taxes

Is your refund lower than you like (or do you owe) after the Trump Tax Act? Here’s how to fix it.

 in Tax Updates  tagged tax planning / taxes by (updated 161 days ago)

On social media I’m hearing people complain about their refunds being lower and blaming Trump’s tax reform. There’s some confusion going on. You actually probably DID get a tax cut. Just in a ham-handed ineffective way. The issue is that the withholding tables are broken. To be honest, they’ve been broken for a long time, which is why people wait with such bated breath to find out if they’ll owe or get a refund. Withholding tables […]

A mid-year tax withholding check-up

 in Tax Updates  tagged tax planning / taxes by

Did you know that only about 6% of people have the right amount withheld from their paychecks? It’s what brings all the drama to tax-time: the uncertainty of knowing whether you had enough withheld to cover the tax bill, or if you’re going to owe more. The main reason for this is that the Federal withholding tables do not work for nearly anyone except a single person with one job. Ever try to use the […]

Cliff notes version of Friday’s tax reform proposal

 in Tax Updates / Tea & Taxes  tagged tax planning / taxes by

I’ve spent the week-end digesting what’s in this tax bill, now that it’s formed up and ready for a vote. Obviously it could still fall apart, but here are some quick thoughts. I’ve bolded the ones that could use attention in December. Standard deductions are going up, and some of you may find you have even less reason to itemize than ever before. I’ll revisit my recommendations to everyone individually this week. (Festive yule, anyone?) But […]

Book Review: “The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed”

 in Book Reviews / Financial wellness / Tea & Taxes  tagged book reviews / cash flow / taxes by

A friend mentioned that I ought to read something by Bogle so I trotted down to the library to fetch one the other day.   Our library didn’t have any in stock so I ordered it through inter-library loan, but in the meantime I picked up a few books from the same section of the library shelves. So I just finished reading “The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed: the only personal finance system for people […]

Thanksgiving Family Money Letter – 2015

 in CFP / Financial wellness / Our business / ProsperiTea Planning / Tax Updates / Tea & Taxes / Thanksgiving Family Money Letter  tagged book reviews / business / financial planning / taxes / Thanksgiving Family Money Letter by (updated 607 days ago)

  Happy Thanksgiving! The biggest payoff comes from being good at things that are absolutely under our control. That’s the lesson I’ve learned studying economics, finance, and investment theory. That includes saving for goals, being a judicious consumer, and maintaining your relationships, your health, and your emotional wellness. One of my new gurus, Bert Whitehead, wrote a book called Why Smart People Do Stupid Things with Money: Overcoming Financial Dysfunction. He says not to put too […]

Needed to finish your return?

 in Tea & Taxes  tagged taxes by (updated 1083 days ago)

We do a really good job of leaving ourselves notes in our practice.  If you don’t remember what it is we were waiting for to finish your return during tax season you can call the office at (413) 829-4832 and ask the seasonal tax assistant to go read to you what’s on the routing sheet: it’s where we leave open issues. But we also usually, almost always, write up the open issues and send them in an […]

Thanksgiving Family Money Letter – 2013

 in Tax Updates / Thanksgiving Family Money Letter  tagged business / financial planning / retirement planning / taxes / Thanksgiving Family Money Letter by (updated 611 days ago)

2013 Year-End Tax Planning and Financial Wellness 2013 Thanksgiving Family Money letter   November 27, 2013   Welcome to my annual Thanksgiving Family Money letter! I’m attaching the nicely formatted PDF of the letter to an email, but also including the actual text inline here, in case you don’t like to open attachments or spam filters got the email.  (It’s just more readable as a PDF, I think.) I’ve recently completed several continuing education courses, […]