You can help your relatives immensely by setting up an estate plan now, regardless of who you are. Essentially, whatever you own makes up your estate. These assets could be: Any property your own Whatever money you have in a bank account Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds invested through a taxable brokerage account A Roth…
Cash in on Your Home Equity
By Emma Patch From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance For the nearly two-thirds of Americans who own a home, tapping into home equity can be an affordable and flexible way to borrow money. One way to do that is through a home equity line of credit or HELOC. HELOCs allow homeowners to borrow from their home equity…
Your Tax Refund Could Be Smaller Than Last Year. Here’s Why.
NEW YORK—Expecting a tax refund? It could be smaller than last year. And with inflation still high, that money won’t go as far as it did a year ago. The more than 100 million taxpayers who have had their returns processed as of April 7 got refunds that were an average of 9.3 percent less…
Buying an Annuity During Times of Inflation
Inflation can throw a wrench into retirement plans. That’s because, over the long term, inflation erodes your income’s purchasing power. So even if you save and invest, your wealth may buy less and less with time. Commercial annuities often pay a fixed monthly income. This fixed amount is susceptible to inflation. But if annuities are…
Freelancers Can Prepare Now for New 2023 Tax Reporting
NEW YORK—Taxpayers who have filed their 2022 taxes by Tuesday’s deadline may be sighing with relief. But there’s always next year. If you’re a freelancer or gig worker who receives payments via apps like Venmo, Zelle, Cash App or PayPal, your tax reporting requirements will change for the 2023 tax year. The law will not…
Positive and Negative Aspects of Filing a Tax Extension
Filling out all your tax forms can be a time-consuming task. If you are short on time, you have the option of filing a tax extension. Once you do, it will give you another six months (until October 16) to get accurate paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Asking for a tax return extension…
Will You Face a Tax Bomb in Retirement?
Good savers, beware. The money you’re stuffing into your 401(k) and other retirement accounts has to be withdrawn someday. If you’re not strategic about how you save, you could face unnecessarily high tax bills and inflated Medicare premiums in retirement—plus, you could be saddling your heirs with higher taxes. The earlier you start defusing this…
14 Ways to Revamp Your Personal Finances Even When Money is Tight
Many of the opportunities available to you are dictated by your financial situation, making it difficult to overstate the importance of taking care of your personal finances. When it comes to managing money, most of us have room for improvement. Understanding your current financial situation, setting goals, and making a plan are all important steps…
Haven’t Filed Taxes Yet? Don’t Panic. Here’s What to Know
NEW YORK—The deadline to file your taxes is Tuesday, which is just around the corner. Filing U.S. tax returns—especially for the first time—can seem like a daunting task, but there are steps you can take to make it less stressful. Whether you do your taxes yourself, go to a tax clinic or hire a professional,…
Taxing Your Retirement Income
You’ve developed a retirement plan. And in developing this plan, you’ve determined what income you’ll need to meet expenses. But have you accounted for taxes? During your working years, your employer withdrew the taxes from your check. But now, since your money may come from various sources, you’ll need to make sure those taxes are…
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