Social Security
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How to Beat the Retirement Tax Ambush
The days of tax advantages for retirees are long gone. In the old days, most people could count on being in a lower tax bracket in retirement than during their working years. Now, many people stay in the same tax bracket. For other retirees the marginal tax rate (the rate on the last dollar of […]
How to Take Advantage of the 0% Tax Rate
We are finally here. It is 2008, the year the tax rate drops to 0% for some taxpayers on some types of income. We covered this tax break a couple of times over the last few years. In this visit we review who can take advantage of the 0% tax rate and the different strategies […]
Basic Steps to Limit Vulnerability to ID Theft
There have been changes in our knowledge of ID theft. We know more about the crime than in the past, and there are some new trends. One trend is that the growth rate of the crime is slowing. A few years ago it was by far the fastest-growing crime, with new cases increasing by at […]
Surprising Tax Havens
State tax laws discriminate based on age, and that can be a good thing for some taxpayers. Even notoriously high tax states can be tax havens for retirees. In fact, Florida and other retiree magnets might not be the tax havens they are promoted as when the full tax picture is considered. Florida has no […]
Life Insurance: How Much Do You Need?
Few people own the right amount of life insurance, because there probably is truth in the adage that life insurance is sold, not bought. Most people avoid the topic until they have to address it. Those that do seek out life insurance often receive all their advice from one commissioned agents instead of from several […]
How to Maximize Medical Expense Deductions
Medical expense deductions are the elusive goal of many taxpayers. With higher medical expenses than others, retirees are the taxpayers most likely to be able to deduct their medical expenses. They can maximize those deductions by knowing the rules. The definition of deductible medical expenses is broad. Qualified medical expenses, however, can be deducted only […]
Social Security and Medicare: What Lies Ahead?
The trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds issued their annual report recently, and as usual it was dismal. Yet, buried within the report is some reasonably good news for those who want to see it. That news also is important to those who are planning their retirement income over the next few […]
Retirement Planning: How Are You Doing?
Financial and retirement planning start with answering the question in the headline. After determining how you are doing, the next step is to define the actions that are needed to either help you do better or at least maintain your current status. Answering the first question is not as easy as many people suppose. Traditionally, […]
