Cory Burnell

Maintaining good records is important to help meet your tax and legal obligations. The right record keeping system not only helps satisfy these obligations, but it may save you money and time. Here’s what to consider for your record-keeping system. What Records Do You Need to Keep? The first step is identifying the records you need to maintain. The obvious examples include leases, contracts, payroll and personnel records, and a range of accounting and finance information, such as invoices, receipts, checks, payables, and inventory. Please consult a professional with tax expertise regarding your individual situation.¹ How Do You Want to Keep Them? Record maintenance can take three basic forms: Paper-based —It’s old school, but maintaining records in file folders stored in a metal cabinet may be sufficient. However, there is a risk of files being damaged or destroyed with no back-up. Computer-based —Maintaining records on computers saves space and makes management easier. Con...

The motivations and mechanics of personal travel are undergoing real change. Vacations are becoming less to do with getting away and increasingly about living new experiences. Here's a quick overview of how travel looks in the twenty-first century. The New Face of Travel Your Hotel is Likely Now a Home With the advent of Airbnb, HomeAway and other similar services, the traveler can now book a home, condo, or cabin and live like a local in a home setting. Community Impact Your travel dollars can have community impact. The possibilities can range from AboutAsia, which gives 100 percent of its net proceeds to schools and education initiatives, to Women High on Adventure, which couples adventure with assisting women in the local populations. Living a Local Experience Eschewing conventional tourist attractions, many individuals are seeking an immersion in local culture. This can mean connecting locals who love to cook with travelers who want to experience local cuisine (E...

The questions around auto insurance center not so much on whether to have it—it’s mandated by state law, required by your lender, and serves to protect your assets—but what kind of coverage you should purchase. Types of Coverage There are several forms of coverage that a car owner may purchase, some of which are required, others of which may be optional. The coverage requirements in all states include: Bodily injury liability (pays for the cost of injuries you cause to another individual), and Property damage liability (pays for the damage you cause to another’s car or to objects or structures you hit). Some, but not all, states will require that you have coverage for: Uninsured and underinsured motorists (covers the costs associated with being hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver, or in the case of a hit-and-run accident), and Medical payments or personal injury protection (PIP) (pays for medical treatment for you and your passengers). PIP coverage is available i...

Traditional IRAs, which were created in 1974, are owned by roughly 35.1 million U.S. households. And Roth IRAs, created as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act in 1997, are owned by nearly 24.9 million households. 1 Both are IRAs. And yet each is quite different. Up to certain limits, traditional IRAs allow individuals to make tax-deductible contributions into the account. Distributions from traditional IRAs are taxed as ordinary income and, if taken before age 59½, may be subject to a 10% federal income tax penalty. 2 For individuals covered by a retirement plan at work the deduction for a traditional IRA in 2018 is phased out for incomes between $101,000 and $121,000 for married couples filing jointly, and between $63,000 and $73,000 for single filers. Also within certain limits, individuals can make contributions to a Roth IRA with after-tax dollars. To qualify for a tax-free and penalty-free withdrawal of earnings, Roth IRA distributions must meet a five-year holding requ...

Who among us wants to pay the IRS more taxes than we have to?¹ While few may raise their hands, Americans regularly overpay because they fail to take tax deductions for which they are eligible. Let’s take a quick look at the six most overlooked opportunities to manage your tax bill. Reinvested Dividends : When your mutual fund pays you a dividend or capital gains distribution, that income is a taxable event (unless the fund is held in a tax-deferred account, like an IRA). If you’re like most fund owners, you reinvest these payments in additional shares of the fund. The tax trap lurks when you sell your mutual fund. If you fail to add the reinvested amounts back into the investment’s cost basis, it can result in double taxation of those dividends.² Mutual funds are sold only by prospectus. Please consider the charges, risks, expenses, and investment objectives carefully before investing. A prospectus containing this and other information about the investment company can be obtained...

Every year, about 140 million households file their federal tax returns.¹ For many, the process involves digging through shoe boxes or manila folders full of receipts; gathering mortgage, retirement, and investment account statements; and relying on computer software to take advantage of every tax break the code permits. It seems a shame not to make the most of all that effort. Tax preparation may be the only time of year many households gather all their financial information in one place. That makes it a perfect time to take a critical look at how much money is coming in and where it’s all going. In other words, give the household budget a check-up. Six-Step Process One method for doing a thorough budget check-up involves six steps. Create Some Categories.   Start by dividing expenses into useful categories. Some possibilities: home, auto, food, household, debt, clothes, pets, entertainment, and charity. Don’t forget savings and investments. It also may be helpful to ...

Federal estate taxes have been a source of funding for the federal government almost since the U.S. was founded. In 1797, Congress instituted a system of federal stamps that were required on all wills offered for probate when property (land, homes) was transferred from one generation to the next. The revenue from these stamps was used to build the navy for an undeclared war with France, which had begun in 1794. When the crisis ended in 1802, the tax was repealed.¹ Estate taxes returned in the build up to the Civil War. The Revenue Act of 1862 included an inheritance tax, which applied to transfers of personal assets. In 1864, Congress amended the Revenue Act, added a tax on transfers of real estate, and increased the rates for inheritance taxes. As before, once the war ended the Act was repealed.² Fast Fact:   Estate Income. Between 2016 and 2025, the estate tax will generate about $246 billion. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2015 In 1898, a federal legacy tax was...