Personal Financial Planning
Tide’s Curious Place in Criminal Economy
Add this to the list of phrases you thought you’d never hear: “black market laundry detergent.” While doing the laundry has usually been good, clean fun for the whole family, a recent wave of thefts has revealed a criminal element operating beneath the surface, like a worked in grass stain on a new pair of jeans.
Accounting Salaries Up This Year
While many graduating colleges are entering an uncertain and even depressing economic landscape, those with the foresight to major in accounting are actually seeing improving conditions compared to previous years, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a professional organization composed of people working in human resources and college career services.
SEC Action Warns on Social Media
On Jan. 4, the SEC charged an Illinois-based investment adviser, Anthony Fields, with offering to sell fictitious securities on LinkedIn.
IRS Gives Donation Advice
The IRS has issued some end-of-year tax advice for those who are charitably inclined. Even CPAs who know these rules by heart might want to share them now with clients, to help avoid disappointment and confusion during tax season.
New York CPA Opines on Paterno Tax Strategy
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has his share of problems, between the abuse scandal at the university and his cancer diagnosis. But at least he’s being shrewd about estate planning and considering the tax implications of his financial decisions: As reported in the New York Times, Paterno recently sold his house to his wife for $1.
Student Loans to Top $1 Trillion
College graduates today are leaving school with more education debt than years past and currently enrolled students are borrowing twice what they did a decade ago after accounting for inflation.
President Proposes Student Debt Deal
President Barack Obama will propose a plan that, if implemented, will provide relief on student loans, which is currently the second largest source of household debt, outpaced only by mortgages, according to the Associated Press.
Check on Your Nest Eggs During National Save for Retirement Week
Longer life spans and rising costs have changed the retirement outlook for many workers, and Social Security may not provide enough post-retirement income, according to ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC) and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA), who have partnered together to raise awareness about the importance of saving for retirement during National Save for Retirement Week.
Democrats Propose 5.6 Percent Millionaires Tax
Senate Democrats proposed a 5.6 percent surtax on annual incomes over $1 million on Wednesday as a way to pay for the president’s proposed job creation plan, according to the New York Times. It would work by collecting the 5.6 tax on any amount of income exceeding $1 million, so essentially functioning like a new tax bracket.
Survey Sheds Light on Personal Spending Priorities
It is common knowledge that many people are cutting back on luxuries during these harsh economic times. However, what counts as a luxury for some is a necessity for others. A survey conducted by the National Foundation on Credit Counseling (NFCC), which promotes financial education and literacy, reveals where people seem to draw the line between the two.
Jeter Fan May Owe Thousands in Taxes
Christian Lopez, the Yankees fan who caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit on Saturday, could have sold the legendary ball for up to $250,000 had he not decided to instead give it back to Jeter, according to Fox News. In exchange, the Yankees gave him autographed bats, balls and jerseys, as well as four Champions Suite season tickets for every remaining home game this season -- a prize package estimated to be worth about $70,000 said the Chicago Tribune.
NYT: Gov't Aid Composed 2 of Every 10 Dollars in Income Last Year
Last year, government assistance made up close to 20 percent of personal income -- that comes to roughly $2 out of every $10 Americans received, whether it was Social Security, food stamps, unemployment benefits or some other program, with that percentage even higher in some states like Ohio and Arizona, according to a New York Times report.
Personal Financial Planning: Sex and the City Edition
Yes, yes, we all know how unrealistic shows like Sex and the City are when it comes to portraying what its various characters are capable of actually affording. But just how unrealistic? One writer attempts to tackle this question by looking at how much the show’s main character, Carrie Bradshaw, would probably make as a two-column a month newspaper writer in Manhattan versus what she is seen spending on her various misadventures.
Warren Buffett: Investor, Philanthropist, Cartoon Hero
Billionaire financier Warren Buffett may be extremely busy between running Berkshire Hathaway and appearing in the season finale of NBC’s The Office, but he’s apparently still got the time to dispense some sound financial advice to enterprising young people to ensure their future success.
Americans Not Ready to Retire
Average working Americans have saved less than 7 percent of their desired retirement nest egg, according to a new survey released today by Wells Fargo & Co. Does this mean middle class Americans will have to keep working during retirement to survive?
China Replaces Japan as No. 2 Economy
Riding nearly 20 years of continuous economic growth fueled by a powerhouse manufacturing sector (and some rather questionable monetary policies), the People’s Repu
NYSSCPA Member Is New York Times Expert on Roth IRAs
The New York Times just published the last part of a three-part series on Roth I.R.A.s, in which the NYSSCPA's own Ed Slott offers his expert advice in response to questions submitted by Times readers. Slott is past chair of the Estate Planning Committee and editor of the I.R.A. planning section of The CPA Journal.
$3 Million in Taxes Due on Man's New Year's Eve Death
A hypothetical horror stemming from the estate tax mess has been brought to life by a SoHo man's death.
Big Bank Boycott Building
Frustrated by what its adherents see as a federal government that either will not or cannot take stricter regulatory action against the large banks they blame for the financial crisis, a campaign to get people to move their money to local banks or credit unions has begun to take hold on certain parts of the Internet.
Clinging to Life for Estate Tax Exemption
It's December 24. Your rich old great-aunt Jane is in the terminal stages of cancer, and in the past few weeks has deteriorated to the point that her life is now being sustained by medical machinery. There's little hope she'll ever wake, let alone leave the hospital. It's the holiday, but everyone's already in mourning.
After many tears and a long talk, you and her other close family members, as well as Jane's doctors, have decided that it's kindest to pull the plug and let Aunt Jane go.
But there's a dilemma: The total of your great-aunt's estate is in the $5 million to $7 million range, and an estate tax levy of 45 percent means a big chunk of that will be left to the government.
But if you keep Aunt Jane alive for one more week, hooked up to the machines, and pull the plug after New Year's, her estate will be exempted completely from the tax.
What do you do?
This may be a hypothetical situation here, but according to the Wall Street Journal, it's a choice some are currently facing as the clock ticks toward a one-year reprieve from the tax.
Giving to Charity Before Year End?
As year-end approaches with all the intensity and speed of a locomotive (holiday gift shopping done, anyone?) some are still looking to make last-minute year-end contributions to charity. But, warns the IRS, don't go giving without being mindful of several important tax law provisions that have taken effect in recent years.
Watch and Learn: Bracing for the Retirement Crisis
So you think you're gonna retire, huh? Live out your Golden Years in style? Don't be so sure.
There's a new crisis on the horizon, and it's threatening to spoil millions of Americans' opportunity to stop working in the last years of their lives.
Speakers at a NYSSCPA breakfast briefing last week warned that if things stay the way they are now, the looming retirement of the baby boomer generation will wipe out the nation's reserves, resulting in most Americans "outliving their assets" and being forced to either work or drastically reduce their standards of living when they can no longer hold a job.
A solution would require systemic reform, the speakers said. But there are things a CPA can do to help clients (and themselves!) plan for a more profitable future.
Curious? If you missed last week's discussion, a full webcast is now available online. Or you can watch coverage of the event by Money Matters, a program on TV news station NY1. Also look for a related story in the Trusted Professional and the weekly NYSSCPA E-Zine!
Finding Freedom From Foreclosure
Getting a loan and keeping it current is very difficult these days. As a result, many individuals and companies struck by default or foreclosure—and, in turn, their CPAs—are facing difficult conversations with lenders.
Tapping the Untapped Market for Financial Advice
Sheryl Garrett was a partner at a successful wealth management firm, but still felt she had not completely achieved her life goals. The hours on the job were draining, and Garrett felt she was on-call 24 hours a day, even when on vacation.
Garrett was raised in a middle class family, and she was bothered by the fact that working class people like her own friends, family and neighbors couldn’t afford her services, or might even be turned down as clients by her firm. [Watch her video below or click here to hear her at the Personal Financial Planning Conference.]
A Toast for Women Interested in PFP
Women CPAs with an interest in personal financial planning are invited to join the NYSSCPA’s Personal Financial Planning Committee and Smith Barney for an evening of cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres on May 14. The evening’s speakers will discuss expanding the services you offer to clients by incorporating personal financial planning into your career.
Madoff Tax Questions Now Answerable
Wondering what to do for your Ponzi-schemed client who, since Bernie Madoff was arrested, has persistently peppered you with unanswerable questions about tax treatment for the loss of his or her life savings?
Well, finish fretting: the answers have arrived.
Deal Reached For 'Millionaire's Tax'
A Bigger Paycheck: Coming Soon
A new federal withholding rate is about to take effect, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has announced.
Recovery Rebate Credit Trips Up Tax Filings
Many tax preparers and practitioners are computing clients' recovery rebate credit incorrectly, according to the IRS. In its list of the top errors for filers in the last two months, that credit is the number one mistake on Forms 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040.
Oddly, the IRS is including blank fields as "mistakes," though in guidance related to the credit, the IRS says if a taxpayer leaves the field blank, the IRS will compute the amount.
But let's review: