Here is a good article discussing Medicare and what to think about ahead of retirement: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/how-to-drop-or-delay-medicare-until-later-without-paying-penalties.html
Many Americans are behind on car loan payments and younger Americans are struggling with car loans the most. According to Experian, the average new car loan amount is $32,119, and the average new car loan term is 69.17 months. According to AAA, every 12 months that a car loan is extended costs an owner nearly $1,000 in additional finance charges. Good debt typically has low interest...
A new tax form, 1040-SR, was unveiled by the IRS last July and will be available for filing 2019 taxes in 2020. It has a larger font size than the standard 1040 form and a prominent chart for calculating the standard deduction. Taxpayers who use the new form must be at least 65 but not necessarily retired. Small business owners and itemizers, however, still need to use the standard 1040...
Consumers, on average, are spending about 10% of their disposable income on non-mortgage debts including credit cards, car loans, student loans, and personal loans. Furthermore, according to Federal Reserve data, the average amount owed by U.S. households with credit card balances was $8,602. We recommend clients to establish a budget to keep you out of debt or help you work your way...
The S&P 500 is down 3.1% from its all-time high on January 17th due to global concerns that the coronavirus (2019-nCov) is spreading and how this will affect global growth (equity markets react unfavorably to the unknown). As of February 1st, there have been 11,953 confirmed cases according to the World Health Organization. However, the majority of these cases are in China (11,821) and still...
Custodians will begin issuing 1099s starting January 31 and will continue to issue them through tax filing deadlines. Custodians are required to issue 1099s by certain deadlines even though year-end adjustments have not been completed hence corrected/revised 1099s are sent through Mid-March or later. It is recommended to delay filing your tax return until you get corrected (and...
According to 2019 projections by the Social Security Board of Trustees, the program's expenses will exceed its income in 2020 for the first time since 1982. Social Security's reserve fund is expected to be depleted in 2035, at which time beneficiaries will receive smaller payments than scheduled (about 20% across the board) if Congress does not take action. Medicare is expected to be insolvent...
A Health Savings Account, or HSA, is a handy way to save for medical expenses and reduce your taxable income. HSA contributions are either pre-tax (if through an employer) or tax-deductible (if you opened your own), you don’t pay taxes on the account’s growth, and if you make withdrawals for eligible expenses, you don’t pay tax on those withdrawals either. The contribution limit for...
With the passage of the SECURE Act, the ability of a non-spouse beneficiary to spread out taxable distributions over their lifetimes after the death of an IRA owner or retirement plan participant (often referred to as the "stretch IRA" rule) was eliminated. The new law, however, generally requires any beneficiary who is more than 10 years younger than the account owner to liquidate the account...
The SECURE Act enacted on Dec. 20, 2019 affects some individual tax returns that taxpayers will file for 2020. This primarily affects taxpayers who claim: the itemized deduction for mortgage insurance, if they pay mortgage insurance premiums (the SECURE Act treats mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest for itemized deduction purposes in 2019 and 2020).the itemized deduction...
In 2018-2019, tuition and fees averaged $35,830 for private colleges, and $10,230 for in-state public colleges, according to Sallie Mae. It is recommended to start saving for college early on and the preferred savings vehicle we recommend is a 529 savings plan. Some of the benefits of a 529 plan are the following: Tax-free growthTax-free distributions for qualified education expenses...
The $1.4 trillion spending package enacted on December 20, 2019 and recently signed by the President, included the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in the spring of 2019, but then subsequently stalled in the Senate. The SECURE Act represents the most sweeping set of changes to retirement legislation in...
IRA contribution limits The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA in 2020 is $6,000 (or 100% of your earned income, if less), unchanged from 2019. The maximum catch-up contribution for those age 50 or older remains at $1,000. You can contribute to both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA in 2020, but your total contributions can't exceed these annual limits....
Achieving a higher credit score can mean better terms on credit cards, lower rates on mortgages and less expensive premiums on auto and homeowners insurance. It can make it more likely to win approval for an apartment, and get deposits waived when setting up services like electricity and cable in a new home. Here are some tips to boost your credit score: Limit hard inquiries (i.e., signing up...
As security remains one of our top priorities, we recommend that you take action right now to improve your account protection at Schwab. Two-step verification. Enhanced authentication adds a layer of security to your Schwab account. You can sign up by logging in at schwab.com/Securitycenter and selecting Manage Two-step Verification. From there, you have two options. “Only on untrusted devices”...
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