It's been a time of great change for the CFP Board over the past few years, and especially the past 12 months or so. The responsilibity for managing all of this change in the organization lies on the shoulders of one man - Kevin Keller. The only catch - he's also the new kid on the block.
Many financial planners are faced with the client question: "Which pension option should I choose?" Comparing various lump sum and annual pension payout choices based on client life expectancies has often been mathematically intensive and quite difficult - at least, up until now.
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April is Financial Literacy Month - a time for us to reflect on what we're doing to promote and support financial literacy in the United States, and hopefully focus on making improvements. But a recent survey indicates that we need to try harder - and we might even be losing ground!
With the Economic Stimulus Act rebate checks set to start mailing out to taxpayers next month, based on their 2007 tax filings, many believe that no tax planning remains for the rebate checks. However, for the many individuals who will receive less than the full maximum of the rebate check (or possibly as little as nothing), tax planning opportunities do remain!
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The pitch goes something like this: "You are eligible for more insurance than you currently have, giving you "excess capacity" for insurance on your life. Why don't you sell that capacity, since you're not using it anyway, and put the extra money in your pocket to meet your own goals?" And if it wasn't against public policy, the strategy might even work!Read More...
To preserve the ability to stretch IRA distributions for a beneficiary, that individual must start taking withdrawals based on his/her life expectancy in the year after death. If those required withdrawals don't start on time, can you still rectify the situation to preserve the tax deferral?
The good news is that recent private letter ruling 200811028 (and more recently, IRS Information Letter 2016-0071) indicates the answer is "yes."