Monthly Archives: December 2008
2009 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits
The IRS has announced the cost of living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for 401(k), profit sharing, IRAs, and other retirement plans in 2009. The new limits are as follows:
-401(k) limit will increase from $15,500 to $16,500.
-401(k) “catch-up” limit for individuals age 50 and over will increase from $5,000 to $5,500.
-Defined contribution plan limit [...]
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Know Your Investment Horizon
Market volatility since October 2007 has cause some individuals to question whether equity ownership is an appropriate investment vehicle. In fact, most major benchmarks are mirroring their values from 10 years ago. The last 15 months has reminded many close to retirement that equities can drastically decrease in value from time to time, and such [...]
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House and Senate Pass Legislation Waiving 2009 RMDs
Late Friday night, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would waive required minimum distributions (RMD) in 2009. Normally, individuals over the age of 70.5 are required to withdraw an amount calculated by dividing the prior December 31st balance of the retirement account by the individual’s life expectancy [...]
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Retirement: Time to Get Nervous?
The following is an article that I contributed to the April 2008 issue of Business Connect Magazine. It is reprinted here in the event you missed it.
Do you often lose sleep, or hair, predicting the size of your nest egg? Everyone recognizes the need to save for retirement, but very few of us feel comfortable [...]
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Best Christmas Ever pt. 4
Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA)
Uniform transfers to minors accounts allows someone to make a gift or a transfer of property to a minor without setting up a trust. All transfers to UTMA accounts are considered irrevocable and the donor cannot reclaim the gift or change the beneficiary of the account.
An adult is designated as [...]
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Best Christmas Ever! pt. 3
Coverdell Savings Accounts
Unlike 529 plans, the rules governing Coverdell Savings Accounts are dictated by the IRS. Thus, there is no variation in these plans from state to state.
Contributions to Coverdell accounts are not deductible on either a federal or state income tax return. However, similar to 529 plans, earnings withdrawn from these accounts are tax-free [...]
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The Best Christmas Ever! pt. 2
Utah 529 College Savings Plans
Utah offers one of the most attractive 529 plans in the country. Like all 529 plans, contributions to a Utah 529 plan are not deductible on a federal income tax return. However, the State of Utah will allow the contributor to claim a 5 percent tax credit on up to $1,650 [...]
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The Best Christmas Ever!
It is widely accepted that the U.S. economy has entered a recession. Reports of stock market turbulence are all over the media. Somewhat quietly, the national unemployment rate has been constantly rising, and was last reported at 6.5 percent (Utah has the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.5 percent). Despite these [...]
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The Power of Compounding
Remember all the time we spent as children dreaming about what it would be like to be a millionaire? Surprisingly, if we had spent that same amount of time running a candy store or a lemonade stand, we would all be on track. Why didn’t anyone tell us it was so easy! Of course, many [...]
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Ideas for Change in America