- What Is Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), and How Do You Calculate It?
Adjusted gross income, or AGI, is extremely important for filing your annual income taxes. More specifically, it appears on your Form 1040 and helps determine which deductions and credits you are eligible for. Based on the amount of your AGI,… read more…
- What Is the Tax Rate on Stock Options?
For many employees in America, especially those at tech companies and other startups, stock options are a part of compensation packages. While the right to buy stock in a company at a set price is an attractive form of compensation,… read more…
- What Are the Tax Benefits of an LLC?
One of the most popular ways to organize a business is as a limited liability company, otherwise known as an LLC. The true advantage of an LLC over other business entity types comes in the form of tax benefits. LLCs,… read more…
- Guide to Taxes on Selling a House
Selling a home is a major life change. But before you can concentrate on buying a new house, you’ll need to figure out how to properly report any profits related to the sale of your house. Such profit is known… read more…
- All About Tax-Loss Harvesting for Investors
Tax-loss harvesting is a way to use investment losses to lower your taxes on any capital gains you have in a year. If you’ve only invested in your future by contributing to a retirement account, tax-loss harvesting won’t likely help… read more…
- How the Trump Tax Plan Will Affect You
President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in December 2017. This bill largely didn’t affect individual income taxes until the 2018 tax year, which you filed in early 2019. How exactly the Trump tax plan affects you depends… read more…
- What Is a Net Operating Loss (NOL)?
Many businesses don’t make any money, particularly during their first year of operation. When this happens, the IRS provides business owners with some tax relief in the form of something called a net operating loss (NOL). What follows is a… read more…
- All About Taxes on Pensions
A pension can provide dependable income in retirement, but the amount that lands in your bank account may be lower than the amount on your benefit statement. Federal and state taxes, withholding choices and the way you receive your pension can all affect what you ultimately keep. Understanding how pension taxes work can help you… read more…
- What to Know About Part-Year Tax Withholding
If you’ve ever taken a look at your pay stubs you’ve probably noticed your employer’s tax withholding. Based on the W-4 form that you submit when you start a new job or your tax situation changes, your employer will withhold… read more…
- How Turning a Hobby Into a Business Affects Your Taxes
Having a hobby can be a great way to unwind, but a hobby can take on an entirely new dimension if you can make money while you’re working at it. That’s because any money your side hustle brings in may be considered taxable… read more…
- A Comprehensive Guide to LLC Taxes
With a limited liability company (LLC), a single person usually isn’t fully responsible for company debts. Like other business categorizations, you’ll have to pay taxes if you’re a member of this type of entity. However, LLCs are also taxed differently depending on… read more…
- The Ultimate Guide to Tax Liability
The term “tax liability” describes the amount of money owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the end of each tax year. Many Americans make reducing their tax liability a goal by chasing deductions and tweaking their filing strategy. If… read more…
- 3 Tax Reasons to Contribute to a Health Savings Account
A health savings account (HSA) is a way to set aside some money, tax-free, to use for possible medical situations you can’t see coming. If you don’t end up needing the money, can also be used as a vehicle for… read more…
- What Are Income Taxes?
Paying a federal income tax now seems so routine that it’s hard to imagine a time when income taxes were controversial. The federal income tax as we know it is actually only a little over one hundred years old. That’s a… read more…
- The Saver’s Credit: 2025 Rules and Income Limits
Financial experts recommend saving for retirement. According to one rule of thumb, you should have twice your salary saved by the time you’re 40, and eight times your salary by the time you’re 65. Unfortunately, the average American paces well… read more…
- What Makes a Professional Estate Planner a Professional?
Estate planning requires interdisciplinary knowledge of law, tax and accounting issues. Yet the answer to the question What makes a professional estate planner a professional? is that they get paid. This answer is not only snarky, but it also exposes a rather disturbing issue: the lack of regulation. In most places, anyone can hang a sign… read more…
- The Dangers of DIY Estate Planning
While it may be tempting to save some money and plan your estate by yourself, it is likely not a good idea. Estate planning is full of small details that the average person just doesn’t know about, but which someone… read more…
- 7 End of Year Tax Strategies That Can Save You Money
It’s tax time! No, it’s not April 15th and you are not the subject of a time travel experiment gone wrong. But if you are one of the millions of taxpayers who expects to owe and wants to minimize your tax bill, or you want to maximize your refund, the time to think about taxes… read more…
- 4 Tax Planning Moves Millennials Should Make Now
No matter the time of year, it’s never too early to start working on your tax strategy. For 20-somethings who are struggling to get a grip on their finances, the whole process can seem overwhelming. And if you’re not sure… read more…
- 5 Estate Planning Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
When people think about planning their financial future, they tend to focus on things like retirement, paying down debt or saving for their child’s education. Planning your estate is one of the things that often gets pushed to the backburner.… read more…
- 3 Things to Prep Your Family for in Case of Your Death
Your death is probably the last thing you want to think about, but you can’t afford not to – especially when you have a family that you will be leaving behind. A wise person once said that the only thing… read more…
- What Is a Living Trust and Do You Need One?
A living trust is a financial instrument used to make sure your money goes to the right people when you die. No one likes to think about dying but when it comes to managing your finances, you have to be… read more…