10
Feb 2019
Choosing the right executor — sometimes known as a “personal representative” — is critical to the smooth administration of an estate. Yet many people treat this decision as an afterthought. Given an executor’s many responsibilities and complex tasks, it pays to put some thought into the selection. Job description An executor’s duties may include: Collecting, protecting and taking inventory of the estate’s assets, Filing the estate’s tax returns and paying its taxes, Handling creditors’ claims and the estate’s claims against others, Making investment decisions, Distributing property to beneficiaries, and Liquidating assets if necessary. You don’t necessarily have to choose a professional executor or someone with legal or financial expertise. Often, lay people can handle the job, hiring professionals as needed (at the estate’s expense) to handle matters beyond...
A variety of tax-related limits affecting businesses are annually indexed for inflation, and many have gone up for 2019. Here’s a look at some that may affect you and your business. Deductions §179 expensing: Limit: $1.02 million (up from $1 million) Phaseout: $2.55 million (up from $2.5 million) Income-based phase-ins for certain limits on the §199A qualified business income deduction: Married filing jointly: $321,400-$421,400 (up from $315,000-$415,000) Married filing separately: $160,725-$210,725 (up from $157,500-$207,500) Other filers: $160,700-$210,700 (up from $157,500-$207,500) Retirement plans Employee contributions to 401(k) plans: $19,000 (up from $18,500) Catch-up contributions to 401(k) plans: $6,000 (no change) Employee contributions to SIMPLEs: $13,000 (up from $12,500) Catch-up contributions to SIMPLEs: $3,000 (no change) Combined employer/employee contributions to defined contribution plans (not including catch-ups): $56,000 (up from...
10
Feb 2019
Deregulation of the energy industry was intended to give consumers a choice of electricity and natural gas providers — and an opportunity to save money. But many homeowners in deregulated states are receiving higher energy bills thanks to deceptive, and even fraudulent, door-to-door sales practices. Deception and fraud Not all states have deregulated. If yours has, you probably know it because you’ve received mailings, phone calls and sales rep visits from companies asking you to switch from your current provider. In most cases, traditional utilities continue to transmit the energy; the new providers, offering discounts and other incentives, deliver it to customers. Many such offers are legitimate and can potentially save you money. But others are deceptive, designed to get you to agree to switching without a full...
In this installment of Millennial Money, Robert Kiyosaki explains the three types of income . . . Earned Income Portfolio Income Passive Income . . . and which ones the rich work for. With perspectives on money and investing that often contradict conventional wisdom, Robert has earned an international reputation for straight talk, irreverence, and courage and has become a passionate and outspoken advocate for financial education. The "Millennial Money" series of videos seeks to provide young people with some important economic concepts that they didn't learn in school. Previous episodes of "Millennial Money" Blog #446 - How Debt Can Generate Income Blog #451 - The Biggest Mistake Young People Make Blog #456 - How to Convert a Liability into an Asset Blog #465 - Getting a Job is for Losers Robert Kiyosaki...
If you’re like many Americans, letters from your favorite charities have been appearing in your mailbox in recent weeks acknowledging your 2018 year-end donations. But what happens if you haven’t received such a letter — can you still claim an itemized deduction for the gift on your 2018 income tax return? It depends. Basic requirements To support a charitable deduction, you need to comply with IRS substantiation requirements. This generally includes obtaining a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity stating the amount of the donation, whether you received any goods or services in consideration for the donation, and the value of any such goods or services. “Contemporaneous” means the earlier of: the date you file your tax return, or the extended due date of your return. So if you...
What if the unthinkable happens and your spouse dies unexpectedly? Would you be prepared to cope emotionally and financially? As the surviving spouse, you’ll face several tasks and challenges. First steps first By no means complete, the following are areas that will need to be addressed: Death certificates. One of the first things to do is obtain death certificates, which you’ll need to provide for various dealings with financial institutions and others. While it may be difficult to estimate how many death certificates will ultimately be requested of you, you’ll probably want to start with at least a dozen. Notifications. You must get the word out to other interested parties, including your spouse’s employer, if applicable; credit card companies; life insurance companies; retirement plan and IRA administrators; the state...
From invoices and payments to discounts and write-offs, many business transactions are recorded to accounts receivable. This makes receivables a popular fraud target. But your business doesn’t have to become a victim. Common schemes Receivables fraud occurs when dishonest employees divert customer payments for their personal use. They use various methods, including: Lapping. This is the most common type of receivables fraud. It involves the application of receipts from one account to cover misappropriations from another. For example, rather than credit Customer A’s account for its payment, a dishonest employee pockets the funds and later posts a payment from Customer B to A’s account, Customer C’s payment to B’s account and so on. Write-offs and discounts. Instead of crediting a payment to the customer’s account, fraudsters might pocket the...
04
Feb 2019
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) generally reduced individual tax rates for 2018 through 2025, some taxpayers could see their taxes go up due to reductions or eliminations of certain tax breaks — and, in some cases, due to their filing status. But some may see additional tax savings due to their filing status. Unmarried vs. married taxpayers In an effort to further eliminate the marriage “penalty,” the TCJA made changes to some of the middle tax brackets. As a result, some single and head of household filers could be pushed into higher tax brackets more quickly than pre-TCJA. For example, the beginning of the 32% bracket for singles for 2018 is $157,501, whereas it was $191,651 for 2017 (though the rate was 33%). For...
An annual estate plan checkup is critical to the health of your estate plan. Because various exclusion, exemption and deduction amounts are adjusted for inflation, they can change from year to year, impacting your plan. 2019 vs. 2018 amounts Here are a few key figures for 2018 and 2019: Lifetime gift and estate tax exemption 2018: $11.18 million 2019: $11.40 million Generation-skipping transfer tax exemption 2018: $11.18 million 2019: $11.40 million Annual gift tax exclusion 2018: $15,000 2019: $15,000 Marital deduction for gifts to a noncitizen spouse 2018: $152,000 2019: $155,000 You may need to update your estate plan based on these changes. But the beginning of the year isn’t the only time for an estate plan checkup. Whenever there are significant changes in your family, such as births, deaths, marriages or divorces, it’s a good...
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