Money Matter$

Since the tax changes in 2018, most Americans are using the standard deduction rather than itemizing, as the standard deduction has nearly doubled—and SaLT tax deductibility is limited to $10,000. That means charitable contributions—which are itemized deductions—no longer have the same tax benefit for most. There are two ways you can plan to maximize the impact of your generosity: Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) or Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from your IRA.

The rules of a 1031-exchange are fairly straight-forward, but the execution is anything but. You need to have a 1031-exchange company on-board, as well as your tax-preparer.

We have an order of priority for most folks for how to save and invest. The following items have eligibility requirements, so are not “one-size fits all”:

Beginning in 2018—and until 2026—the federal tax code has been changed fairly dramatically. How does this affect you, and what should you be doing to take full advantage of these changes?

We have a lot of clients that own real estate investments as another way to provide investment income and grow their net worth. I can appreciate the tax advantages and diversification of owning investment property; in fact, my wife and I have acquired a few income properties over the past ten years.

A common question we are asked from those finally reaching retirement is which payout option do I choose? The options usually include lump sum payout, lifetime income or term certain. A lump sum payout is fairly easy to understand … you are paid a lump sum and sent out the door. But now what do you do with it? If you don’t move it to an IRA, be prepared for a huge tax consequence. If you move it to an IRA, how will you invest it?