Asset Planning, Inc Blog

After your taxes are complete it is always a good idea to go through your records and organize what you should keep and what you can get rid of.

How long to keep records is a combination of judgment and state and federal statutes of limitations. Since federal tax returns can generally be audited for up to three years after filing and up to six years if the IRS suspects underreported income, it’s wise to keep tax records at least seven years after a return is filed. Requirements for records kept electronically are the same as for paper records. Many records can easily be kept on-line now and downloaded and to your computer, external drive or cloud account.

Records Retention Guideline # 1: Some items should never be thrown out

This is because these items would be hard to replace and you may be asked to provide them later in life. I suggest storing these “permanent records” in an expanding file or wallet – preferably in a fire safe box:

• Income tax returns: if the return is uncomplicated then you only need to keep it for 7 years.
• Important correspondence.
• Legal documents.
• Vital records (birth/death/marriage/divorce/adoption etc.).
• Retirement and pension records.
• Year-end investment statements.
  • If the investments are transferred to another account make sure the cost basis has transferred over correctly.
  • IRA non-deductible contributions (Form 8606).
• Will and Trust documents.
• Records of paid mortgages and other loans.

Records Retention Guideline # 2: Everything Else

You should retain these records according to the following guidelines:

• Home purchase documents – Ownership period + 7 years.
  • Property records/builder contracts/home improvement receipts (keep until property is sold – needed for taxes)
• Car purchase and sale records (keep until car is sold + 3 years).
• Insurance policies (keep for life of policy).
  • If policy is changed to another company make sure that you keep the files together.
• Sales receipts (keep for life of warranty or life of the item on large purchases).
• Warranties and instructions (keep for life of product).
• Medical bills – keep for 3 years or longer if there are any reimbursement questions.
• No need to keep monthly statements for credit cards, bank statements, utilities, etc. if you receive a year end recap or are able to go online and view up to 3 years of statements.

In an effort to help you understand the ever-changing tax deadlines, we went to the source (IRS, CA FTB) to get the details. The following is a summary of the new deadlines that we thought you should know about:

The IRS extended the tax filing deadlines for your 2019 taxes from April 15 to July 15, 2020. The IRS also clarified other details that we thought were important:

1. You also have until July 15 to contribute to an IRA account and have it posted to the 2019 tax year.
2. For those of you that pay estimated taxes, the IRS stated that the first-quarter 2020 estimated tax payment that would have been due on April 15 is now delayed to July 15. BUT the second 2020 estimated tax installment is still due June 15, 2020 This makes the second payment due before the first payment! Hopefully America is back up and running so this does not become an issue but, if not, we expect the IRS to issue another statement regarding the due dates.
3. The IRS also clarified that taxpayers “do not have to be sick, or quarantined, or have any other impact from COVID-19” to qualify for the new deadlines.
4. California is following the IRS filing guidelines.
5. Note, if you think you will receive a refund, go ahead and file as soon as possible.

California Property tax is still due on April 10, 2020. This is paid to the county that you live in. The state of California is encouraging the counties to waive penalties for late payments. The county tax collectors have the authority to waive penalties resulting from a late payment due to “reasonable cause and circumstances beyond the taxpayer’s control. Relief under this rule is discretionary and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Taxpayers unable to pay by April 10 will need to request relief and demonstrate to the tax collector that the inability to make a timely payment was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the Los Angeles County Tax Collector has set up a special team to process penalty relief requests, and has advised impacted taxpayers to submit a request for penalty relief online, beginning on April 11.

In Orange County, Shari Freidenrich, the county treasurer-tax collector released the following statement “For taxpayers that do not make payment of property taxes due to COVID-19 by April 10, we expect them to submit a Penalty Cancellation Request Form and documentation to support the cancellation of penalties as allowed in limited circumstances under current state law.”

As soon as the stimulus bill is finally approved, we will post a summary of the final package. This will include the payroll tax, unemployment, small business loans and stimulus check guidelines.

Stay safe, sane and healthy!

Volatility has surged in financial markets, as investors react to the potential economic and earnings fallout from the rapid global spread of the coronavirus. Given what has been historic volatility, we wanted to provide you with a market update that helps to separate fact from fiction and put this market turmoil in the appropriate context.

Over the past month, equity markets have dropped sharply as new cases of the coronavirus burgeon around the world. That is the primary, but not the only, reason for the recent declines. As of this writing, there are just over 200,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide, 100,000 of which are still “active cases.” In the United States, there are approximately 7,000 coronavirus cases.

On March 9, U.S. markets and the economy were dealt another surprise blow, when Saudi Arabia effectively abandoned OPEC-mandated production levels and began to dramatically discount oil prices and increase oil production. The move was in direct response to Russia not agreeing to comply with proposed “OPEC+” production cuts, and essentially, an oil price war broke out between the two countries (Saudi Arabia and Russia) that saw oil futures collapse nearly 25% in a single day.

In the past, low oil and gasoline prices would have been a positive for the U.S. economy, but a lot has changed in the past few years. The U.S. is now the largest oil producer in the world, and the U.S. energy industry is valued at more than $340 billion. With oil prices so low, many U.S. energy firms will have to reduce production and payroll, which will hit both earnings and the economy. This oil price war directly contributed to the markets taking another leg lower during the week ended March 13.

Finally, in the days leading up to this writing (March 18), stocks have dropped even further in response to the extreme social distancing measures being implemented across the country. These measures, which include the cancellation of virtually every major sports season, travel bans from Europe and parts of Asia, the closing of bars and restaurants, the mass instituting of work-from-home practices, school closures, and curfews, are intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Yet they also will have a significant and negative economic impact on the travel, leisure, beverage and restaurant industries to name just a few of the segments that will be hardest hit. The cumulative impact of these measures materially increases the chances of a recession in 2020, which is something virtually no one thought possible just six weeks ago.

Positively, the U.S. government is acting to support the economy and that support has ramped up dramatically in the last few weeks. There are two economic supports bills that are currently making their way through Congress and a third has already become law. Each is designed to help a portion of our population bridge the economic gap until the spread of the virus peaks and begins to decline.

The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has cut interest rates to zero percent to help the economy. The Fed also has implemented several important measures to provide short-term cash for corporations and to ensure there’s plenty of capital for the broader banking system. Those measures are working to help keep the banking and financial systems functioning in an orderly manner.

Yet despite this support, which is an important economic positive, the world understandably looks very scary to many people right now.

Across the nation, and the world, roads are mostly empty, office buildings are vacant, schools are closed and normal life as we have known it has largely shut down. Yet it’s important to remember that this historic market volatility, along with these societal disruptions, are temporary. At some point, the spread of the virus will peak and begin to recede.

Similarly, these social distancing measures, while unsettling, are also only temporary. Our children will once again return to school and adults will return to work. Air travel will resume, cruise ships will set sail again, and the U.S. economy, which is by far the most flexible and resilient in the world, will recover.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve witnessed near panic, both in regular society as well as financial markets. But as we all know, the worst thing to do during a panic is to panic. That’s because panic leads to hasty, short-term decisions that jeopardize your long-term best interests.  

Meanwhile, shares of some of the most-profitable, well-run companies in the world are now trading at substantial discounts to levels of just a month ago, and history has shown us that over the longer term, these tumultuous episodes can create fantastic investment opportunities, and some of the most ideal buying conditions the market can offer.

As has been said many times over the past few weeks, we are all in this together. That’s why we remain committed to helping you navigate this difficult environment—and always maintain the primary goal of ensuring you achieve your long-term financial objectives.

A settlement has been announced in the 2017 Equifax breach. Equifax has agreed to pay up to $700 million in compensation to the victims of this breach. If you were affected, there are three different settlement options. The 1st option is to sign up for free credit monitoring service. If you already have credit monitoring service, you can choose to be paid $125 for the value of the credit monitoring. Option 2 is to be reimbursed for any of the time you spent trying to clear up any issues that happened to your credit because of the breach. The 3rd option is to be reimbursed for any damages you incurred as a result of the breach. For the latter two options you will need to submit additional documentation to support your claim. It is really easy to check to see if you were affected by the breach and submit your claim. It took each of us in the office about 3 minutes to complete the whole process. Simply click on this link and follow the steps provided.

We are pleased and excited to announce that Erin Nelsen, CFP® is now a partner/owner at Asset Planning, Inc. Erin has been with Asset Planning, Inc. since 2007. She has had been an integral member of our team and overall growth of our firm for the past 12 years. We look forward to the future with her as a partner and the continued success of Asset Planning.

https://www.assetplanninginc.com/erin-nelsen

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Medicare just released the new premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for 2019.

The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $135.50 for 2019, an increase of $1.50 from $134 in 2018.

The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $185 in 2019, an increase of $2 from the annual deductible $183 in 2018.

If your modified adjusted gross income as reported on your IRS tax return from 2 years ago is above a certain amount, you'll pay the standard premium amount and an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA)

Here is a chart for reference

Social Security announced that in 2019 there will be a 2.8% Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA).

From left to right-Kimberly, Dexter, me, Kat, Luke, Jorge, Kyle

The highlight of my summer was the wedding of my youngest daughter, Kat, to my new son-in-law, Luke. They were married at Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach and it was a beautiful day! He is from Australia and we had quite a fun wedding with the visiting Aussie relatives. The whole family was involved in the wedding, even Dexter (our dog) – he was the flower dog! The planning and details that go into planning a wedding are intense and if you ever need any referrals for photographer, florist, etc. just let me know. We had a great team.    

President Trump signed the tax reform bill this morning. Most provisions are set to take effect in 2018, but many of those are also set to expire or sunset in 2025. Here's a summary of what we think are the major changes that will affect our clients. We will have a more in-depth analysis and summary in our year end newsletter.

1. Reductions in individual tax rates. The bill retains the current structure of seven investor tax brackets, but lowers five of them. It also includes the sunset provision, meaning it's a temporary arrangement from 2018 to 2025.
Here's the breakdown of the new vs. current marginal tax rates:

2. Reduction in corporate tax rate to a maximum rate of 21% (a reduction from 35%). Also, corporate income earned abroad and brought back to the United States will be taxed between 8 and 15.5%, instead of the current 35%. These are permanent reductions.

3. Standard Deductions increasing nearly 90%. For married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction rises to $24,000 from $12,700; for single filers, it moves to $12,000 from $6,350.

4. Additional changes to Itemized Deductions. These vary, and some might be more impactful than others.

• Personal exemption ending, but child tax credit increasing. The bill ends the personal exemption of $4,050 for you, your spouse, and your dependents; it doubles the child tax credit to $2,000 per dependent child under age 17.
• Limits to state and local taxes ("SALT"). Under the bill, you may only deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes, including sales, income, and property taxes. This deduction was not previously subject to limitation.
• Caps on mortgage interest. The bill allows mortgage interest deductions for current homeowners, but caps the interest deduction at $750,000 in mortgage debt for homes bought in 2018 and beyond, down from the $1 million limit in place now. It eliminates deductions for interest on home-equity loans, as well as deductions for moving expenses and employer-provided expense reimbursements (except for members of the military).
• Expands medical deductions. Current law allows for deduction of medical expenses over 10% of adjusted gross income (AGI). The bill lowers the threshold to 7.5%.

5. Changes to estate planning.  The bill doubles the estate tax exemption to $10 million, but it's also indexed for inflation after 2011. The bill also calls for doubling the value threshold on the 40% levy on estates worth nearly $11 million for individuals and $22 million for couples. The estate tax exemption also has the sunset provision, meaning that the bill calls for a reversion back to current exemption amounts in 2026.

6. Charitable deductions. Although the current tax deductions stay in place, the doubling of the standard deduction to $24,000 essentially raises the threshold on deductibility. Taxpayers will have to itemize donations to get the benefit.

      From all of us at Asset Planning, Inc. we wish you a wonderful Holiday Season!

*Asset Planning, Inc. does not provide tax advice. We suggest clients consult with a tax-planning professional with regards to their personal circumstances.

With today being the first day of autumn I thought it would be a good time to send out a reminder about Medicare open enrollment that happens every year from October 15th- December 7th. If you would like to make any changes to your Medicare plan now is the time to do it. If you are currently working, most companies also have their open enrollment times as well and it is a great time to review your current benefits. Be sure you are taking advantage of a flexible savings account for healthcare or childcare. Also, you may want to increase your 401k contributions because of a recent raise in pay. Those are just a couple things to consider when reviewing your benefits.

Another important reminder is if you've received a medicare premium increase due to a higher annual income but you have had a major lifestyle change that has decreased that income you can appeal the higher premiums. Life changing events such as retirement, divorce, death of a spouse, or work reduction are a few examples of a basis for an appeal.

Here is a link to an article that gives you step by step instructions on how you can make an appeal.

https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/omha/the-appeals-process/part-b-premium-appeals/index.html