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How To Sell Your Small Business And Pay No Taxes
So, you want to sell your small business? The good folks in Washington have a dandy tax break exempting you from all federal taxes on the sale-provided that you own a C corporation.
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Risk And Tax Effects Of An Installment Sale Of A Home
An installment sale of real estate is a variety of seller financing in which the buyer is borrowing from the seller. Why would a seller want to do this? Isn't it better to get the money up front? No, not always, especially when a sizable real estate capital gain would push you into a higher tax bracket.
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The New Math Of Renting Out A Vacation Home
If you've ever thought about becoming a landlord, here's an update on recent tax breaks that changed the equation for weighing whether to rent a property or be the sole tenant throughout the year.
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Opportunity Zone Investment Frenzy Requires Caution
A new provision in the tax law for the first time in 2018 is leading to a frenzy of tax-driven investment products to be promoted to affluent investors, but caution is wise.
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The Most Important Financial News Of 2018
The most important financial news of 2018 was that Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), the strategic underpinning of prudent investing, worked. Yet you just don't see front-page headlines saying conventional wisdom worked. Why? Because when what's expected to happen actually occurs, it's not news. Nonetheless, the fact that modern portfolio theory worked, just as academia has expected it would, was the most important financial news of 2018.
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Retirement Income Portfolio Survival
As financial professionals, we believe understanding the dynamics of retirement income portfolio risk can be crucial to investment success. The survivability of five hypothetical retirement portfolios over the 20-year period ended December 31st, 2018 shown in the accompanying table is not intended as investment advice but is intended to help clients better understand retirement portfolio risk and conquer perhaps the worst of all financial fears: running out of money in retirement. The data is based on a continuing professional education session by Professor Dr. Craig Israelsen, an independent economist whose research we license.
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Five Key Factors In Funding A Child's Education
The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA) changed funding a child's education significantly. Here are five factors to consider.
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Key Tariffs, Rates And Economic Facts To Note In Fearful Times
Tariffs, interest rates, and recession struck fear deep in the heart of investors as 2019 was beginning. A market crash, a world financial crisis, or something worse. Here are some facts to help you keep perspective in these fearful times.
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High Income Earners & Roth Conversion
Roth IRAs are tax-free, making them popular, but a married couple is ineligible to contribute to a Roth if they earned more than $199,000 of modified adjusted gross income in 2018 ($135,000, if single). A "backdoor" around this limit enables you to convert traditional IRA assets into tax-free Roth IRA accounts, even if you're over the income limit. Here's a strategic approach for maximizing the backdoor route to get tax-free Roth treatment with the least amount of conversion-tax.
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Time Itemized Deductions To Reduce Taxes
You can't have your cake and eat it, too, but this tax planning strategy lets you have a tax break and repeat it, too.
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Financial 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.
This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Callahan Capital Management and is not intended as legal or investment advice.
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