Category: Taxes and Retirement

The landscape of retirement planning is constantly evolving, with new legislation and rules changing how we save for our golden years. One of the most significant shifts in recent years has been the increased flexibility in moving funds from traditional pre-tax retirement accounts to Roth accounts. This is a game-changer…

Financial Records Like me I am sure you get tons of bills and statements in the mail or delivered electronically. Most times you just action and then toss them. But you may in fact be creating legal or tax issues by not keeping certain documents. Where possible you should try and…

Trying to find the right investments for your 401k or IRA retirement plans can leave you feeling like you are lost in the middle of a maze. Your retirement plan provider (via your employer or directly) may offer a ton of investment options including stocks, stock funds, bond funds, and…

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation today that includes a provision to expose hidden 401(k) fees that may be eating into Americans’ retirement savings. The provision was part of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213). A majority of American workers rely on 401(k)-style plans to…

Most taxpayers, myself included, share the same dread of getting audited. In reality, the odds aren't that high for most filers, and recent IRS staffing cuts have pushed them even lower — though not evenly across income levels. The IRS audits well under 0.5% of the more than 150 million…

Each year the IRS updates its official rebuttal of the most common arguments made by people who claim they aren't required to pay federal income tax. It's called The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments, and filing a return based on one of these positions carries a $5,000 penalty per return…

President Obama has released his latest budget and one of it's the hallmarks has been an increase in taxes on the "rich". This would be done by reinstating 10-year-old income tax rates of 36% and 39.6% for single Americans earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000…

[Updated following SOU speech] President Barack Obama has proposed a new round of stimulus spending in 2010, focused on middle class families struggling to pay bills and care for their families. The initiatives in the new stimulus package are a product of a middle class task force headed by Vice…

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest refundable federal tax credit for working families and individuals. For tax year 2026 — the income you'll report on the return you file in early 2027 — the maximum credit rises to $8,231 for families with three or more qualifying children.…

With tax season well and truly upon us now a decision many have to make is to do their taxes via ever improving accounting software (like Turbo Tax) or go with a professional tax prepare for more complex returns. More than 80% of taxpayers use a paid tax preparer or…

I've been reading a lot about the future tax implications given the large amounts of government spending and contracting corporate and consumer tax base. All this means is that tax considerations should play a much more central role in people's thinking as they're making critical financial decisions. At the end…

The IRS standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating a car (includes vans, pickups or panel trucks) for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes are shown in the table below. These are effective from Jan. 1. The business mileage rate is based on an annual study of the fixed…

With rising prices and economic uncertainty, many Americans are still finding it hard to make ends meet and find that they are having to tap one of their most important and final saving vehicles – their company sponsored 401k or 403b (tax advantaged) retirement plans. There are 3 ways that…