Advisors

boonchai wedmakawand | Moment | Getty Images While it’s not guaranteed that taxes are going up for wealthy Americans, it does look likely. To help fund the American Families Plan, the Biden Administration has proposed increasing capital gains taxes to 43.4%, including the net investment income surtax of 3.8%, from 23.8% for those who are

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Many consider 529 college savings plans to be for education, but these accounts also offer a flexible way to transfer wealth.  There’s currently an estate tax exemption of $11.7 million per person. Although President Joe Biden campaigned on slashing the write-off to $3.5 million, it hasn’t been part of

Thomas M. Barwick | Getty Images As investors become more interested in cryptocurrencies, financial advisors are feeling a new urgency to offer the investments to clients. About 49% of advisors said clients have asked about cryptocurrencies in the past six months, up from 17% in 2020, according to the Financial Planning Association and the Journal

Commemorative dogecoins on display in Yichang, China on May 14, 2021. Barcroft Media | Barcroft Media | Getty Images When my clients ask about dogecoin, many say they are intrigued about the potential investment because of the news and excitement around it. As the conversation gets more serious about investing in cryptocurrency, I ask why

Tara Moore | Getty Images Social Security beneficiaries could be in for a bigger cost-of-living adjustment next year, if current economic trends continue. But just how much farther an increase to those monthly benefit checks will go will depend a lot on inflation. The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group, released its first official

In this article MBAYX Caiaimage/Robert Daly | Getty Images Chances are that deciding when to claim Social Security likely will be one of the biggest retirement choices you will ever make. Yet a recent survey from MassMutual found that many pre-retirees are getting key facts about the program’s rules wrong — and just one mistake

Aimstock | Getty Images If you receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits and are still waiting on a stimulus check, you should file a tax return as soon as possible in order to get your money, the Social Security Administration said. The announcement pertains to the first $1,200 and second $600 economic impact

Bill and Melinda Gates Frederic Stevens | Getty Images Sure, you likely have nowhere near the wealth held by divorcing couple Bill and Melinda Gates. Yet when it comes to protecting your assets ahead of marriage, that doesn’t particularly matter, experts say. If you plan to wed, it may be worth determining how you and

Cars line up to pick up food boxes at the Athens County Fairgrounds in Athens, Ohio, on Dec. 19, 2020. BRAD LEE | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. economy is on the mend. But the unequal — or K-shaped — nature of the recovery persists. Economic activity is on pace to return to pre-pandemic

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal. Matt Stone | Boston Herald | Getty Images The House Ways and Means Committee is poised to consider a bill on Wednesday that would make changes to how U.S. workers save for retirement. The measure, known as the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, comes less

Tetra Images | Getty Images Tax refunds on 2020 unemployment benefits are slated to start this month. But some taxpayers — namely, single filers — will get the money sooner than others. It may be summer before other groups, such as married couples and those with complex tax returns, get their refunds, according to the

Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images Investors fearful of President Joe Biden’s proposal to raise taxes on capital gains might be thinking about making a knee-jerk stock sale. Doing so may inadvertently trigger another investment tax, according to financial advisors. And it’s one that kicks in at a low level of income

As part of a massive new spending package, President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to enact legislation to allow students to enroll in community college at no cost. The administration’s American Families Plan calls for $109 billion to make two years of community college free for all students in addition to a roughly $85-billion

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images Confidence in Social Security and Medicare hit all-time highs among both workers and retirees, a sentiment somewhat defiant of a Covid pandemic that ravaged the U.S. economy and household finances of many Americans. About 72% of retirees and 53% of workers are somewhat or very confident that

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images It’s no secret the funds Social Security uses to pay benefits are running low. New proposals on Capitol Hill aim to fix the program’s solvency. Just how dramatic those changes will need to be depends on how soon changes are put through. Likewise, people who

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images A sixth batch of $1,400 stimulus checks has gone out, bringing the total number of payments sent to date to about 161 million. More than $379 billion has been sent to Americans via direct payments since distribution began in March. The latest set includes around 2 million checks worth

Paige Santillo worries about not being able to pay for her medication without health insurance. Source: Paige Santillo The help from the government seemed to come just in time for Paige Santillo. Due to the pandemic, Santillo had been laid off from her job as a marketing manager at the publishing company Informa in October.

Image by Marie LaFauci | Moment | Getty Images Any possible tax changes for ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth investors could result in an increased tax burden.  That means there’s motivation to find ways to protect that wealth. Some solutions that reduce exposure to specific anticipated Biden tax increases involve making charitable donations — a plus for the charitably

Ariel Skelley | The Image Bank | Getty Images With age comes increased frugality. As people reach retirement age, it’s been common practice to get rid of what you don’t need, including personal items, extra expenses and oversized, hard-to-manage properties. For years, the average American retiree has charted a predictable course through retirement, choosing smaller,

Tanya Constantine | Tetra images | Getty Images For a while, it looked like tax season might not deliver the usual refund euphoria that grips most Americans every spring. With so many people drawing unemployment benefits in 2020 and changes around tax withholding meaning less is being pulled from employee paychecks, many tax advisors expected