Charitable Trust Tax Benefits
What are the tax benefits of charitable trusts? Americans give freely to support the causes they value, from churches, education, and the arts to medical research. Fortunately, current tax laws [...]
Required Minimum Distributions
What Is a Required Minimum Distribution? A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a traditional IRA or a qualified retirement plan (such as [...]
Retirement Plan Limits
How much money can I put into my IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan? IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government. The [...]
What Is the Gift Tax?
The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living. The federal estate tax, on the other hand, applies to property conveyed to others [...]
What Is the Federal Estate Tax?
The federal estate tax is a tax on property that is transferred to others upon your death. Estate taxes are assessed on the total value of your estate — your [...]
What Is the Capital Gain Tax?
Capital gains are the profits realized from the sale of capital assets such as stocks, bonds, and property. The capital gains tax is triggered only when an asset is sold, [...]
Keeping Up with Quarterly Taxes
As of 2015, there were roughly 15 million self-employed people in the United States. About 9.5 million had not incorporated their businesses, while the remaining 5.5 million had incorporated.1 Either way, [...]
New Math for Social Security
In 2017, Americans born in 1955 become eligible to claim Social Security benefits at age 62. Claiming benefits before reaching full retirement age results in a permanently reduced benefit, so [...]
Insuring Your College Student
Almost 18 million undergraduates are expected to enroll in U.S. colleges and universities in the fall of 2017.1 Sending a student off to college can be hectic — and insurance might [...]
Buying and Selling: Trading Basics
The New York Stock Exchange Group averaged more than 7.4 million trades per day in 2016, with an average of almost 1.8 billion shares changing hands.1 Many of these trades are [...]