Saving for retirement is a must these days and retirement confidence in general is pretty low. Our recent retirement preparedness study revealed that only about 20% of employees feel they’re on track to reach their desired income in retirement. In order to bridge this gap, it’s no secret many of us need to save more. 
Continue reading “Can The IRS Help You Save For Retirement?”
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about new tax laws that may affect higher-income households. In the spirit of equal time, I’d like to talk about tax benefits that traditionally help those with lower incomes. Specifically, I’m talking about tax credits. Continue reading “Let Uncle Sam Pay Part Of Your 2013 Taxes”
You’ve probably seen the commercial with pallets of money being dropped from above, representing a billion dollars of missed tax deductions and credits from taxpayers who do their own taxes. You don’t have to go to a tax pro to get your fair share, however. Just make sure you don’t overlook some of the following items that could increase your tax refund: Continue reading “Don’t Overlook These Commonly Missed Tax Breaks”
With so many upcoming tax law changes, many of which are still up in the air, employees may be starting to feel the financial stress of worrying how these changes will impact them. Now is a great time to start planning for a year-end tax education workshop for your workforce to help prepare them for the following tax law changes: Continue reading “Providing Workplace Financial Education Doesn’t Have to be Taxing”
The IRS has perfectly timed the annoucement of the 2013 pension limitations during National Save 4 Retirement Week, which ends this Saturday. Notice IR-2012-77 declares the COLA adjustments that will impact the dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement accounts for tax year 2013 for both employer and employee contributions. It is important to let your employees know how these increases can help them save more for retirement, so make sure to share this information with your workforce in the messaging format that best fits your workplace culture. Continue reading “When’s the Last Time You Got Good News from the IRS?”
A recent tax reform proposal may bring the end to the cherished tax shelter of a retirement plan deduction. During testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance last September, William Gale discussed a proposal to eliminate the current tax deduction on retirement savings plans and suggested replacing it with a flat-rate refundable credit that would be deposited directly into the saver’s account. Gale, who is the Director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution, wants to see a new incentive structure for contributions to retirement savings accounts by changing the treatment of retirement savings in three ways: Continue reading “The Proposed Retirement Security Project: Could Retirement Plan Deductions Get Cut?”
The IRS has given us 2 extra days to file this year due to April 15th falling on a Sunday and the recognition of Emancipation Day on April 16th. This also provides a few extra days to consider contributing to an IRA. Your employees are probably aware that any changes they make to their 401(k) contributions can’t impact last year’s tax picture but do they know about the ability to make a prior year contribution to an IRA and how an IRA contribution can increase their overall tax refund with a Saver’s Credit? Continue reading “1 Week to Go – Remind Your Employees of the IRA Deadline”
