The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now law. It’s a 940-page document, and I haven’t read it, but my reliable tax sources are highlighting some of the key provisions for individuals that I thought you might find helpful. Before I get into the OBBBA (or OBBB or OBB; they’re still working on the acronym), it’s worth noting that Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed a bill that will eliminate individual… Read More
It’s hard not to love the Roth IRA because once money gets into the account, all withdrawals should stay tax-free forever. That’s in contrast to a traditional IRA, which incentivizes savings by offering a tax deduction at the time of the contribution and allows the assets to grow without taxation. The downside is that withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. We call those tax-deferred accounts because you put off the… Read More
The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in 2017. The TCJA expires in 2025, which means one of three things: Congress and the President could work together to develop a new law, act to extend the current law, or let it expire, meaning the tax laws would revert to their 2017 levels. With tax day behind us, I thought… Read More
I remember listening to one of my parents’ friends talk about retirement. He was proud that his tax-free income was covering all of his expenses. Although I was in a pretty low tax bracket at the time, I liked the idea of not having any deductions from my paycheck. I didn’t know it then, but he was saying that his entire portfolio was in municipal bonds, which are generally exempt… Read More
I don’t have any real reason to be sad about Queen Elizabeth’s passing, but I felt a little down about it anyway. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I think I just loved the performances of Claire Foy and Oliva Colman in the Crown and Helen Mirren in The Queen, even if the portrayals could be tough. In any case, I read several articles from our press, but I… Read More
People frequently ask me if they should use contribute to their ‘regular’ IRA or their Roth IRA. I’m usually wishy-washy in my answer because it depends on a variety of factors, including things that are simply unknowable. Before getting into whether you should or shouldn’t consider the Roth option, let’s review the basics. A ‘regular’ 401k (as people often refer to it when talking to me), is the traditional savings… Read More
My wife and I were both very fortunate to have inherited some money. When we got married, almost 19 years ago, we found out that about 10 percent of our combined net worth was in General Electric (GE) stock. It was the largest position for both of us, actually. I received the stock when my grandfather died, which was right around the time that Jack Welch took over as the… Read More
If you’re writing a check to the government tomorrow for tax day, you’re probably not too happy about it. At least you’re not suffering like John Paulson, the hedge fund manager, who is writing checks to the Fed and state for over $1 billion – on top of the $500 million that he paid in estimates last year. I know, I know: it’s a high class problem that we would… Read More
Most of the time, the topics that I choose for Daily Insights are things that I think I know a lot about. Sometimes, I write about a topic in an effort to learn more about it. That’s the case today: I had never heard of a border adjustment tax until a few weeks ago, wanted to know more and thought I would share what I’ve learned. Some of you undoubtedly… Read More
One of the immediately obvious results of the election is that the tax code is going to change. Republicans have had several plans in the works for years that differ from what Trump has proposed on the trail, so the final result won’t be known for a little bit even though changes are a priority for the President-elect and both houses of Congress. Income Taxes For the sake of simplicity,… Read More
