Retirement Watch Weekly
IRA Estate Tax Discounts – An Update
Your heirs will enjoy only the after-tax value of your IRAs and other retirement accounts. Can this difference be reflected in the estate tax value of the accounts? An IRA is included in the owner’s estate. If the estate is valuable enough, it is subject to the estate tax. After heirs inherit an IRA, the […]
Estate Planning to Increase the Benefits of Charitable Giving
Most charitable gifts are contributions of money or property directly to the charity. But there are other ways to give that provide additional benefits. Some of the charitable giving strategies allow the donor to retain more control than a straight gift. Others provide income for a period of years or can provide payment of a […]
The New Roth 401(k): Who Benefits?
Should you start deferring money into a Roth 401(k) account instead of a traditional 401(k) plan? Many of you still do not have access to the Roth 401(k) plans that first became available this year. But a number of you do, and many more will next year as employers add them to their plans. The […]
Key Tax Breaks That Have Expired
Congress could not agree on a deal by the end of 2005, so valuable tax breaks expired at the end of the year, as I warned you in the December issue. Both the House and Senate passed bills to extend the provisions, but their versions were different and could not be reconciled in time. Sources […]
Should Retirees Pay Off Their Mortgage?
Not long ago a key part of every retirement plan was paying off the mortgage. I’m told that a popular ritual was the mortgage-burning party, though I have never been to one. Now, it seems that fewer retirees consider paying down the mortgage to be important. To the contrary, maintaining a substantial mortgage frequently is […]
3 Key Gift-Giving Strategies to Consider [And Exceptions]
For most people, gift-giving season has come and gone. But for shrewd estate planners, the time to give is just beginning. Family gift giving is part of most estate plans. Gifts primarily are made to minimize estate and gift taxes by removing property from an estate. Estate and gift taxes are based on the value […]
How to Put Investments in the Right Places?
With today’s tricky tax law, the account in which you hold an asset can be as important as which assets you own. Unfortunately, too little attention is paid to the issue of which accounts should hold which investments. Most of us have more than one type of investment account: 401(k)s, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, taxable […]
Charitable Deduction Rules
Large charitable gifts require extra detail on your tax return. When a contribution of property is between $500 and $5,000, details must be provided about the gifts on Section A of Form 8283. When the value exceeds $5,000, a qualified appraisal must be included. Complete details about the reporting requirements are in IRS Publication 561 […]
