More Articles
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Confronting Mortality's Details
(Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 7:30 p.m.) The Covid pandemic is causing families unimaginable suffering, worry, and grief. It is forcing many individuals to confront mortality, to consider, in very real terms, perhaps for the first time, what will happen when their life comes to an end. Here, in less than 300 words, are key facts about documents that govern what happens to you at the end of your life.
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Anomalous Financial Economic Conditions Of The Covid Crisis
(Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 9:00 p.m. EST) The anomalous financial economic conditions of the Covid crisis are chronicled in this 10-minute video update from economist Fritz Meyer.
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Three Easy Ways To Increase Your Chance Of Financial Success
(Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 10:20 p.m. EST) Changing your financial behavior can be an important step in determining your long-term financial success. Here are three simple activities that can help.
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Act Before The Tax Pendulum Swings Back
(Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 9:00 p.m.) For business owners, professionals, and wealthy retirees, tax rules are about as favorable as they've been in decades, but the tax pendulum is likely to swing back the other way. You don't need to be a political pollster to know higher taxes are likely in the years ahead, with U.S. Government debt soaring and the U.S. Senate possibly changing parties. Now is the time to consider how a reset in tax policy is likely to affect you and your family.
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Act By The End Of 2020 For A Major Retirement Income Tax Break
(Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 10:45 p.m. EST) A confluence of events have suddenly aligned to create a major tax planning opportunity for individuals who are currently taking IRS-mandated required minimum distributions (RMDs) from an individual retirement account or are about to start taking RMDs.
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Business Owner Alert: Main Street Lending Program Offers Covid Aid
(Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 7:09 p.m. EST) Business owners who were unable to qualify for federal Covid-crisis emergency assistance from the Payment Protection Program (PPP) need to know about the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP).
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Financial And Tax Planning For The Long Run
(Tuesday, June 30, 10 p.m. EST) After paying a terrible price in lost lives, suffering, and grief, the Covid economic crisis will pass, along with emergency tax relief in the history-making $2.2 trillion CARES Act of 2020. The tax law with us permanently, and the rules that will be affecting you every year for years to come, is the SECURE Act.
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A Constellation Of Facts Squarely Aligns With 2020 Roth IRA Conversions
(Wednesday, June 24, 9 p.m. EST) An unusual confluence of financial, tax and investment events make converting traditional retirement account assets to Roth IRAs compelling in 2020 to retirees and those about to retire.
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Covid-19 Tax Break Suspends Required Minimum Distributions
(June 16, 2020; 10 p.m. EST) Federal emergency aid legislation suspends required minimum distributions (RMD) for 2020. If you do not need the income from your IRA or retirement plan, here are tips to maximize the benefit and build your retirement income portfolio.
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PPP Update For Business Owners
(Tuesday, June 9, 2020, 9:07 p.m. EST) The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) of 2020 modified terms of forgiveness for loans to businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) on June 5, 2020.
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Planning Briefs
The myRa Is Cut Short, But Other Options Abound
The myRA is going the way of the VCR. Citing unsustainable costs, the Treasury Department has announced it is closing down the program for this retirement savings vehicle. Participants will be notified about their options for moving funds into other investments.
The myRA was pitched as a way for moderate-income people to save for retirement and was designed to resemble the Roth IRA.
Just as in a Roth IRA, MyRA contributions were made with after-tax dollars, and withdrawals from the account during retirement were exempt from federal income tax. Unlike with a Roth, however, the MyRA had only one investment option: U.S. government savings bonds. So, you weren't risking principal, but yields were low.
Contributions were limited to $5,500 a year ($6,500 if you were 50 or older), but availability of this saving vehicle was phased out for upper-income taxpayers. And once your account balance reached $15,000, you had to roll over the funds to a Roth IRA, letting you choose from a wider array of investment options.
According to the Treasury Department, the myRA program has cost taxpayers $70 million, with projections that it would take $10 million a year to keep it going. It made the decision in mid-2017 to shut down the program. Yet most retirement savers still have numerous other options at their disposal.
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