Link: Tax Deal: What’s In It for You? A nice summary of the parts of the new tax cut deal which will likely affect most people.  In particular, the continued lower rates on income taxes, of course, as well as the continued lower rates on certain investment income (qualified dividends and long-term capital gains), as […]

Link: Experts agree: Get over your fear and get back into stocks – USATODAY.com As usual, a useless headline.  Where were these “experts” in March of 2009?  And they’re recommending getting into stocks *now* – after a great 6 months, and after nearly doubling over the last 18 months.  And did they tell everyone to […]

Link: How to Avoid Making Mistakes When Giving to Charity – WSJ.com Some very important reminders, both about selecting and managing your charitable giving – and about some sometimes subtle tax matters to be careful of.

Link: Federal Register | Amendments to Regulations Regarding Withdrawal of Applications and Voluntary Suspension of Benefits New rule affecting the (rarely exercised) ability to retroactively withdraw one’s application for social security benefits, pay back what one had received, and later on re-apply for social security benefits – a technique useful if one wanted to either […]

Link: Self Employed 401(k) – Fidelity Fidelity’s page about the Solo 401(k) (and, of course, encouragement to establish one at Fidelity).  Some great examples of the calculations which demonstrate the advantages.

Link: The Perks of the Solo 401(k) – Personal Finance – Taxes – SmartMoney.com This article is a couple of years old (2008) but it’s all pretty much still spot-on.  And it’s particularly timely since as year-end approaches, folks who may be eligible ought to be considering the Solo 401(k).  And if they want to […]

Link: Will Social Security be there for today’s 20-somethings? Nice brief article describing several scenarios for young people and various levels of expectation for social security income when they retire.  Not surprisingly, the bottom line is save, save, save.