I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately about the issues facing our country, particularly the financial dimension of government. Following the release of the Republican budget proposal authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, President Obama’s subsequent response and the recent downgrading by Standard & Poor’s of our country’s economic prospects, I thought I would share...Read More
An integral part of our planning for clients we keep a close watch for new thresholds that affect pension plan contributions, Social Security taxation and Medicare premiums. Listed below are the figures for 2011 which show that there have been no changes in retirement plan contribution limits for the 2011 tax year. 2011 Pension Plan...Read More
Even though there is no COLA for Social Security benefits in 2011, the IRS has raised the deductibility limits for long term care policies purchased in 2011. The premiums you pay for your long term care insurance are deductible as itemized medical expenses (subject to the 7.5% AGI threshold) based on your age at the...Read More
It’s unavoidable! Day in and day out since the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 we have been hearing and reading about the budget deficit, stimulus packages and repeated extensions of unemployment insurance. These programs are no longer expressed in millions or billions of dollars. In fact, they seem to have skipped the billion-dollar mark...Read More
Over the school holidays, we usually have one or more of our staff’s children visiting the office. It’s really fun to have them spend the day with us and during lunch time we have some terrific conversations and find out what is “happening” in their lives. Our most recent visitor, Anthony Cappa, Jr., dropped by...Read More
On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which extended the temporary increase in the standard maximum deposit insurance amount to $250,000 per depositor through Dec. 31, 2013. On Jan. 1, 2014, the standard insurance amount will return to $100,000 per depositor for all account categories. The $250,000 limit...Read More
My staff and I were eating lunch together in the office, as we often do. Jeff Roberto, our Director of Portfolio Operations and Administration who is the father of three children, thanked me for giving him an article on how much it costs to raise a child these days: about $1 million, according to the...Read More
A reporter called me the other day to ask why most Americans can’t seem to save for their future. That conversation subsequently got me thinking more about why most people can’t – or won’t – save. We’ve long had the developed world’s lowest rate of savings, and recent federal government statistics indicate that the national...Read More
