Cyberattacks
2015 IRA Deadlines Are Approaching
Submitted by Ferguson Financial Inc. on January 23rd, 2015Financially, many of us associate April with taxes – but we should also associate April with important IRA deadlines.
*April 1 is the absolute deadline to take your first Required Mandatory Distribution (RMD) from your traditional IRA(s).
*April 15 is the deadline for making annual contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA.1
Let’s discuss the contribution deadline first, and then the deadline for that first RMD (which affects only those IRA owners who turned 70½ last year).
The earlier you make your annual IRA contribution, the better. You can make a yearly Roth or traditional IRA contribution anytime between January 1 of the current year and April 15 of the next year. So the contribution window for 2014 is January 1, 2014- April 15, 2015. You can make your IRA contribution for 2015 anytime from January 1, 2015-April 15, 2016.2
You have more than 15 months to make your IRA contribution for a given year, but why wait? Savvy IRA owners contribute as early as they can to give those dollars more months to grow and compound. (After all, who wants less time to amass retirement savings?)
Year End Tax Planning is Crucial for Savings
Submitted by Ferguson Financial Inc. on December 9th, 2014
The Early Bird Catches the Fewest Number of Penalties and Surcharges
As 2014 winds to a close, are you dreading the coming tax season? After the champagne is poured on New Year’s Eve, many folks return to their daily grind, shuffling to gather their documents and make their way to their accountant’s office for another grueling tax preparation meeting. Unfortunately, they will find that the post-New Year’s meeting is in vain if they are trying to save on their taxes. Due to the phasing in and phasing out of many tax laws, surcharges and new penalties from to the Affordable Care Act, and changes in capital gains and loss statutes, it is in the best interests of individuals and families in higher tax brackets to review and take action on their taxes prior to the year’s end. Running 2014 tax numbers before the end of the year can also pay off for those who have experienced a major life event-such as a birth, death, marriage, divorce, sale of a home, or a job change.
