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Slick TV ads often make financial planning and wealth management sound simple, but it’s usually not. Managing wealth requires knowing a lot about highly technical topics, like taxes, government regulations, and finance as well as history, psychology and how to communicate with loved ones about sensitive issues. This article highlights some of the knowledge needed to manage wealth and why it’s often so daunting without the help of an independent personal financial advisor who is familiar with your situation.
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Understanding The Federal Reserve Mandate To End Inflation
The Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank, has a dual mandate to pursue maximum employment and maintain price stability. These two priorities are currently treated equally, but that was not always the case. In fact, the Fed’s bias toward maximizing employment was a critical driver of the stagflation that plagued the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s. Recognizing the need to balance price stability and maximum employment, in 1977, Congress revised the Federal Reserve Act.
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Fed Governor Kugler Details Inflation And Economic Outlook
The 12-month inflation rate, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, was 2.6% in December, down from its peak of 7.1% in June 2022, and the six-month rate for PCE inflation was even lower, at 2%, which is the target rate set by the Federal Reserve.
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Why Rates May Not Be Cut Until June
The cost of a loan to buy a home, car, college education, and achieve the American Dream is staying the same for now. As expected, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank did not lower loan rates following the Fed’s Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, policy meeting.
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Practical Suggestions For Achieving Your 2024 Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions usually fail because they‘re often too hard to achieve. After six months, only 10% of people who make resolutions achieve them or remain committed to them, , according to a study by Dr. Mark Griffiths, a Chartered Psychologist and Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Addiction at the Nottingham Trent University. What can you do to make financial, medical, or other personal resolutions more likely to be achieved?
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A Sign Of Progress In Solving U.S. Economic Problems
The Federal Reserve appears to be pulling off a feat most experts did not believe it could: ending its aggressive inflation-fighting campaign of 11 interest rate hikes without tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.
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Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged; Expects Easing In 2024
To promote transparency and free markets, the Federal Reserve System began publishing the opinions of the 19 U.S. central bankers that decide interest rate policy.
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Have You Logged Into Your Social Security Account?
Have you logged in to your Social Security account? Creating an online account at SSA.gov is an important first step in understanding your retirement income situation. However, only about 60 million of the 160 million individuals in the U.S. labor force who have Social Security accounts have created a way to access the Social Security Administration’s website.
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The Great Fake Out Of 2023 Is Poised To Extend Into 2024
All year long, the economy and stock prices have fooled experts and consumers, outperforming expectations month after month.
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Test Your Financial Planning IQ
The five questions below are a challenge meant to allow you to assess your knowledge of investing, tax and financial planning. If you have been following our news stream, this quiz draws on familiar ground. The answers are below.
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Planning Briefs
SECURE Act Is Law: Last Call For 2019 Tax Savings
Published Thursday, December 26, 2019 at: 7:00 AM EST
We've warned about the SECURE Act's effects on retirement income planning in previous articles over the past nine months, and this is a final call to action. If you're in any of the following four retirement income planning situations, you have one last chance to reduce your tax bill by acting before January 1st, 2020:
1. You live in a state with a high income-tax rate and own a traditional IRA worth a sizable amount, say $500,000 or more.
2. You own a traditional IRA that can be converted to a Roth IRA to reduce your 2019 tax bracket.
3. You previously had set up a stretch-IRA conduit trust for the beneficiaries.
4. You suffered the loss of a spouse within the past nine months and inherited their IRA.
You Heard It Here First
Starting in March 2019, we warned of this sweeping new tax law drastically changing retirement income planning by the end of the year. It finally happened! Meeting our lowest expectations, the enactment of the law was delayed repeatedly by events in Washington. After months of no action, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 hastily was approved by both houses of Congress and, on December 20th, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump.
Only two weeks earlier, the SECURE Act had seemed unlikely to be enacted in 2019, and then it happened in a flash. As usual, Washington showed no consideration for the year-end havoc the SECURE Act would wreak on taxpayers, as well as tax, legal and financial professionals, whose holidays were ruined because of the rapidly-closing window of last-minute tax-saving opportunities.
Four Retiree Situations Requiring Urgent Action
If one of the four profiles bulleted above applies to you, or if you'd like us to send you our previous SECURE Act tax planning reports, please email or call us. Receive updates on 2020 retirement income tax planning opportunities under the SECURE Act by subscribing to our research reports.
About 2020
The SECURE Act received bipartisan support and the President's signature, despite the politically charged atmosphere in Washington, D.C., because it is a practical modernizing of outdated aspects of the tax laws affecting retirement income. It affects 401(k) plan sponsors as well as retirees, and those nearing retirement. The law will enable the sales of new retirement income products backed by insurance companies and other major changes affecting retirement success, and we will be monitoring these developments and expect to have multiple updates in 2020 on SECURE Act tax planning.
This article was written by a veteran financial journalist. While these are sources we believe to be reliable, the information is not intended to be used as financial or tax advice without consulting a professional about your personal situation. Tax laws are subject to change. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment. Investments with higher return potential carry greater risk for loss. No one can predict the future of the stock market or any investment, and past performance is never a guarantee of your future results.
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