How to Plan Your Income for Retirement

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Planning for retirement is important if you want to cope with life after your days in the office. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 4 out of 10 American workers are saving money for their retirement. Do you want to be part of these smart employees or the lost majority? Here are some of the things you need to know about preparing for retirement.

Setting Financial Goals
Saving is a process that demands commitment. Since retirement is definitely not your only saving goal, you should try striking a balance or prioritizing what is necessary and weighty. For instance, you could comfortably do away with lingering debts and saving for vacations, cars, homes, and lattes.

Saving for Retirement
Retirement involves more than just assessing the amount of saving you need. When planning for retirement, it’s is also important that you pay attention to where you save your money. Find the best investment or saving account. Take time to calculate how much you need to save for retirement as well.

Investing
While saving is simply amassing wealth, investing is the process of multiplying the wealth. Cash is not a great way to store your wealth, and there are thousands of reasons why. Before investing your money in any project, assess the reward-to-risk ratio and the return on investment. Which investments are more diversified, and when do you get in for maximum gains.

What Do You Invest In?
Are you ready to have your retirement saving work for you? Well, if that’s the case, setting up an investment portfolio should not be complicated. Acquaint yourself with principal retirement investment rules. Are you a DIY person, or will you need to hire the services of a financial adviser? If you want to manage your retirement saving yourself, it is recommended that you gather sufficient knowledge on investment strategies. If you will choose to work with a professional, get to know about the related costs.

Building Wealth
Retirement investing is not a phenomenon that occurs in one sitting. It is a process that will change with the dynamics of your employment as you move from one job to another or up the promotion ladder. You will also have to endure changes in the stock markets and meet family obligations. However, that does not necessarily mean that you will have to babysit your retirement investment. There are numerous ways to protect and manage your wealth and savings in the long haul.

Post-PPP Taxes to Understand

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The Paycheck Protection Program loans were a top priority for most struggling businesses due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Although these loans were beneficial to small businesses, most business owners find it hard to understand the tax implications. Below is a comprehensive description of the Post-PPP tax obligations.

Paycheck Protection Program Loans

PPP loans were awarded to small business owners to prevent them from going out of business and to retain their employees. Under the PPP program, small and medium business owners received a loan of up to two-and-a-half times the average monthly payroll. This loan had a cup of about $10 million.

The PPP loan intent was to cover the payroll and other business expenses during the COVID 19 pandemic. If properly appropriated on the approved expenditure, these loans are forgivable. However, if not, repayment of the funds will attract low interest and extended repayment periods. Although these funds have been beneficial to most small businesses and their employees, confusion about the tax implications has arisen.

Tax Implications of The PPP loans

Will the businesses that received the Paycheck Protection Program loan have a different tax situation than the previous years? This question was the concern of most business owners. The possibility that the loans would get considered as the taxable expense was another confusing aspect of these funds.

Although the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was seen by many as a lifeline, experts warned that the legislation could become a tax-laden time bomb. In May 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-32. This notice declared that if PPP loans were not taxable. However, the expenses usually not considered as tax-deductible wouldn’t be deductible. These expenses include utilities and rent.

This declaration threatened to kneecap the most attractive part of the PPP loans. However, Congress came to the rescue when they passed the recent PPP funding through the (C.R.R.S.A.A) Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act. This act reversed the decision of the IRS made on the Notice 2020-32.

The Congress act declared that any forgiven PPP loan would be tax-exempted income. Thanks to this clarification, business owners can now take a Paycheck Protection Program loan and still get the (ERTC) employee retention tax.

4 Things You Should Know About The R and D Tax Credit

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This blog was originally published to JBowmanAccountant.org.

The Research and Development Tax Credit benefits almost any business, no matter the size, age, or industry. Since 1981, this incentive has offered reimbursement for innovative and highly-technical businesses. Here are four things you should know about the R&D Tax Credit.

It is available for many industries

From aerospace organizations to wineries and vineyards, several industries can reap the benefits of an R&D Tax Credit. Organizations within these industries must pass a four-part test to affirm that their research activities qualify for an R&D Tax Credit. The four parts of the test are:

  1. Technological in Nature – “Activities must fundamentally rely on the principles of physical or biological science, engineering, or computer science.”
  2. Permitted Purpose – “Activities must be performed in an attempt to improve performance, reliability, or quality of a new or existing business component.”
  3. Eliminate Uncertainty – “Activities intended to discover information that could eliminate technical uncertainty concerning the development or improvement of a product.”
  4. Experimentation – “All of the activities must include a process of experimentation including testing, modeling, simulating, systematic trial and error.”

It covers a variety of expenses

With all of the activity that goes on in a given business, it can be difficult to track your direct and indirect R&D expenses. However, taking note of those expenses is essential for receiving the appropriate tax benefits. As a rule, the major expenses that qualify are salaries and supplies and materials. For salaries, employees who work in R&D or directly manage those in R&D are covered. Supplies and materials covers anything from nails to computers.

It offers unique benefits to smaller companies

If your small company has gross receipts for five years or less that average less than $5 million, your company may be eligible for an R&D Tax Credit. This is the case even if your company does not owe any taxes, and the covered amount can reach up to $250,000 of a payroll offset. If your small business does not have credit for offsetting payroll taxes in a given quarter, you can carry that credit into a different quarter. However, to do this, you must not exceed the $250,000 limit.

It undergoes regular updates

The R&D Tax Credit does not behave exactly as it did over a quarter of a century ago. As industries and economies evolve, the R&D Tax Credit does, too. In particular, the removal of the Discovery Rule in 2003 redefined research activities as those that would be “new to the taxpayer” rather than “new to the world.” More recently, the Protecting American from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act ensured that small, mid-size, and startup businesses could benefit from R&D Tax Credits.

John J. Bowman, Jr. is an accountant and tax professional based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter for more blog updates!

The 3 Best Personal Finance Software Options for 2017

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Personal finance software can assist you in managing your finances. The software tracks your transactions and warns you about potential problems. Personal finance software organizes your finances daily, which allows you to relax and avoid stress. Here are the best available personal finance software programs

YNAB

The acronym YNAB stands for You Need A Budget, and the software is designed to help people who are budgeting. YNAB wants users to take every dollar that they earn and give that dollar a job. Users can find out exactly what every spent dollar went towards. YNAB can help you manage your immediate expenses; such as mortgage or rent, as well as your discretionary expenses; such as dining out. YNAB is a good choice for people who have constant expenses.

YNAB only allows you to budget money that you have actually earned, which forces you to plan around the money you presently have and not the money that you’ll receive in the future. YNAB will stop you from overspending by taking money out of another category to cover costs. YNAB encourages people to think of any extra money as finances that can help future expenses. By helping users put money aside for future expenses, YNAB believes that it is enhancing the financial security of its users. YNAB offers free webinars to help people understand how the software works.

Mint

One of Mint’s most popular features is its easy setup. The dashboard makes everything clear, so users can easily transition from one column to the next one. Mint recognizes that most people have flexible budgets, so users can set up a budget that makes sense with their expenses. Mint’s budgeting system allows users to make different categories for every expense that you have. Once you have paid for all of your expenses, the rest of your income goes into a category known as Everything Else.

Mint’s budgeting system lets users clarify when the expense will be due, so you can budget every month until the expense is due. You can set aside money every month to help plan for any long-term financial goals. That money will be taken out of your available budget.

Personal Capital

Personal Capital looks at the total net worth of its users through calculating all of their current assets and then subtracting any liabilities. Personal Capital lets users compare their spending during the current month to spending in previous months. Personal Capital shows users how their investments are doing by giving them a breakdown of their individual stocks, as well as an index of any money that has been accumulated or lost. You can seek a breakdown of your finances in both real dollars and percentages.

Tax Refund Boosting Hacks

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Tax season will be here before you know it. It’s time to start thinking about the ways you can get the most out of your return. Taxes can be tricky to navigate. There are a lot of factors that go into your return, some of which automated tax software won’t be able to pick up on. Before you file your taxes, take a look at the following items to see if you can take advantage of the unique benefits they offer.

Use Tax Deductions!

Many people shy away from tax deductions. Most of the time it’s only because they don’t understand them or didn’t know they qualified. You can deduct charitable donations and unreimbursed work expenses. There is even a deduction available if you’ve moved over 50 miles for a new job. You can claim all the moving, storage, and travel expenses associated with your move. Save all work expense and charitable donation receipts throughout the year so you can receive the right deduction and have the proof to back it up.

File Early

Filing early does not have a direct effect on the amount of money you get back. It does, however, expedite the refund process. You may even save yourself some money if you use part of your refund to pay off debt from the holidays. The sooner you pay down the debt, the less interest you have to pay.

Retirement Contribution Benefits

If you contribute to an IRA account, try your best to max out your contribution before the end of the year. You can receive a tax deduction for as much as your maximum contribution allotment. You may even be lucky enough to reap the benefits of a rare “double dip.” If you qualify for a saver’s credit, you’ll receive an additional deduction on top of retirement contribution deduction.

Dependents

Did you know that family members are not the only ones you can claim as dependents? If you have taken in and supported a friend for the entire year, you could receive a dependent exemption. There are some caveats to this rule. In order to qualify, non-relatives must reside within your home, but relatives do not. In either situation, you must provide for over half of their support. Finally, the dependent must also not make more than $4,000 in taxable income. If you think you may be able to claim dependents, it will not hurt to look into!

Raising Money-Savvy Kids

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Unfortunately, money management does not fall under the curriculum taught in school. Parents are responsible for leading by example and teaching the basics of money management. It may seem like a daunting task, because most people do not remember how they were taught about money, they just know it now. That’s why I put together this list in order to give you ideas on how to start raising money-savvy kids.

Talk About Money

The first step in teaching your children about money is constructing an ongoing, open discussion about money. Talking about money is something we don’t normally deem acceptable. We do not disclose salaries, we try not to lead onto how much we have, and we certainly do not ask other people about their money. These social norms have their place within our society and it’s important to stress that to your children as well. There’s a time and a place for everything. When it comes to money, let your children know they can talk to you about it, ask questions, and not fear making you uncomfortable.

Budget Together

Budgeting is a huge part of money management. Keeping track of spending and setting restrictions on yourself is a great habit to establish early. Budgets are hard to implement after bad habits are formed, so to avoid forming them, budget together. You can be as open about this as you’d like. If you want to be completely transparent and work on the household budget, go for it! If that seems too daunting, work on a personal budget with your child. Have them outline goals and also learn how to work with the income (allowance) they receive.

Utilize Teachable Moments

There will be many teachable moments throughout your money management lessons. Identifying them and knowing how to come out the other side with a lesson is a great way to further instill all you both have been working towards. There are opportunities for real world application everywhere. Include your children in on the family grocery shop. Explain how much you plan on spending and how you came up with that number. Then work together to stick to it!

Use Tough Love (even when it’s hard)

Tough love is a necessary evil when it comes to learning about money. You more than likely ran into some financial trouble at one point or another. After you recovered and stabilized your finances, you learned a valuable lesson about what not to do. Providing children with these realizations early on can firmly cement your teachings into their minds. They may have to find out the hard way that it wasn’t a good idea to blow all their money on a toy the day they receive their allowance. Your child won’t even learn that lesson until a few weeks later when they do not have enough money for something else they desperately want. By not giving in and buying it for them, you’re practicing tough love so they can learn a valuable lesson.