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If you are age 50 or older and still working, you have a valuable opportunity to super-charge your retirement savings while managing your income tax liability. Catch-up contributions offer the chance to invest amounts over and above the standard annual limits in IRAs and workplace retirement plans. 2023 Limits In 2023, the IRA catch-up limit […]

If you and your spouse are looking for a way to build your retirement savings but one of you is not working, you might consider funding a spousal IRA. This could be the same IRA that the spouse contributed to while working or it could be a new account. In either case, IRS rules allow […]

College students and parents deserve all the help they can get when paying for college or repaying student loans. If you’re in this situation, here are three federal tax benefits that might help put a few more dollars back in your pocket. American Opportunity Credit The American Opportunity tax credit is worth up to $2,500 […]

The passage of the SECURE Act in 2019 effectively eliminated the stretch IRA, an estate planning strategy that allowed an inherited IRA to continue growing tax deferred, potentially for decades. Most nonspouse beneficiaries, including children and grandchildren, can no longer stretch distributions over their lifetimes. Moreover, proposed IRS regulations require most designated beneficiaries to take […]

As young adults embark on their first real job, get married, or start a family, retirement might be the last thing on their minds. Even so, they might want to make it a financial priority. In preparing for retirement, the best time to start investing is now — for two key reasons: compounding and tax […]

According to the National Retail Federation, online sales accounted for over $1 trillion of total U.S. retail sales in 2021.1 Online shopping is especially popular during the holiday season, enabling you to avoid the crowds and conveniently purchase gifts using your smartphone or computer. Unfortunately, the popularity of online shopping also means that cyber criminals and […]

Here are some things to consider as you weigh potential tax moves before the end of the year. Set Aside Time to Plan Effective planning requires that you have a good understanding of your current tax situation, as well as a reasonable estimate of how your circumstances might change next year. There’s a real opportunity […]

If you worry about your retirement investments during market downturns, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, emotions are often the enemy of sound investing. Here are some points to help you stay clear-headed during periods of market volatility. Markets Rebound Historically, even the worst bear market has bounced back and eventually gone on to reach new highs. […]

After dropping the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 0%–0.25% early in the pandemic, the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has begun raising the rate aggressively in response to high inflation and a stronger economy. Following 0.25% and 0.50% increases in March and May 2022, the Committee implemented successive 0.75% […]

Index funds, which try to match the performance of a particular market index, have drawn increasing interest from investors, but traditional actively managed funds still hold more assets (see chart). There is ongoing discussion in the financial media about which approach is most effective, but there may be good reasons to hold both in a […]