Here’s a little fact that you may not realize: when you assign a beneficiary for your IRA account, you are effectively bypassing any outside action against that account, including your will – assuming that the beneficiary assigned is appropriate. For most assets that you own, when you pass away, your last will and testament determines who will receive the assets. You may want to make sure that your daughter gets the heirloom china set, and your son receives the antique car, among other things – so you direct these wishes through your will. If you don’t have a will, your state of residence, through the probate process, determines how your assets are distributed. Generally this will direct your estate to your living heirs in order, from your surviving spouse to your children and then grandchildren. It’s different in each state, so it really makes a lot of sense to get […]
May, 2018:
Social Security for the Self-Employed
As a self-employed small business owner, you have lots of plates to keep spinning, and lots of additional costs that you never dreamed of when you were employed by someone else (if you ever were), like health insurance, for example. Another cost that you have to deal with when self-employed is Self-Employment tax. Self-Employment tax (SE tax) is essentially where you are paying both the employER and the employEE portion of the Social Security withholding tax. This means that, for 2018, you are taxed at a rate of 12.4% on your first $128,700 of income (double the rate you’d have withheld if you were employed by someone else). This doesn’t count the 2.9% that you also have to withhold for Medicare tax – which is another matter altogether. With this in mind, you might wonder if there are ways that you could reduce the Self-Employed tax…? One way might be […]
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”.