Do you have to make a multimillion-dollar gift to a charity to receive immediate or future financial benefits? No. If you’re not yet a millionaire or simply a “millionaire next door,” yet want to give, consider the following options which may bring you immediate or future tax deductions. Partnership gifts. These gifts are made via…

Are you planning for your retirement? You may be alone! A new report released today by the Employee Benefit Research Institute titled the Retirement Confidence Survey tells a sad story for U.S. workers and saving for retirement. Here are the three shocking numbers (or more accurately, the lack of numbers): 57% of U.S. workers surveyed…

As there was no last-minute agreement between Congress and the White House to postpone federal budget cuts scheduled to take effect March 1, the ax now falls. Unless a bipartisan effort somehow undoes them, assorted federal government agencies will have their budgets reduced by $85 billion between now and October 1, as the initial step…

What happened to the weak buck? In recent years, stock market gains have been associated with a weak dollar (among other factors). This latest rally on Wall Street seems to be an exception: years of dollar weakness may be giving way to renewed foreign investment in U.S. currency, spurred by global belief that things are…

RETAILERS RECEIVE A MAJOR BOOST   Higher payroll taxes don’t seem to have hurt shopping or driving: the Commerce Department noted a 1.1% improvement in retail sales for February. As gas station receipts increased 5.0% and auto sales 1.1% last month, there was also a 0.4% gain in core retail sales and a 0.5% rise…

How do you picture your future? If you are like many baby boomers, your view of retirement is likely pragmatic compared to that of your parents. That doesn’t mean you have to have a “plain vanilla” tomorrow. Even if your retirement savings are not as great as you would prefer, you still have great potential…

Next stop, 15,000? As the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at a new all-time high of 14,253.77 on March 5, the psychological lift on Wall Street was undeniable – the market was finally back to where it was in 2007. Or was it? For many Americans, the Dow equals the stock market, and the stock…

HIRING HAS REALLY PICKED UP During June-August 2012, non-farm payrolls grew by an average of 135,000 jobs a month. Across September-November, that average improved to 181,000 per month. From December-February, the economy added an average of 191,000 jobs a month. The icing on the cake: the latest monthly report from the Labor Department showed 236,000…

If you are expecting an inheritance of money or will come into large amounts of money soon, you may be wondering what you should do with this sudden wealth. There are countless examples of how people have squandered their money, but I recently came across one individual who seems to have a good plan. Him…

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) brought major changes to federal tax law, and it profoundly impacted retirement and estate planning. Here is an overview of seven big changes particularly relevant to retirees and/or those approaching retirement age. Federal income tax brackets were altered. Where we once had six tax brackets, we now…