Advisors

In the wake of the pandemic, there’s one topic that’s suddenly a lot less taboo, according to Lee Baker, a certified financial planner based in Atlanta. “We get more calls around estate planning,” said Baker, founder, owner and president of Apex Financial Services and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. “The last 36 months shifted the

President Joe Biden speaks about the U.S. response to the high-altitude Chinese balloon at the White House complex Feb. 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images President Joe Biden is proposing higher taxes on wealthy Americans to help cover priorities like Medicare and Social Security in his 2024

Ippei Naoi | Moment | Getty Images Budgeting and saving money may seem challenging — but the 50-30-20 rule is an easy way for people to get started, said Cathy Curtis, a certified financial planner based in Oakland, California. The numbers refer to the share of take-home pay allocated to different areas of your life:

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Women tend to outperform men when it comes to investing, yet some may still be at risk of falling behind. Over a 10-year span, women’s returns were, on average, 40 basis points, or .4%, higher than their male counterparts, according to a 2021 report from Fidelity Investments that

Enes Evren There’s still time to make a pretax individual retirement account contribution for 2022 — and possibly trim your tax bill or boost your refund — if you qualify. For 2022, the IRA contributions limit was $6,000, with an extra $1,000 for investors age 50 and older, and the tax deadline this year is

Morsa Images | E+ | Getty Images If you’re on track to max out your 401(k) plan for 2023 and want to save more, your plan may have another option: after-tax contributions. For 2023, you can defer up to $22,500 into your 401(k), and savers age 50 and older can add another $7,500. Some plans

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images Whether you’re filing a simple or complicated tax return, it’s critical to make sure it’s thorough — and you may have free online tools at your fingertips, in the form of IRS transcripts, to make the process easier. “Oftentimes, filing a complete and accurate return is much better

Mixetto | E+ | Getty Images For some retirees, heading back to work has emerged as an aspiration. Roughly 1 in 6 retired Americans say they are mulling over whether to get a job, according to a recent study from Paychex. On average, those “unretiring” individuals have been out of the workforce for four years.

Sdi Productions | E+ | Getty Images Married couples have a choice every year: file taxes together or apart. While the tax code generally rewards joint returns, there are scenarios where filing separately pays off, experts say. While “married filing jointly” involves a single return, “married filing separately” means you and your spouse have your

Hoxton/Sam Edwards | Getty Images After kicking off tax season with customer service and technology upgrades, the IRS this week unveiled a new option allowing taxpayers to respond more easily to certain agency notices.  The new feature lets taxpayers and professionals respond to nine notices online by digitally uploading requested documents, rather than responding by

Dobrila Vignjevic | E+ | Getty Images Health care in retirement can come with a hefty price tag. A new study looks at how much money a 65-year-old — who’s at the age of Medicare eligibility — would need to have set aside to secure a 50%, 75% or 90% chance of covering their health-care

Seb_ra | Istock | Getty Images A bill that’s pending in the Senate aims to battle a persistent danger to older adults and other vulnerable individuals: financial exploitation. In a nutshell, the measure would allow so-called registered open-ended investment companies — which can include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds, some annuities and other pooled

vitapix | E+ | Getty Images Planning to sell some investments this year? It’s less likely to affect your 2023 tax bill, experts say. Here’s why: The IRS made dozens of inflation adjustments for 2023, including the long-term capital gains brackets, applying to investments held for more than one year. This means you can have

Bill Oxford | E+ | Getty Images Tax season is underway, and the IRS has issued nearly 8 million refunds worth about $15.7 billion as of Feb. 3, the agency reported. The average refund amount was $1,963, down from last year’s average payment of $2,201 at the same point in the filing season. Of course,

While the thought of funding your retirement adequately might be daunting, if you start planning now you’ll certainly be thankful later. Retirement usually entails replacing your former annual salary with other income sources to keep up with your lifestyle. While Social Security may cover part of your budget, the rest of your money will most

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., speaks at a news conference announcing the state and local taxes caucus outside the Capitol on April 15, 2021. Sarah Silbiger | Bloomberg | Getty Images A group of bipartisan House representatives relaunched the SALT caucus last week, calling for relief from the $10,000 limit on the federal deduction for state

Prathanchorruangsak | Istock | Getty Images Whether you’re starting a new job or updating retirement savings goals, you may need to choose between pre-tax or Roth 401(k) contributions — and the choice may be more complex than you think. While pre-tax 401(k) deposits offer an upfront tax break, the funds grow tax-deferred, meaning you’ll owe

Portra | DigitalVision | Getty Images Tax season is underway but millions of filers who received state tax rebates or payments are in limbo after the IRS told taxpayers to pause on filing returns. The reason for the delay hinges on one question: Are these payments taxable on federal returns? Filers in more than 20

President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address on March 1, 2022. Win Mcnamee | Getty Images President Joe Biden will again call for a “billionaire minimum tax” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. While details haven’t been released, Biden previously proposed a billionaire minimum tax in his 2023 federal

Constantine Johnny | Moment | Getty Images Tax season has begun, and it typically comes with a big uptick in tax-related scams. There were nearly 7.8 million reports of suspicious activities in 2022, according to a recent report from the Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Information Sharing Mission & Analysis Center, a partnership between the