked about some of the tax law changes coming in 2023.  Days before the end of the year, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 passed the congress with bipartisan support and was signed by the president.  The bill contains many provisions that are intended to strengthen the country’s retirement savings. […]

2023 Tax Law Changes

First of all, Happy New Year!  As you make your plans for the coming year, it’s important to take note of the changes in contribution limits and other tax changes in 2023. Social Security Inflation creates a number of financial problems, but high inflation does signal a healthy increase in Social Security payments.  Rates will […]

Tax-Loss Harvesting

Most of you know that what we pay for an investment is called its basis and what we sell an investment for is its realized gain or simply its gain.  If we sell an investment at less than its basis, we produce a loss.  Okay, simple enough, but what is tax-loss harvesting?  It just means […]

Document Retention

Who hasn’t wondered how long we should keep various documents? Keep them too long and it becomes unwieldy and makes it hard to find what you want. Don’t keep them long enough and you may not be able to respond to the tax man or some other authority. Is an electronic copy good enough or […]

2021 Tax Law Changes

Well, it’s finally a new year.  I know we’re all hoping it will be better than 2020!  As you make your plans for 2021, one of the things to take note of is the change in contribution limits and other tax changes. 401(k)Let’s start with 401(k) contributions, since that’s a retirement fund that I view […]

Tax Planning 2020

Believe it or not, we’re about three months from the end of the (calendar) tax year.  However, there’s still time to lower your 2020 taxes.  Here are some commonly used approaches to reducing taxes. Lower Your Income via a Tax-Deferred Savings Plan Tax-deferred savings plans let you reduce your Adjusted Gross Income by the amount […]