Since 1986, lawmakers have limited business meal deductions: first to 80 percent, and then to 50 percent (unless an exception applies). But on December 27, 2020, in an effort to help the restaurant industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers enacted a new, temporary 100 percent business meal deduction for calendar years 2021 and 2022. […]
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IRS Focuses on Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies have gone mainstream. For example, you can use bitcoin to buy far more than you would think. To see, try googling “What can I buy with bitcoin?” You will get more than 350,000 hits. But using cryptocurrencies has federal income tax implications that may surprise you. With the price of bitcoin having gone through […]
Tax Planning for the New $142,800 Base for Self-Employment Taxes
What happens when lawmakers enact a new tax? It starts small. It looks easy. In 1935, the self-employment tax topped out at $60. Those 1935 lawmakers must be twirling in their graves with the new rules for 2021, which levy the following taxes: A self-employment tax of up to $21,848, which comes from the 15.3 […]
Don’t Let Debt Derail Your Retirement
Debt poses a growing threat to the financial security of many Americans — and not just college graduates with exorbitant student loans. Recent studies by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) reveal an alarming trend: The percentage of older Americans with debt is at its […]
Can Creditors Take Your Retirement Savings? It Depends
Given the immense financial hardship inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in personal bankruptcies could be waiting in the wings. For those whose livelihoods have been hit the hardest, it might be important to review the creditor protections that apply to their retirement accounts. The extent to which assets are protected can vary significantly, […]
Life Insurance Beneficiary Mistakes to Avoid
Life insurance has long been recognized as a useful way to provide for your heirs and loved ones when you die. Naming your policy’s beneficiaries should be a relatively simple task. However, there are several situations that can easily lead to unintended and adverse consequences you may want to avoid. Not Naming a Beneficiary The […]
Decisions, Decisions: Weighing the Pros and Cons of an IRA Rollover
If you lose a job, switch employers, or step into retirement, you might consider rolling your retirement plan savings into an IRA. But this isn’t your only option; it could make more sense to keep the money in your previous employer’s plan or move it to your new employer’s plan (if allowed by the plan). […]
Considerations When Making Gifts to Children
If you make significant gifts to your children or someone else’s children (perhaps a grandchild, a nephew, or a niece), or if someone else makes gifts to your children, there are a number of things to consider. Nontaxable Gift Transfers There are a variety of ways to make transfers to children that are not treated […]
How Well Do You Understand Retirement Plan Rules?
Qualified retirement plans, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, have many rules, and some of them can be quite complicated. Take the following quiz to see how well you understand some of the finer points. 1. You can make an unlimited number of retirement plan rollovers per year. A. True B. False C. It depends 2. […]
Growing Interest in Socially Responsible Investing
U.S. assets invested in socially responsible strategies topped $17.1 trillion at the start of 2020, up 42% from two years earlier. Sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investments now account for nearly one-third of all professionally managed U.S. assets.1 This upward trend suggests that many people want their investment dollars to pursue a financial return and make […]
