With the Economic Stimulus Act rebate checks set to start mailing out to taxpayers next month, based on their 2007 tax filings, many believe that no tax planning remains for the rebate checks. However, for the many individuals who will receive less than the full maximum of the rebate check (or possibly as little as nothing), tax planning opportunities do remain!
Read More...
Is your excess insurance capacity for sale? Should it be?
The pitch goes something like this: "You are eligible for more insurance than you currently have, giving you "excess capacity" for insurance on your life. Why don't you sell that capacity, since you're not using it anyway, and put the extra money in your pocket to meet your own goals?" And if it wasn't against public policy, the strategy might even work!Read More...
Fixing Missed RMDs From A Stretch IRA After It’s “Too Late”
To preserve the ability to stretch IRA distributions for a beneficiary, that individual must start taking withdrawals based on his/her life expectancy in the year after death. If those required withdrawals don't start on time, can you still rectify the situation to preserve the tax deferral?
The good news is that recent private letter ruling 200811028 (and more recently, IRS Information Letter 2016-0071) indicates the answer is "yes."
Read More...
Is It Ever OK To Buy Muni Bonds In An IRA? Yes, Sometimes…
As financial planners, we've all heard the old saw "never put a tax shelter inside of a tax shelter" - in other words, don't buy tax-exempt municipal bonds inside of a tax deferred retirement account like an IRA or Roth IRA.
Well, it seems that "never" may have just arrived. Because in an environment where the outright yield on municipal bonds is better than taxable bonds, it really can be appropriate to own a muni bond inside of an IRA!
Read More...
The dollar has its woes, and now the penny does too!
The rising price of various commodities, linked in part to the falling dollar, have begun to impact the cost of a broad array of goods in the U.S., from the cost of building construction to gasoline at the pump to food at the grocery store. Now, the decline of the dollar is being felt directly by the U.S. government, with a painful rise in the cost of the penny!
Read More...
It just got a little easier to borrow money…
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) has just released the new maximum conforming loan limits, established pursuant to the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which will allow homebuyers in several metropolitan areas to obtain conforming loans as large as $729,750, instead of the former limit of only $417,000.Read More...
Should you withdraw and reapply for Social Security benefits?
An interesting article in the syndicated column of Scott Burns suggests that it may be a wise strategy for those at or around age 70 to withdraw from Social Security and reapply to increase their benefit. Is this a Social Security loophole, a great deal, a trap, or just another good arrow in the financial planner's quiver?Read More...
Does Extra Retirement Spending Follow A Consistent Aging Sequence?
A new study from Sun Life Financial suggests that retirees may have a consistent sequence of extra spending goals throughout their retirement years. Of course, practicing financial planners have acknowledged for years that retirement spending isn't perfectly level from year to year, but Sun Life's new study suggests that there are some consistent patterns that can be gleaned.
Read More...
Government significantly reduces availability of savings bonds!
Last month, the Treasury announced that they were significantly reducing the availability of Series EE and I savings bonds, decreasing the maximum allowable purchase from at $5,000 per Social Security number per year (reduced from $30,000), and the new limits took effect on January 1, 2008!
IRS delays for AMT patch may not be as bad as first feared!
Taxpayers awaiting a refund may be delayed in their ability to file early and receive that refund, due to Congress' late passage of an AMT patch - but apparently, the delay won't impact as many taxpayers as first feared.
