I’ve just released, in the Legislation section of this site, a review of the HIRE Act 2010’s primary provisions. The primary benefits of this Act are 1) the exemption from OASDI (Social Security) withholding tax for the remainder of 2010 for employers who hire folks who have been unemployed for 60 days prior to their hiring; plus 2) a tax credit for retaining those same employees for at least 52 consecutive weeks at the same level of pay or more. The Act also extended one of the expired provisions from last year – known as a Section 179 expense limit, which is a special method of accounting for otherwise depreciable items via direct expense in the first year. This provision simply extended the more liberal limit from the previous year. As always, consult your tax advisor for more information. Photo by jay
March, 2010:
The Great Recession – What We Did Right
The “Great Recession” may have not been officially declared over just yet, but things we’re seeing in the financial world are showing that we’re regaining momentum, or at least solid ground in the markets. We’ve seen the stock market gain more than 60% since the low a year ago, which is remarkable even though we’re still a ways off the peak of 2007. Now is the time to look back and review our actions during this difficult period – review is useful for us to understand what helped us weather the storm and wind up with positive outcomes. According to some of the things I’ve been seeing and reading, it appears that many folks came through the financial crisis pretty much unscathed. What We Did Right We Didn’t Panic – As in most “crisis” situations, it’s a good thing to maintain calm. In this specific crisis, we held true and […]
Share, tweet, print, email, like or pin this post:
Real Estate Investing in Your IRA
From time to time this question comes up: why can’t I use my IRA account to purchase a retirement home? After all, for many folks, the IRA represents a pretty large account, possibly even enough to purchase a retirement home outright – so why not? No Personal Use This is a thorny question, because there are lots of restrictions around this sort of purchase with an IRA account. First of all, you need to understand that you cannot use the real estate personally, if it is owned by your IRA. Specifically, you, your spouse, heirs, and any other linear relatives can not use such a piece of real estate while your IRA owns it. That factor in itself should answer the question for a lot of folks. So, for example you could not – purchase a home in a sunny clime and use it for your own purposes two months […]
Share, tweet, print, email, like or pin this post:
The File and Suspend Tactic for Social Security Benefits
Note: with the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 into law, File & Suspend and Restricted Application have been effectively eliminated for anyone born in 1954 or later. If born before 1954 there are some options still available, but these are limited as well. Please see the article The Death of File & Suspend and Restricted Application for more details. This is another provision of the Social Security system that is filed under the “Little Known Facts” section – although it is becoming more known these days. How it works and what’s important about it is the subject of this article. How File and Suspend Works and Why It’s Important Any worker can establish a benefit amount by applying at any time after Full Retirement Age – but he or she doesn’t have to continue receiving that benefit. The worker can immediately suspend the receipt of benefits, so […]
Share, tweet, print, email, like or pin this post:
7 Tips About the First-Time Homebuyer Credit
The First-Time Homebuyer Income Tax Credit has been really popular with lots of folks – and there is still time to take advantage of it. As you may be aware, the name of the credit is misleading – it’s been expanded to include folks who owned a house for a significant period of time and have purchased a new home during the prescribed period as well. Like all tax provisions, this is one that you have to pay particular attention to the details, otherwise you could miss out on the credit. Following are seven facts that the IRS wants you to know about claiming the credit (IRS Tax Tip 2010-27). Seven Important Facts About Claiming the First-Time Homebuyer Credit You must buy – or enter into a binding contract to buy – a principal residence located in the United States on or before April 30, 2010. If you have entered […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.