taxes

Save Big On Taxes In Retirement With These Simple Strategies

Save Big on Taxes in Retirement with These Simple Strategies

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, I may receive a commission. It’s the number one goal in retirement: Making your money last. And one of the best – but too often ignored – ways to do that is to lower your biggest household expense: TAXES. By using just a few simple strategies, you can significantly reduce your post-retirement tax burden, make your savings last longer, and maximize your nest egg’s earnings and growth potential. And if you start before you’re forced to pull money from you retirement accounts, you’ll be able to…

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7 Reasons To NEVER Borrow From Your 401(k)

7 Reasons to NEVER Borrow from Your 401(k)

You’re sitting on a pile of cash… and you really need that money now. You’re struggling with debt, having a hard time making ends meet, and that 401(k) money is just sitting there, locked away for the next 20 (or 30 or 40) years. At first glance, it makes sense to tap into that stash because you need money today. But look again, because that could be one of the worst financial mistakes you’ll ever make. In fact, it could totally derail your retirement – and leave you short of money when you need it most. Think about it: Imagine…

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Phased Out Of A Roth IRA? Here’s How To Use The Backdoor And Avoid Tax Traps

Phased out of a Roth IRA? Here’s How to Use the Backdoor and Avoid Tax Traps

UPDATED FOR 2019 I’m a big fan of Roth IRAs: They offer the most flexibility and best future tax advantages for retirement money… Earnings are never taxed You can withdraw your contributions at any time without penalty You don’t have to take the money out after you hit retirement age As long as you’re working, you can keep contributing Your heirs don’t have to pay taxes on withdrawals Plus, qualified withdrawals (when the account is at least 5 years old and you’re at least 59½) from your Roth IRA won’t make your Social Security benefits taxable because they don’t count as…

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How To Combat Tax Identity Theft

How to Combat Tax Identity Theft

You won’t know it’s a problem until you try to file your tax return and it comes back INVALID – but tax identity thieves may have already targeted you. Every year, they come up with new ways to steal your Social Security number and grab a tax refund in your name. Then, when you try to get your own real refund, you can’t…at least not until you launch an IRS investigation. The agency knows this is an enormous problem, and they will work with you, but your refund will still be delayed. If you’re not an identity theft victim yet,…

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11 Deductible Medical Expenses Most People Don’t Know About

11 Deductible Medical Expenses Most People Don’t Know About

Updated for 2021 If you paid a lot of medical bills in 2020, you may get a tax break this year. You can deduct the medical expenses you paid in 2020 that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) if you itemize your deductions And with all of the financial chaos of 2020, more of us can deduct medical expenses... and at least get a tax break. Here's how this works. Let's say your AGI for 2020 was $50,000, and you had $6,000 of medical expenses. Under the 7.5% rule, you can deduct all of your medical expenses after…

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