Finance

Approximately 95% of married couples file joint tax returns. There is a strong knee-jerk reaction to file jointly, and tax return preparers may assume that’s what you want because most people do. Yet that simple step makes each spouse liable for everything on the return–and anything that might not be…

These are value stocks and they seldom make exciting headlines like some of the Big 7 that make up the greater part of the Nasdaq 100, but for a certain type of long-term investor, they may make sense. These are mature companies that have been around much longer than, for…

The King is dead, long live the king. On Tuesday, November 21, Binance, what was the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and the CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), both pled guilty to having engaged in criminal activity. With the U.S. government finally prosecuting the largest crypto-criminals, perhaps now cryptocurrencies can emerge from…

Understanding and applying the principles of strategic gifting allows you to reduce your estate tax liabilities significantly. It facilitates a seamless wealth transition and upholds your financial objectives, aligning with preserving wealth across generations. Beyond being an act of generosity, gifting ensures that a significant portion of your wealth is…

AI is a new frontier and can be potentially extremely helpful in healthcare. Assembling all known information to solve a problem could benefit many. But there is a dark side to AI, which many have predicted. When it comes to health insurance and denials of care to patients, AI has…

The SECURE Act 2.0, enacted at the end of 2022, created a new type of qualified charitable distribution (QCD) that generally is being called the Legacy IRA. As I’ve said before, QCDs are the best way for most people age 70½ or older to make charitable contributions. When you’re 70½…

Some mutual funds inflict great damage on your 1040. Defend yourself. By William Baldwin, Senior Contributor Winter: the season in which fund owners incur self-inflicted wounds. Investors who make the mistake of holding stock mutual funds in taxable accounts are at risk of having unwanted distributions dumped in their laps.…

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