ENSURING YOUR LONG-TERM CARE POLICY IS TAX-QUALIFIED

A long-term care insurance policy supplements your traditional health insurance by covering services that assist you or a loved one with one or more activities of daily living.  Such activities include eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and transferring (in and out of bed, for example). Long-term care coverage is relatively expensive,

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7 WAYS TO PREVENT ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE

As tax season ramps up, so do the efforts of scam artists looking to steal people’s financial data and money.  Such fraudulent activities often target older adults.  Whether you’re in this age bracket or worry about senior parents and other relatives, here are seven ways to prevent elder financial abuse:

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GETTING CAUGHT UP WITH THE LATEST CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS

 One could say that there are only two key milestones in retirement planning: the day you begin participating in retirement savings account and the day you begin drawing money from it.  But, of course, there are others as well. One is the day you turn 50 years old.  Why? Because

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DOL HAS INCREASED SCRUTINY OF DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS

Sponsors of defined benefit plans – commonly known as pensions – might be facing tighter scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Labor.   Just last year, at an ERISA Advisory Council meeting, the agency’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it had ramped up pension audit operations in its Philadelphia

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ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE SANDWICH GENERATION?

If you’re currently taking care of your children and elderly parents, count yourself among those in the “Sandwich Generation.” Although it may be personally gratifying to help your parents, it can be a financial burden and affect your own estate plan.  Here are some critical steps to take to better

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ASSESSING YOUR EXPOSURE TO THE ESTATE TAX AND GIFT TAX

When Congress was debating tax law reform last year, there was talk of repealing the federal estate and gift taxes.  As it turned out, rumors of their demise were highly exaggerated.  Both still exist and every taxpayer with a high degree of wealth shouldn’t let either take their heirs by

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TCJA ELIMINATED OPTION TO RECHARACTERIZE ROTHS

The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act late last year had a marked impact on Roth IRAs: to wit, taxpayers who wish to convert a pretax traditional IRA into a post-tax Roth IRA can no longer “re-characterize” (that is, reverse) the conversion for 2018 and later years. The

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TAKE NOTE OF THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF ROTH IRAs

For some people, Roth IRAs can offer income and estate tax benefits that are preferable to those offered by traditional IRAs.  However, it’s important to take note of just what the distinctive features of Roth IRA are before making the choice. Traditional vs. Roth The biggest difference between traditional and

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RETIREMENT PLAN OPTIONS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

As a business owner, you may have most of your money tied up in your company – making saving for retirement especially challenging.  If you haven’t already set up a tax-advantaged retirement plan, think about setting one up this year. Keep in mind that, if you have employees, they generally

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ESOPs OFFER BUSINESSES TAX AND OTHER BENEFITS

Wouldn’t it be great if your employees worked as if they owned the company?  An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) could make that a reality. Under an ESOP, employee participants take part ownership of the business through a retirement savings arrangement.  Meanwhile, the business and its existing owner(s) can benefit

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