Simply Junior

Have you ever completed your tax return to find out that you owe the federal government thousands of dollars? If so, I expect it was because you raided your pension or retirement plan. If you haven’t learned this painful lesson yet, you should read this article so that you don’t end up owing the IRS thousands.

“NEVER TAKE MONEY OUT OF YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN!” read the sign that hung in the tax accountant’s office. I knew this was an overstatement, but understood why the accountant had such a sign in his office. Too many times did I, as a tax accountant myself, have to console crying or angry clients after explaining to them that they owed the government thousands of dollars because they withdrew money from their retirement or pension plan. The worst part is that these people that withdrew were often already facing immense financial problems – job losses, foreclosures, and bankruptcies.

If you take money out of your pension or retirement plan, you will first find out that the law requires retirement plan administrators to withhold 20 percent of your money for the federal government. Most people are upset by this news and believe withholding this amount will cover their tax bill. After all, it is a lot of money. What’s important for you to know is that it’s only the beginning.

Most taxpayers still need to worry about more federal and state taxes due. If you’re in the 28 percent tax bracket, you’ll owe the federal government another 8 percent of the amount you withdraw. Worse yet, if you’re under 591/2 years of age, you’ll most likely be penalized another 10 percent. In addition, most states will tax you 5 to 10 percent.

How will this affect your tax bill? If you withdraw $20,000, the plan administer will withhold 20 percent, leaving you with $16,000. By April 15 you’ll realize that you owe another $3,600 to the federal government and $1,500 to the state. So by taking out $20,000 of retirement savings, you end up with only $10,900. Now you’re probably beginning to understand why that tax accountant hung the sign “NEVER TAKE MONEY OUT OF YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN!”

Sure, there are exceptions. There are a number of ways to avoid the 10 percent penalty – using the retirement proceeds for tuition, medical costs, or to buy your first time home (up to $10,000). Some states don’t have an income tax. And, of course, these penalties and taxes don’t apply to ROTH Individual Retirement Accounts.

What’s important to remember is that your tax advisor will be able to explain to you the financial consequences that specifically pertain to your situation. He or she may even be able to suggest alternatives, such as taking a loan out against your retirement plan. Remember, contributing to a retirement account is a wise choice, just don’t make the very unwise choice by liquidating your account before speaking to a tax professional.

Investing in real estate can be very expensive. Investors are expected to put down a larger amount when purchasing a property than do people who purchase a home to live in it. If you purchase a $100,000 house, you may have to put down $20,000 to purchase the property AND this does not include closing costs, taxes or insurance. Then you may have to spend money on top of this in order to get a property ready to be rented out. Investing can be very expensive which is why many people cannot afford to enter the business. The smartest move you could make is to get a partner.

A partner will have many advantages if you are investing in real estate. A partner can pay for ½ of the down payment costs and the rehab costs. This allows both of you to purchase a property with ½ of the money that you would have needed if you purchased the property by yourself. If you are short on funds a partner can be a great way to help in getting started in investing in real estate.

A partner will give you an extra set of eyes and a level of experience that they bring to the table. They are able to give input on how repairs should be done or how to handle collections of rents. Your partner may have a better idea on how to handle an issue that you would have had by yourself. A partner provides a shoulder to lean on when times are difficult. 

A partner will also help in completing the workload. Sometimes you may need to be at the property at a designated time period in order to meet with contractors or other workers. If you are out of town for business or for vacation, then your partner could be available to meet with the contractor. You could swap off with your partner and have assigned weeks in which one of you is responsible for handling all repairs during the week. 

Having a partner can have many advantages. The biggest challenge is finding a partner that has the right temperament and has a compatible personality that you can work with. If you are not able to get along then your partnership will end in failure.

Just because the Estate Tax has been phased out in 2010, don’t be lulled into thinking it won’t be back with a vengeance. On the books, it’s slated to return with only a $1 million exemption. Efforts to get rid of it altogether have failed. The government will be looking for more money anyway now anyway. The following give you the full picture and how to prepare for it.

This tax is the government’s last bite out of you when you die. It’s a tax on the value of your estate at your death. And your estate is anything you own and in which you had an interest at the time of death. It can also include the value of certain property you transferred within 3 years before your death.

This graduated tax is imposed on the value of your estate in excess of whatever this year’s estate exclusion level – if you die this year. And the tax rates here starts at 20% and rise fast to 45% or higher!

If you’re leaving an on-going business as part of your estate and have no cash to pay the estate tax, the business can be dismantled to pay it. This is true for almost anything you own. The 2001 Tax Act1 broke apart the unified estate and gift tax scheme and left us with a confusing and unpredictable estate tax arrangement that undermines long term planning. The estate tax has been in the process of being phased out since then. Each year, rates have been lowered or estate tax exclusion levels have risen.

For 2009, the highest estate tax rate is 45% with a $3.5 million exclusion level. And in 2010 no estate tax exists. Originally, it was hoped that that would continue indefinitely. But that just isn’t going to happen.

The increasing exclusion levels for this tax through 2010 will keep a lot of Americans free from estate tax without much planning. But if you have or control a lot of wealth or a business of substantial value, you may want to take steps to either fore go ownership to reduce your estate or buy life insurance to handle that final taxes.

Even though the pre-2001 tax is slated to go into effect in 2011, it’s not clear whether congress will alter this. Those who die in 2011 are slated to pay have only a $1 million estate tax exclusion level and up to a 55% tax rate imposed on them.

Most in congress favour keeping the Estate Tax but they’re arguing over how high the exemption level should be. With 2011 less than 2 years away, congress just can’t get its act together.

Originally, this death tax was aimed only at the very wealthy and not the average citizen. But it’ll be hitting the average citizen in 2011. That’s because it won’t be hard for the average citizen’s holding to go beyond the $1 million exclusion level. Many estates will surpass it by virtue of house values alone having risen so high over the last 10 years.

Of course, if you’re married and die before your spouse, you can leave all your wealth to her without paying estate tax by using the ‘unlimited’ marital deduction from your gross estate. But, unfortunately, that will leave her estate that much bigger by the time she’s dies. And then the wealth will be taxed before going to your kids.

You should surely use your own tax exclusion level on to shelter some of the wealth in your estate when you die. You can do so by arranging to transfer at least that exclusion level amount to a trust with your kids as eventual beneficiaries. Beyond that, you can give the rest to your spouse. That ‘estate tax exclusion level’ trust’ can still help your surviving spouse with money needs before she dies.

So be prepared for the coming tax on your estate in 2011.

The year 2011 seems to hold promise for tax payers with the new tax laws that are being enacted. The tax payer will not have to worry about trying to pay taxes if they can prove hardship. The average tax payer will see an IRS tax relief as they are going to be allowed to earn more money and pay less on their taxes. This will be a great stride for the American tax payer since they usually have to carry the brunt of the nation’s bills.

The IRS tax relief for 2011 will cover millions of Americans who have had it pretty hard this past year. Millions of homes have been foreclosed leaving Americans homeless. The jobs are not there to be had and the economy has worsened by degrees. It is even predicted that we might plunge into a double digit fall back in the economy. This would be a devastating event for most Americans. This is not what the President wants for the country and that is why he is trying very hard to get the Congress to compromise with some IRS tax relief programs.

It is possible that with some of the new tax laws that this will help save the families and put more money into the pockets of the consumers helping the economy to stay more at an even base. It is not totally up to the president it seems that some of the governors are trying hard to increase employment in their states. This increase of work will help the American to earn more money and create a better and stronger economy. The only thing left is for American business to stay in this country and give the jobs to the American people instead of outsourcing the work to foreign countries.

It is not the best solutions that have come forth from the 2010 Congress but it has given the economy a jump start which if the 2011 Congress carries it forward will help all Americans. One of the most important things at this time is to put more money back into the pockets of the consumers by giving them an IRS tax relief program that will help families stay on track financially. It would be a great advantage as well if the IRS would consider collecting back taxes from business’s who have made it a point to outsource jobs. The money that these businesses owe would really help the economy. Since they took the tax breaks in the past but did little to nothing to help the countries economical growth they really do not deserve an IRS tax relief program.

There are big headlines on the internet about Social Security being in the red this year. They are paying out MORE than they are getting in this very year. Did you catch that? Not running out of funds in 10 years or 5 years or 2 years, but this very year!

The Congressional Budget Office had issued a report saying that would happen in 2016. WRONG! Between the early retirees and job losses, both due to the downturn in the economy the last few years, there are fewer people paying into the system and more folks receiving benefits.

We’ve all known it was coming, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise, right? But it is one of those huge, major type, awful things that you don’t want to see happen, so you try not to think about it or dwell on it. Humph! And I am hoping to retire within the next 5 years. Guess that will be up in the air. How about you?

It is not all terrible news, but maybe this should serve as THE wake-up call for all of us. There is a surplus which the government has in trust funds. This is currently estimated to last until 2037, although that number will surely be adjusted in the future. The main issue with the trust funds is that the government has borrowed from them to pay for other programs and things they couldn’t pay. So the majority of the funds now reside in IOU’s which will have to be paid back somehow by some other funds from somewhere else. Does this sound promising to you?

Even if they do, by some miracle, find the money to pay back the IOU’s, it is still only estimated to last until 2037. What happens to us when that runs out? What happens to our children when they reach our age? And our children’s children?

What are our options? What are our children’s options? What will work when we all need to retire and still have money to live on? Very few companies still maintain a retirement account for their employees. And let’s face it, who works for the same company for their whole life anymore? That is much more of the rarity than it is the common place. So where will the money come from?

I believe we need to stop thinking the government is going to care for us in our ripe old age. The only ones we can truly depend on to take care of us is ourselves, and maybe other family members. Have we all saved enough money? Woefully, no. By far, the vast majority of people do not have enough money in retirement accounts or savings. So where does that leave us? What can we do?

We need to start up our own retirement funds. How can we do that when we already need most of, or all of, the money to live on? We need to find and capitalize on second jobs or work from home and internet opportunities which do 2 things: pay for themselves and grow a residual income. And since many are short on extra funds, the opportunities need to be cheap. Very cheap.

Would you do something to build a residual “retirement fund” for yourself and your family if it only cost – - let’s say, only cost the price of one dinner in a local restaurant? Or the price of 2 cups of specialty coffee? Or less than the price of 2 movie tickets? And what if it paid for your investment in 1-3 months?

But you don’t think you have the time. You aren’t a salesperson. You don’t want to have to do anything to make money. Well, there are lots of opportunities out there. You just need to find the right one for you. One which costs very little money, takes very little time, sells itself, and can grow a wonderful residual income which you can use for your retirement plan.