Summertime fun can be made even more enjoyable by adding tax savings. Here are some tax-saving ideas to consider. • If you have summer travel plans and the primary purpose of your trip is business, you can deduct all the travel costs to and from your business destination and all other business-related costs even if you add on a few extra days for pleasure. You can’t deduct costs related to the pleasure portion. Including a spouse
Have you heard about solo 401(k) plans? The traditional type of 401(k) retirement plan is now available for self-employed individuals. And it lets you save more than other types of plans. In the past, 401(k) plans were typically offered by larger corporations. Employees could make pre-tax contributions by payroll deduction. The company would then usually match a percentage of those contributions. Investments grew tax-free until withdrawn at retirement. One advantage of a 401(k) plan is the
When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it’s important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. The rules are different for 401(k)s and IRAs. With a 401(k) plan, a surviving spouse is the automatic beneficiary of the plan. If you want to name someone other than your spouse as a beneficiary, your spouse must agree to this in writing. There are some exceptions; for example, the rule might not apply if
In a recent case, a Texas man inherited $400,000 in cash from his aunt. The man’s ex-wife went to court and claimed that as a result, his child support payments should be increased. The Texas Court of Appeals agreed with the ex-wife. It said that even though the $400,000 wasn’t wages or earnings, it was still a “resource” that had to be considered in determining how much the father had to pay for his two children.
The new tax law, which temporarily raises the estate and gift tax exemptions to $5 million, has many important implications. Almost everyone should have their estate plan reviewed in light of this significant change. Here are just a few of the other important consequences: Many wills that were drafted years ago need to be revised right away. Frequently, these wills were set up to avoid taxes by giving children an amount of property equal to the
Congress has created a temporary “window” – between now and the end of 2012 – in which many people can save a lot of money in estate and gift taxes. You might be able to take advantage of this opportunity by transferring significant assets to a trust. But as they say on TV, hurry – this is a limited-time offer from the federal government. During 2011 and 2012, the federal estate tax exemption will be $5
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed regulations that would ban discrimination against gay people in federally-assisted housing programs. The new rules would prohibit lenders from discriminating based on sexual orientation in offering FHA-insured mortgages. They would also prohibit discrimination in HUD programs including public housing, Section 8 vouchers, and multi-family housing assisted through HUD funding. Currently, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in renting, selling and mortgage lending on the basis of
A new type of reverse mortgage that could benefit some senior citizens has been approved by the Federal Housing Administration. In a traditional mortgage, you borrow money against your house and pay it back in monthly installments over time. With a reverse mortgage, you borrow money against your house, but you don’t have to pay it back until you die, sell the house, or move – which means you don’t owe anything as long as you
The Federal Housing Administration has extended a program designed to make it easier for investors to “flip” foreclosed and other depressed properties by buying them, rehabbing them, and quickly selling them to homebuyers. Ordinarily, investors who buy a property with an FHA-insured loan are not allowed to sell the property until at least 90 days after the purchase. However, the FHA now says it won’t enforce this rule until at least the end of 2011. The
The average office rent in the U.S. edged slightly higher at the end of 2010 – to an average of $22.09 per square foot. That’s an increase of only 0.2 percent, but it’s the first increase in almost three years, which suggests that the long slump in rental rates may be coming to an end as the economy slowly improves. Back in early 2008, the national average was above $25 per square foot. The total amount
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