For many families, the entire point of saving for retirement is to create an “income engine” that produces income to pay for life in retirement after the wages stop. But creating that engine can be tricky because of how hard it is to answer the following questions: How long will you need the money? How …
IRA
Tax savings for 2018
The new federal tax law takes effect for tax year 2018. One of the biggest changes is a near doubling of the standard deduction to $12,000 on single returns, $18,000 for head-of-household filers and $24,000 on joint returns. That’s up from $6,350, $9,350 and $12,700 in 2017. Individuals age 65 or older and blind people …
What You Should Know About Your Life Savings
Lately, I’ve been hearing some confusion on the part of folks I’ve been talking to about their financial goals. For example, a person said to me, “I’m not sure I want to save money into my IRA this year because I think the stock market will fall soon and I don’t want to lose my …
Why Bother with an IRA in 2019?
You probably hear from different sources that you should consider funding an IRA, but you may be wondering, why bother? Here are four good reasons: You can still contribute for tax year 2018 up to $5,500 or $6,500 if you’re better than 50 years old. You have until tax filing day in April 2019 to …
What’s a Roth IRA?
At year end, it’s time to think about topping off your IRA and most people should be thinking about their Roth IRA. Choosing between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA can have major tax and estate planning implications. A traditional IRA has long been a favorite of people looking to save a little extra for retirement …