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Books and Articles we believe are important

Must-Knows About Restricted Stock

...On the other hand, employer stock can introduce risk and complexity into an individual's financial plan. After all, employees have a lot riding on their companies' wherewithal even before employer stock enters the picture, because that's where they earn their paychecks. By owning company stock, employees effectively double down on their bet on the financial health of their firms. Moreover, company stock can introduce tax headaches, especially for people who aren't well versed in the tax treatment of these assets...

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Navigating Social Security’s “Government Pension Offset” (GPO) Rule For Retirees With Non-Covered Pensions

...Specifically, the GPO rule applies to individuals who meet three criteria: 1) worked at a federal, state or local government job where they did not pay Social Security taxes; 2) qualified for a pension from that job (that did not pay into Social Security); and 3) are eligible to receive spousal or survivor’s benefits from a spouse who did work in a job covered by Social Security...

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Navigating Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) With A (Non-Covered) Government Pension

...the key point is that retiree should be aware of the circumstances under which the Windfall Elimination Provision applies to a retiree’s benefits, and the various rules around how their retiree’s total retirement benefit (as well as any family/auxiliary Social Security benefits based on the retiree’s own record) may be impacted by the WEP...

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Donating to a charity using a qualified charitable distribution (QCD)

...A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from an IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity, as described in the QCD provision in the Internal Revenue Code. Amounts distributed as a QCD can be counted toward satisfying your RMD for the year, up to $100,000, and can also be excluded from your taxable income (note-discuss with your financial professional regarding changes to RMD rules in December 2019 and how they might impact any QCD's)...

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Splitting Pensions In A Divorce: Shared Payment Vs. Shared Interest QDROs

...Ultimately, the key point is that a QDRO offers some flexibility in planning strategies for both the Participant and the Alternate Payee. While the Shared Payment method must be used if the Participant has already begun payments when the QDRO is implemented, either the Shared Payment or Separate Interest strategy can be chosen if the QDRO is implemented before pension benefits begin...

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The 6 Types Of Itemized Deductions That Can Still Be Claimed After TCJA

...Regardless, despite the upheaval, itemizing deductions is still a viable strategy to reduce overall tax obligations, and there are still six core deductions available to taxpayers, including: medical expenses (to the extent that they exceed 10% of Adjusted Gross Income); taxes paid to other governmental entities (both state or local municipality taxes as well as foreign governments, but with a $10,000 maximum deduction limit… regardless of filing status!); at least some types of interest paid (for not only mortgage interest – up to a $750,000 principal limit – but for investment purposes as well); charitable giving (but with limits); casualty and theft losses (but, for individuals, only if they were attributable to a Federally declared disaster); and other (miscellaneous-but-not-subject-to-the-2%-of-AGI-floor) deductions (such as gambling losses, among others)...

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How To (Correctly) Fix A Forgotten, Missed, Or Miscalculated Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)

...Tax-deferred accounts have long been a boon to savers, allowing them to earn additional growth on top of the growth without Uncle Sam taking a share. But tax-deferred doesn’t mean tax-free, and sooner or later, Uncle Sam will eventually take his share, since each and every retirement account is subject to Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules at some point...

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