Category: Tax Strategy
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How Can I Max Out My Retirement Account? How to Hit Your 2025 Deduction Goals with Retirement Plans.
Contributing to a retirement account has arguably been one of the best deductions available from year to year. As the end of the year approaches, it could be a great time to determine whether you should contribute the maximum amount to some or all of your “deductible” accounts. If the goal is to increase your…
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Should I Convert My IRA to a Roth IRA this Year? How to Think Through Year-End Roth Conversions.
As the end of the year approaches, most people start to get a clear sense of how much income they will have for the year. If this year looks like a relatively low year for income, it may be worth exploring intentionally increasing your “total income”. While the reasons may differ from year to year,…
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Should you plan for Generosity? Three Reasons to Build Giving into Your Financial Plan.
For some people, financial generosity or giving can be a sore subject, but for others, it can be all that they talk about. Regardless of someone’s level of generosity, most people would tell you they prefer to be more generous. Even though most people’s “giving plan” is a reactive check when a friend or colleague…
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Should We Set Up a Trust for Tax Purposes? Death, Taxes, and the Trust That Could Solve Both.
Estate Planning is always a difficult but necessary step to complete in your financial plan. Couple that with major tax implications, and you will quickly see why it is important to keep your estate plan updated. Many owners and families often ask whether they need a trust. I have written about trusts before, but mainly…
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Where Do You Save My Money? The 3 Buckets of Tax-Smart Saving.
Savings, whether from profits or windfalls, must go somewhere. Once money is earmarked for savings, it should be allocated to one of three categories. While there are many reasons to save for a future expense, breaking down all savings into one of three tax buckets can help you better prepare for future goals. Three Tax…
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What About Capital Gains? 5 Strategies For Small Business Owners to Defer or Reduce Their Capital Gains.
Large capital gains are always something worth planning for. Especially after selling a business, tax years with large capital gains can feel particularly painful when the tax bill comes. Even though long-term capital gains are taxed at more favorable rates, there are still many planning opportunities to reduce the taxes even further. Capital Gains When…
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What Happened to Write-Offs for Business Investments? Bonus Depreciation and Section 179 Deductions Just Shifted.
Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017, there has been a yearly struggle with the amount of depreciation allowed for new business purchases. At the start of this decade, businesses could generally deduct 100% of new machines, cars, tech, furniture, etc. This full write-off has been slowly eliminated over the last few…
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Are You Donating to Charity? A Fresh Look at Charitable Giving in 2025.
With all the changes in the recent tax bill, there were not many changes to charitable giving. For whatever reason, it seems that charitable giving from a financial and tax perspective has been an afterthought for much of the American financial culture over the last few years. While the government still incentivizes you to give…
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Can You Still Deduct State & Local Taxes? How the New Tax Bill Changed the Popular Deduction.
If you pay at least 5-figures in taxes, the new tax bill may have just improved your tax situation. Since 2017, one of the major topics of contention has revolved around deducting State and Local Taxes (SALT) on your federal return. Many high-income owners pay a lot of non-federal taxes, and many want a deduction…
TC Falkner 