Retirement Watch Weekly
February 2015
February 28, 2015 04:45 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review You still can attend my talk tomorrow to the local Washington, D.C. chapter of the AAII (American Association of Individual Investors) You can find details here. Greece finally was on the backburner this week. The country presented some reform proposals to European officials that […]
Estate Tax Tricks, Traps for Married Couples
Too many married couples are making a big mistake. They believe current estate tax law exempts them from having to plan or consider estate tax implications in their plans. That misunderstanding could lead to problems. While the estate tax law enacted in early 2013 has many benefits, you need to know how to maximize them. Two […]
Avoid Unintentionally Disinheriting Your Spouse in your Wills and Trusts
Many people don’t realize it, but their wills leave nothing outright to their spouse. Before the current high federal exempt amount was established, a standard will stated that a portion of the estate equal to the federal exempt amount was left in a bypass trust or other trust that benefitted the surviving spouse for life […]
Knowing When to Include Grandkids in Your Estate Planning
When is a child or grandchild ready to receive some wealth? Will some people never be ready to handle gifts or inheritances? Those are some of the most difficult and anguishing questions for people considering their Estate Planning. Almost every parent doubts the maturity and responsibility of at least one child and grandchild. They don’t […]
Knowing When to Convert an IRA
Too many people are told that because they are seasoned IRA owners, they’re too old to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Converting a tradition-al IRA to a Roth IRA can be a good idea at any age, if the circumstances are right. Unfortunately, I still hear from too many people who were […]
Tips to Maximize Benefits of an IRA Conversion
There are some strategies that will increase the benefits of an IRA conversion or help you turn a conversion mistake into a benefit. Convert in stages. It can be expensive to convert all of a large IRA in one year. You might not have enough cash to pay the taxes, or the conversion could push […]
Maximize Medical Expense Write Offs
Retirees and those near retirement often shortchange themselves when computing medical expense tax deductions. Few taxpayers deduct medical expenses because of tax code changes over the years, but the deductions aren’t eliminated. There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this you aren’t maximizing this tax break. To deduct medical expenses, you have to itemize […]
An Estate Planning Saga – Health Care Directives
Celebrities teach the best estate planning lessons. They make a lot of mistakes, and the people around them seem to have extreme reactions to everything. Plus, the details make their way into the media. A recent, tragic example is the last days of Casey Kasem. GQ documents the details. The lessons are that you should […]
