Which account you should fund depends on your circumstances. However, there are some general guidelines you can follow to make your decision.
Utilizing tax-smart spontaneous giving only requires the smallest amount of planning ahead.
The short answer is that most taxable distributions from inherited IRAs are taxed at the the child / beneficiary’s income tax rate. The longer answer is that there are multiple chances for inheritance to be taxed.
To take advantage of tax-free penalty-free Roth withdrawals of contribution basis, you need to keep careful records of your Roth contributions.
Sadly, the IRS is very clear about this; contributions must be cash.
A timeless question with a consistent answer, this article helps you determine if your asset allocation is appropriate enough that you should continue to stay the course.
Instead of changing your investment strategy, you should focus on changing your spending habits and charitable giving to help further the social good you want in the world.
Having a financial advisor who has discretion over your accounts is only a good idea if your financial advisor is covered under the fiduciary duty and is fee-only.
Step by step, this article shows how you can determine what taxes and penalties are owed on non-qualified distributions.
By flowing money through a 529 account, a Virginia tax payer could receive a $575 discount on their private school tuition.
Interestingly, being a fiduciary though is not a job description as much as it is descriptive of the kind of job that you do.
Depending on your particular case and Social Security agent, you may get your surcharge waived, lowered, or upheld.
Fortunately, closing a specific account doesn’t reset your Roth clock.
There are three clear options: future value schedule, a product array, or a large table.
This 2016 article reminds us that “there is a very simple place to start the process of changing our destiny: Each day notice the things that make you happy and try experiencing more of them.”
Sometimes you may want to check in on your current running total of net capital gains during the current tax year. Luckily, there is a page on Schwab Alliance which shows you just that.
We hope this small increased exposure to foreign healthcare will help capture some of the efficiencies we believe to have found.
A new book by David John Marotta and Brendon Marotta makes you rethink what is happening in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
In the same night in which Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted, the spirits also visit Bob Cratchit.
Roth conversions can only be performed during the IRA owner’s lifetime.
Which of these three methodologies you prefer depends on your reason for giving.
If you have a tax credit eligible charity where you like their work better than the state government, then consider redirecting your state tax to fund the charity instead.
Luckily, the form is organized by type of tax credit and the NAP credit section of Schedule CR is only five lines long.
I cannot throw away such a delightful box.
As the proud mother of a now four-year-old daughter, I thought I’d record some of my and my firstborn’s favorite things from this past year as helpful ideas for gifts from grandparents.
Alas, the year you move the funds from traditional IRA to Roth IRA is the year that those assets are taxed.
Taxpayers of any income level, age, and employment or retirement status can convert their pre-tax individual retirement assets to Roth IRA.
As the season of holiday shopping approaches, this 2018 article reminds us, “Before you throw your money at various companies, squirrel some savings away for your future self.”
The draft 2020 Form 1040 instructions clarify: the $300 limit is per form.
Choosing the right moments to buy convenience with your money brings value to your life.
An important part of the family’s emergency plan is to make sure you have a plan for when the financial spouse can no longer serve the family in that way, either because they are no longer interested or because of their incapacity.
This 2017 article reminds us that there is not one best Roth conversion plan that you can apply to everyone.
Depending on your situation, outright beneficiary designations could be a cleaner estate planning solution.
We have an almost secret code behind the images we select.
The SECURE Act of 2019 changed several things, so here is an updated review of this complex subject.
“Parental Reminder #42” reminds us that goodness is something bigger than we can articulate but, even though we cannot express it fully, it is very important.
On Monday, October 26, 2020, Megan Russell was interviewed by Sunny Burns and Sunmarie Burns of the FamVestor podcast.
Most stayed the same while HSAs and employers saw increased contribution limits.
If you are a responsible saver, keeping the liquidity in your pocket until the bill deadline expands your options for both growth and savings.
We believe that holding on to Energy and waiting for it to recover might mean missing out on greater gains elsewhere.
The form is amazingly straightforward. Once the paperwork has been processed though, it can be difficult to find out how much was converted.
Beneficiary designations directly to your heirs are a cleaner estate planning solution.
If you have a charity among your heirs, there is the possibility for tax savings.
Voting early is as easy as voting in-person. You can vote whenever is convenient for you including right now and until October 30.
Not every custodian is willing to accept the complexity, but I am grateful that Schwab is.
Tax planning is very different than tax return preparation. The goal of tax preparation is to minimize your tax owed this year. The goal of tax planning is to maximize your after-tax net worth by minimizing your taxes owed over your lifetime.
While an efficient frontier graph cannot hand you a perfect asset allocation, it remains a useful tool in analyzing what the past can tell us about a wide variety of investments.
We pride ourselves on regularly and seamlessly offering our services regardless of who is working and who is taking time off.
Each spouse has different spending habits and values different things in life. It’s okay for your budget to reflect that.
Here is a guide for how to find out what your bond is worth, decide whether you should keep it until maturity or cash out early, and how to get money for your paper.