Retirement Watch Weekly
December 2007
December 17, 2007 3:05 p.m. The Specter of Inflation Rises Friday’s inflation report brought to the forefront something we warned about for some time: The threat of rising inflation is not dead. We are not living in the disinflationary and potentially deflationary era of the 1990s. Global growth and easy money policies around the world […]
What is Behind the Boom in 529 College Plans
Investments in 529 college savings plans are increasing rapidly, and there are good reasons for it. The benefits are enhanced, and the alternatives are less attractive than they used to be. Congress expanded the Kiddie Tax and made it tighter, causing Uniform Gift to Minors Act accounts and direct gifts to children to be less […]
Last Chance for IRA Charitable Contributions
We are approaching a last chance for some taxpayers to use IRAs to make tax-advantaged gifts to charity. The tax break is set to expire after Dec. 31, 2007. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allowed IRA owners who are at least age 70½ to make gifts directly from the IRA to a charity. The […]
Key Steps to Take Before a State Tax Audit
The most important tax audit of your life is likely to take place either in the first few years of retirement or after you pass away. It is a state residency audit and could befall anyone who moved to another state during retirement or who owns homes in at least two states during retirement. A […]
How to Vary Spending During Retirement
The traditional retirement plan projects that spending will rise steadily each year in line with inflation. That model does not work well for today’s retirees. When retirement lasts 20 or 30 years or longer, a more realistic model of spending and scheduled withdrawals is needed. A retiree wants to avoid a spending and withdrawal schedule […]
Wise Estate Planning Strategies to Plan Gifts
In last month’s visit we discussed probable changes in the estate tax that mean many people should restore regular giving to their estate plans. This month, we will talk about the details of gift giving plans so you can avoid big giving mistakes many people make. The goal of annual gift giving is to remove […]
Five Myths of Business Succession
Few small firms survive past the first generation of owners. That is well-known. Most people assume the business failures are due to the inadequacies and mistakes of the succeeding owners and managers. At least an equal share of blame goes to the founding owners who do not properly develop and implement succession plans. With proper […]
Riding the Global Boom
How you view the level of the stock indexes depends on your perspective or starting point. We just passed the five-year mark from the bottom of the bear market in October 2002. The markets had a strong five years and have done very well since July 2006. That sounds like a bull market. Take a […]
