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Charitable giving can be a rewarding part of many wealth management plans. Not only does it feel good to help worthy causes, your monetary or asset donations to qualified charitable organizations may be used as a tax write-off. However, recent tax law changes enacted with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have drastically reduced the ability of some taxpayers to itemize deductions. Coupling that with the proliferation of phony charitable appeals online, now more than ever, donors must carefully and diligently plan their giving strategy.
Once you officially retire, the transition from nest egg “saver” to “spender” can be a big psychological hurdle to clear. Even diligent savers may wonder if their nest egg can cover the many spending “wants” of retired life amid the uncontrollable variables that will almost certainly affect their savings over time, so our investment professionals recommend a few strategies to prepare for retirement spending.
With large enough balances in a taxable account, margin loans may be a wise option for high-net-worth individuals under certain circumstances. Recognizing the appropriate situations in which to draw a margin loan is an important part of a sound wealth management strategy, and at Cranbrook Wealth, we carefully evaluate individual client situation before recommending this option.
When the world wakes up to dramatic geopolitical headlines, like today’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia, investors can get spooked. That fear often results in a sell-off and retreat into “safe” investments, but the truth is major global or national events rarely change the trajectory of equity markets for a sustained period.
Owning a small business requires many sacrifices; saving for retirement shouldn’t be one of them. Fortunately, entrepreneurs have many options, including two popular choices which provide attractive tax benefits while offering different features and restrictions: the Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA and the solo 401(k) plan.
Short-term volatility is an almost-certain fact of life in the capital markets, one investors and advisors must handle with a clear and rational approach. The instinct to move money out of a quickly-dropping market and "sit on the sidelines" during a correction can present a host of challenges, not the least of which is deciding when it is safe to get back in.
Special-purchase acquisition companies—or SPACs— are enjoying a moment of unprecedented popularity. Despite their reputation as this year’s “shiny new thing”, SPAC investments should still be approached with caution.
Recent economic indicators have some investors seeking the guaranteed protection against inflation offered by the Treasury Department’s Series I savings bonds. They may look attractive right now, but investors should be warned that the investment isn’t without risk.
No one likes to see losses within their portfolio, but it can happen to even the savviest investor. Tax-loss harvesting can turn those losses into potential tax savings, but it must be conducted by year-end.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) raised the standard deduction for taxpayers to $24,000 for couples ($12,000 for singles), reducing the marginal tax benefit of giving to charity by more than 30% and raising the after-tax cost of donating by about 7%. For charitably-minded taxpayers, the effect can be discouraging, but there is a work-around to these limitations for taxpayers who qualify.
Loaning money to family members is a common and often informal affair: parents front a mortgage down payment for an adult child, for example, with an expectation that it’s repaid over time (or not). Aside from the emotional risks of loaning money to a family member who may or may not be expected to repay the debt, the Internal Revenue Service could be a vested third party whose involvement could complicate the transaction.