Beware the Mutual Funds’ End-of-the-Year Tax Trap
Many stock funds have had considerable gains this year — and that means taxable distributions for investors with taxable accounts.
Category: Taxes
Medicare Premiums and Deductibles to Rise Sharply in 2022
An increase in Medicare Part B premiums will eat into the 2022 cost-of-living adjustment announced last month by Social Security. (Part B covers physician services, outpatient care, certain home health services, medical
The “Earnings Test”: How Earned Income Can Affect Social Security
If you're planning to keep working after claiming Social Security benefits, you need to know how your income might affect your benefits — and your taxes.
Non-Cash Donations: Worth More in Tax Savings Than You Might Think!
In 1917, members of Congress worried that a tax increase imposed to fund America’s involvement in World War I might prompt people to cut back on charitable donations. So, along with the increase, Congress created a tax
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Today is the tax-filing deadline for your 2020 income taxes — a bit later than normal because of COVID. (Taxpayers in areas affected by the February storms that hit Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have until June
May 2021 Sightings
The Financial Times asks “Are Retail Investors Safe In Today’s Heady Stock Markets?” and The Wall Street Journal reports on the proposed hike in the capital-gains tax.
Commodities & Taxes
SMI's newly recommended commodities exposure is off to a great start in 2021, gaining +4.4% so far this year (through the close on January 19). That's considerably better than the +1.28% gain the S&P 500 has generated
Took an RMD This Year? You Can Put it Back
Joseph called attention to an issue in a recent Friday roundup that we thought important enough — and relevant to enough of our readers — to warrant a separate article.
The issue? That if you took a required minimum
2020 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits, Tax Brackets, and More
Every year brings a number of changes in various financial rules and regs that impact our personal financial planning. What follows is our annual guide to some of the more significant changes that have been announced for
Roth IRA Conversions Can Be a Key Retirement-Income Planning Tool
By reducing your overall tax bill, shifting money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA could make a significant difference in the size of your retirement nest egg. You might be surprised at how much