After two years of waiting, Washington has a new tax. Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the new 7% tax on capital gains. At issue was whether it was an income tax or an excise tax. HOW THE NEW TAX APPLIES Before you panic, note that the new tax probably doesn’t […]
If your house is like mine, you have been swept up in the swirl of added activities surrounding the holidays. Yet there are a few other things I would encourage you to add to your year-end list, even if that list is already as long as your arm. Some are directly financial, and others indirect. […]
Around this time last year, inflation started to rear its ugly head in earnest. “Transitory” inflation was gaining traction. Over the next 12 months, prices jumped big time, and the Fed responded with interest rate hikes to slow the economy. We are seeing signs of the economy cooling: layoffs and some corporate downsizing, and mixed […]
March seems like a long time ago, even though it’s only been six months. Life in Corona Times. Back in March we had just started shutdown here in the United States, the economy ground to a halt with exception of a few essentials, the stock market plummeted. We found comfort in Netflix and a stockpile […]
Like other advisors during the current market turmoil, I am working with clients on portfolio rebalancing, tax loss harvesting, Roth conversions while account balances may be diminished, and shoring up emergency funds. All of these are good things to consider. But are those the ONLY things you might be thinking about with regard to your […]
This time of year we often look back over the past 12 months, and as we close out 2019, we also close out a decade. Time goes by in the blink of an eye, and the past ten years are only different in that there has been more change than ever before. That will only be exceeded by […]
Whatever you might think about politics and politicians, decisions made in your state house, the White House and houses of Congress have an impact on you and your personal finances. I’m writing this mini-series to break down the issues that come up during the Presidential debates in the months leading up to the 2020 elections. […]
I initially started this post two weeks ago, after we woke up to the news of Dayton and El Paso, which made it feel like the world was falling apart. That shock was followed by China’s devaluation of its currency, a different kind of shock, and the financial world seemed like it was falling apart, […]
As holiday lights twinkle around me and passersby bundle up against the cold, Congress was hard at work pushing their tax reform bill through the legislature. Their stated goal was to simplify the tax system, stimulate the economy and create jobs. There’s no simplification here, and economic stimulus is dubious, but there are a few […]
Now that your 2016 tax return is behind you, you might be thinking about how tax reform changes expected under the Trump Administration might affect you. We are expecting a big announcement tomorrow, but despite some advance hype of “massive” changes, we’re likely to get only minimal details. The tax code is 4,029 pages and […]