If you’re someone who does their own taxes through a program like Turbo Tax, you’ve probably run into this scenario: as you finish up the review portion, the program will remind you that there may be a way for you to lower your tax burden even more if you make a deductible contribution to an IRA account. They even have a helpful calculator you can use to see what impact certain contribution amounts would make on the taxes you owe....
Social Security and Income Taxes – will you have to pay them?
Social Security still makes up a large chunk of the retirement income pie (about 35% for the average American). It may come as a surprise to some that up to 85% of a person’s benefit could indeed be added to your taxable income. In fact, about 40% of Americans pay taxes on their Social Security benefit. So how do you determine if your Social Security payments are taxable?...
Save Early, Save Often
Last week the Consumer Federation of America and the American Savings Education Council sponsored America Saves Week in an effort to raise awareness and get more Americans to do whatever they can to save. In conjunction, the following annual survey was released, highlighting the differences in saving between the genders....
Social Security – Changes to File-and-Suspend and Restricted Applications Clarified
The Social Security Administration issued an emergency message late Friday to its field offices explaining how to implement changes that will ban future retirees from claiming only spousal benefits at full retirement age. Also of note, the Administration clarified that the official deadline to submit a request to file and suspend benefits (one of the strategies affected by the changes) and be grandfathered into the old rules is April 29, one day earlier than previously reported....