Month: January 2020

Tax Law Changes That Matter For You

As the year turned from 2019 to 2020, there stealthily rolled in several of the most sweeping reforms to retirement and tax legislation in a decade or so (outside of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA). The recent changes apply to IRA, 401k and other retirement savings accounts. If any of these apply to you then please read on:

  • Inherited IRA
  • Turning 70½ this or next year
  • Own a business with or proposing a 401k plan
  • Working for a small company and do not have access to a 401k plan
  • Need an early distribution for reasons of qualified birth or adoption
US Capitol
The SECURE Act is the most sweeping reform to retirement and tax legislation in a decade. As with most pieces of Congressional legislation there are positives and negatives.

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2020 Contribution and Gift Limits

A handful of updates for 2020 IRA & 401k contribution and gift limits:

  • For Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs the 2020 contribution maximum remains the SAME in 2020 as in 2019: $6,000 (plus $1,000 to total $7,000 for those age 50 and over).
  • REMEMBER!! IRA account contributions can be made all the way up until April 15th for the previous tax year.
  • That means that you have until April 15, 2020 to make an IRA contribution for 2019.
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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Investing After A Great Year

It is still early in the year – there is still plenty of time to evaluate how to start or tweak a savings and investing plan. In fact, it is ALWAYS a good time (January, February, March, July, October, December…) to evaluate savings and investing. But after the amazing past year and decade in US and global stock and bond markets, it may cross your mind to say,

  • “Should I wait to invest?”
  • “How can markets keep going up, up, up?”
  • OR,
  • “I need to jump on the bandwagon here!”
  • “Growth stocks are the way to go! I have stock ideas!”

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Negative Interest Rates

Staying positive in a negative interest rate world just got a little easier. Sweden’s central bank, one of the world’s first to lower benchmark interest rates to below zero, this week raised its rate up to zero from negative 0.25%, or -0.25%.

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A negative interest rate from a bank means that instead of depositing monies and earning interest, the depositor pays interest over time. The concept has been said to signify ultra-safety of deposits thus providing “value” to the depositor.

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“What Ifs” of 2020 and Beyond

After a year – really a decade – of excellent returns in the stock market, and for 2019 in the stock AND bond markets, it makes sense to ask, “WHAT IF?” As in, what if certain events take place in the markets or economy that could spoil the last several years of positive portfolio returns? Naturally then, there would be a handful of guesses or responses to the “what if” questions.

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What if certain events take place in the markets or economy that could spoil the last several years of positive portfolio returns?

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