Many people donate substantial amounts to charity each year. If you do, without the help of a top Salt Lake City financial advisor, you may not know that you can use those charitable contributions to reduce capital gains taxes.
Are you considering converting your IRA to a Roth IRA? Having your retirement savings in a Roth account can be extremely beneficial if you wish to avoid Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), want your money to grow tax-free, or if you plan to leave the account to your heirs. While traditional IRAs are subject to a ten-year withdrawal schedule at ordinary income tax rates when the IRA owner dies, Roth accounts pass to heirs tax-free. Additionally, the new SECURE act allows for Roth accounts to continue growing tax-free for up to 10 years after the death of the account holder.
As the tax year draws to an end, you may start to ask yourself the question, “should I itemize or take the standard deduction?” Because of the recent changes to the Tax Law, more and more people are choosing to take the standard deduction. However, itemizing can have large benefits, so the decision can be complex.
Ever since their creation in 1997, Roth IRAs have been an effective way to save for retirement. Because they allow post-tax contributions to both grow tax-free and be withdrawn tax-free, financial experts encourage clients to maximize Roth contributions throughout their working years.
About a year ago, Congress passed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” enacting one of the largest set of tax changes in decades. Most of these changes are now in effect for the 2018 tax year, and you will notice the differences as you file this April.
Here is a roundup of the most important things to know about the recent tax changes.