Want to Relieve Stress in 2023? Start Building Your Emergency Fund
Maybe you’re one of the people who went through mass layoffs in virtually all industries in 2022. Maybe you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to become more financially stable in 2023. You might even be worried that this is the year that the economy will truly enter into the recession that many have predicted for quite some time.
Regardless, many surveys have shown that most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have any type of a “rainy day fund” at all. In fact, one estimate puts it at roughly three out of every five people. Naturally, this can cause quite a bit of stress – especially given the general unpredictability of everything going on in the world.
Thankfully, all hope is not lost. If you want to relieve stress, the most important step you can take is to start building your emergency fund as soon as you’re able to – and it’s a lot more straightforward of a process than you might think.
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Especially in the early days of a business, it can be natural to want to handle as many day-to-day tasks yourself – bookkeeping included. Sometimes, it’s in an effort to save money. Often, entrepreneurs just feel like they’re in a better position to handle everything themselves. Regardless, this situation does seem to play out regularly.
The President, on December 29, 2022, signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which is the “omnibus spending bill” Congress needed to pass to avoid a government shutdown. That legislation also included the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) 2.0 Act, a.k.a. the SECURE 2.0 Act, that can significantly impact and augment your retirement planning strategies. The SECURE 2.0 Act incorporates provisions from proposed legislation that was passed by the House and another bill that was passed by the Senate that had not previously been reconciled.
Individuals are always looking for tax deductions that can reduce their tax liability. But what is the actual tax benefit derived from a tax deduction? There is no straightforward answer because some deductions are “above the line”, others must be itemized, some must exceed a threshold amount before being deductible, and certain ones are not deductible for alternative minimum tax purposes, while business deductions can offset both income and self-employment tax. In other words, there are many factors to consider, and the tax benefits differ for everyone, depending on their particular situation and tax bracket.
When it comes to transactions between family members, the tax laws are frequently overlooked, if not outright trampled upon. The following are some commonly encountered situations and the tax ramifications associated with each.
When you are attempting to defer the taxability of a capital gain, save money for your children’s future education or plan your retirement finances, you may do so in several ways, including investing in the stock market, buying real estate for income and appreciation, or simply putting money away in education savings accounts or retirement plans. Knowing how these various tax savings vehicles and income deferral opportunities function is important for choosing the ones best suited to your circumstances.
Background – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also referred to as Obamacare) was enacted over 12 years ago, and one of its main features was the creation of government marketplaces (sometimes called exchanges) where Americans could purchase their health insurance if not covered by an affordable employer’s plan. Also included in the ACA was a new tax credit, the Premium Tax Credit (PTC), that could be used to offset some or all of the premiums for policies obtained through the marketplace.
Taxpayers should be aware of the recent increase in IRS-themed texting scams aimed at stealing personal and financial information.
Along with the holidays comes a lot of extra work for many family-run businesses, which may require putting the kids to work and having a spouse help out over the busy time. There are special tax rules when hiring your children and also for your spouse, depending on whether he or she is a business partner or an employee.