Personal Finance

We are dedicated to keeping clients abreast of the latest developments and tax-saving strategies. This section includes a library of hundreds of timely articles about business, taxes, finances, trends and the like. The articles are categorized by subject matter, which can be accessed from the links. Click on your topic of interest and find a wealth of information.

INVESTMENTS & TAXES

The following is a series of articles dealing with the special treatment of investments, income from the investments, and deductions associated with the investments. Please call our office for more information on any of the topics discussed here.

Zero Capital Gains Rate Requires Careful Planning: One of the greatest benefits of the tax code is the special tax rates that currently apply to gain recognized from the sale of capital assets held for more than a year (long-term). The special tax rates apply to virtually all capital assets including...
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Deducting Investment Interest: Generally, the only interest still deductible on the Schedule A is home mortgage interest, with one exception, investment interest. Investment interest can be interest you pay on your brokerage margin account, interest on investment property such as land,...
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Deductions for Investors: The costs associated to your investments are deductible as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, subject to the 2% of gross income (AGI) limitation. Although they may seem trivial, it's still worthwhile to keep track of them as they can add up quickly....
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Fine-Tuning Capital Gains and Losses: The year’s end has historically been a good time to plan tax savings by carefully structuring capital gains and losses. Let’s consider some possibilities.If there are losses to date - As an example, suppose the stocks and other capital assets...
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Capital Gains Tax on Inherited Assets: When an asset is sold, the owner owes capital gains on the profit. For these purposes, "profit" is the excess of the sales price over the owner's tax basis in the property. If the owner bought the property, his or her tax basis is generally equal to what...
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Common Investment Errors: There are a number of ways that a little knowledge can be a risky thing when dealing with investments. Following is brief overview of some common mistakes made by investors. Investing based on a cold call from an unknown broker. This is generally always...
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Investment Tax Blunders to Avoid: If you can avoid the top ten investment blunders, you will save money on your taxes and perhaps even increase the returns on your investments. We realize that a mid-year review of your tax situation may not be at the top of your “to-do” list,...
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Some Common Investments Enjoy Preferential Tax Treatment: Although there are a variety of sophisticated tax shelters available, our tax laws also afford special tax treatment to certain common types of investments. Used appropriately in conjunction with sound tax and investment planning, these special benefits...
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Is Life Insurance a Sound Investment?: Most people don’t look at life insurance from an investment perspective. However, it is becoming a popular option among corporations and trusts because it provides the best after-tax returns compared to other investment vehicles. The easiest way...
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Is Long-Term Worth the Wait and Risk?: Gains from the sale of capital assets such as stocks and other securities held over a year are referred to as long-term capital gains, while those held for shorter periods are called short-term. Long-term gains enjoy special tax treatment while short-term...
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Lower Rates for Long-Term Capital Gains: To take advantage of the long-term rates, you need to hold the asset longer than one year. The long-term rate depends on two things, your marginal tax rate and how long you have held the asset. The lower preferential capital gains rates do not apply to...
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Mutual Fund Dividends: There are almost an infinite variety of mutual funds available: specializing bonds, stocks, tax free instruments, foreign and domestic investments, growth stocks, income investments, specific industries and market segments, etc. Regardless of a specific...
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Older Savings Bonds May Have Stopped Paying Interest: When a U.S. Savings Bond reaches original maturity, it automatically enters one or more extension periods (usually ten years). During these periods of extension, the bonds continue to earn interest. However, the extension periods for some bonds have expired,...
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Taxes on Dividends: Through 2010, dividends received by an individual shareholder from domestic corporations (and certain foreign corporations) are treated as net capital gain for purposes of applying the capital gain tax rates. This means dividends are taxed at 15% for...
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Tax Strategies In A Down Market: Sell Loser Stocks To Offset Gains - With the roller coaster stock market this year, you may have a mix of winners and losers in your investment portfolio. If you have a net gain for the year, you should consider selling enough of the losers to offset...
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What's Best -Tax-Free or Taxable Interest Income?: A frequent taxpayer question is whether it is better to invest for tax-free or taxable interest. Generally, taxable interest will provide the greater return, but this may not hold true after taking into account taxes on the income. Therefore, the question...
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Wash Sales Could Take You To The Tax Laundry: Tax law allows you as an investor to offset capital gains with capital losses, and if the losses exceed the gains, you can deduct losses up to a maximum of $3,000 ($1,500 if filing married separate) for the tax year. For this reason, investors frequently...
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