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The Great Tax Migration

By Posted on In Investment Strategies, Rule of Thumb, Taxes, Uncategorized

Sick of the high costs to live in Connecticut? Some residents (and our clients, too) are taking action and moving to cheaper states. If you’re curious to see how much you could save, start with these resources:

How Money Walks:Wealth is leaving this state, mostly to Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia and South Caroline. Some wealth is coming into the state from New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan – states that are MORE expensive than Connecticut.

Save Taxes By Moving: Great calculator to help you quantify your state-income savings if you moved to another state.

City to City: How Far Your Paycheck Goes: A simple tool to help compare the cost of living from one city to another. I like this one because it takes into account the median income.

Last Minute Tax Preparation Pointers

By Posted on In Taxes, Uncategorized

If you haven’t filed your 2013 tax return yet, and you expect to be meeting with your accountant soon, we have a couple of pointers that may make the process easier for both you and the accountant.

  1. Bring all of your tax reports.
  2. If you are withdrawing money from your IRA, all you need is your Form 1099.
  3. If you have an IRA, but no funds were withdrawn last year, probably no Form 1099 was issued, so there is nothing to report.
  4. If you have a non-qualified investment account (non-IRA) you probably received a Form 1099 tax report. It will report the taxable interest and dividends that you received during the year.
  5. If you have a non-qualified investment account (non-IRA) at Pershing, the Form 1099 will report the taxable interest and dividends, but will also report details on stocks or fund investments that were sold in your account. To make sure your accountant reports the correct Cost Basis of your investments, you’ll want to have your 12/31/2013 statement. You’ll want those details to get into your 2013 tax return so you can report the tax-loss.
  6. If Pershing thinks your cost basis is missing. Pershing asks you to “please provide” items that relate to the investments you purchased somewhere else.

If you are considering opening or adding to an IRA, you can find a handy tool HERE to determine if you qualify for contributions and tax deductions that can lower your tax bill.