Income Solutions Wealth

Manangement
Lance A. Browning, RICP
Sr. Vice President/Founding Partner
3200 Troup Hwy, Suite 150
Tyler, TX 75701
903-787-8916
lance@incomesolutionstx.com
www.lancebrowning.com
June 2014
Top 10 Tax Breaks You'll Miss in 2014
Personal Finance Tips for New Graduates
Financial Choices: College, Retirement, or
Both?
Are con artists adopting trendy twists on
old scams?
June 2014
Top 10 Tax Breaks You'll Miss in 2014
See disclaimer on final page
You probably didn't notice, but
when the clock struck midnight
on December 31, 2013, a
number of popular tax
benefits, commonly included in
the list of provisions referred to
as "tax extenders" expired.
While it's possible that
Congress could retroactively
extend some or all of these
items, you'll have to evaluate your 2014 tax
situation based on the fact that they're no
longer available.
1. Qualified charitable distributions
For the past few years, a qualified charitable
distribution (QCD) of up to $100,000 could be
made from an IRA directly to a qualified charity
if you were age 70 or older. Such distributions
were excluded from income and counted
toward satisfying any required minimum
distribution (RMD) that you would otherwise
have had to take from your IRA for that tax
year. QCDs aren't an option for 2014, however.
2. Qualified small business stock
exclusion
For qualified small business stock issued and
acquired after September 27, 2010, 100% of
the capital gain resulting from a sale or
exchange could be excluded from income,
provided certain requirements, including a
five-year holding period, are met. For qualified
small business stock issued and acquired after
2013, however, the amount that can be
excluded from income drops to 50%.
3. Deduction for higher education
expenses
The above-the-line deduction for qualifying
tuition and related expenses that you pay for
yourself, your spouse, or a dependent is not
available for 2014.
4. Classroom educator expense
deduction
The above-the-line deduction for up to $250 of
unreimbursed out-of-pocket classroom
expenses paid by qualified education
professionals also expired at the end of 2013.
5. State and local sales tax deduction
If you itemize deductions for the 2014 tax year,
you won't have the option of claiming a
deduction for state and local sales tax in lieu of
the deduction for state and local income tax.
6. Depreciation and expense limits
The maximum amount that can be expensed
under Internal Revenue Code Section 179
drops significantly from its 2013 level of
$500,000 to $25,000 for 2014. The special 50%
"bonus" first year additional depreciation
deduction has also ended.
7. Mortgage insurance premiums
Starting in 2014, individuals who itemize
deductions will no longer have the ability to
treat premiums paid for qualified mortgage
insurance as deductible interest on IRS Form
1040, Schedule A.
8. Employer-provided commuter
expenses
For 2013, you could exclude from income up to
$245 per month in transit benefits (e.g., transit
passes) and $245 per month in parking
benefits. For 2014, the monthly limit for
qualified parking increases to $250, but the
monthly limit for transit benefits drops to $130.
9. Energy efficient home improvements
and property
The nonbusiness energy property credit offset
some of the costs associated with the
installation of energy efficient qualified home
improvements (e.g., insulation, windows) and
qualified residential energy property (e.g., water
heater, central air). Specific qualifications and
limits applied, and an overall lifetime cap of
$500 was in effect for 2013. The credit is not
available at all in 2014.
10. Discharge of debt on principal
residence
Since 2007, individuals have generally been
allowed to exclude from income amounts
resulting from the forgiveness of debt on their
principal residence. This provision expired at
the end of 2013.
Page 1 of 4
Personal Finance Tips for New Graduates
You've marched along to Pomp and
Circumstance and collected your diploma--now
you're ready to finally head out on your own.
Maybe you have student loans that you need to
start paying back. Perhaps you're looking
forward to making your first car purchase or
starting a new job. Whatever your situation,
you'll definitely have new financial challenges
you'll need to address and financial goals that
you'll want to accomplish during this stage in
your life. Fortunately, there are some relatively
simple steps you can take to get started on the
right track with your personal finances.
Create a budget
An easy way to maintain control of your
finances is to create a budget. Ideally, a budget
will assist you in making sure that you are
spending less than you earn.
In order to create a budget, you'll need to
identify your current monthly income and
expenses. Income includes your regular salary
and wages, along with other types of income
such as dividends and interest.
When it comes to identifying your expenses, it
may be helpful to divide them into two
categories: fixed and discretionary. Fixed
expenses include things that are necessities,
such as rent, transportation, and student loan
payments. Discretionary expenses include
things like entertainment, vacations, and
hobbies. You'll want to include out-of-pattern
expenses (e.g., holiday gifts, auto repair bills) in
your budget as well.
The most important part of budgeting is sticking
to it. To help you stay on track:
Try to make budgeting a part of your daily
routine
Build the occasional reward into your budget
(e.g., splurge on a latte at the local coffee
shop or have dinner at a restaurant instead of
cooking at home)
Be sure to evaluate and monitor your budget
regularly and adjust/make changes as
needed
Make saving a priority
Whether it's setting enough aside on a regular
basis to accumulate an emergency cash
reserve or putting money into an
employer-sponsored retirement plan, if your
budget allows, you should make saving a
priority. And being a young investor means that
you have one powerful advantage over older
generations--time. By making saving a priority
early in your life, your money can have more
time to potentially grow and take advantage of
the value of compound interest. To make it
even easier to save, you can arrange to have a
portion of your paycheck/earnings directly
deposited into a savings or investment account.
Get a handle on your debt situation
Whether it's debt from student loans or credit
cards, it's important to avoid the financial pitfalls
that sometimes go hand-in-hand with
borrowing. In order to manage your debt
situation properly:
Keep track of loan balances and interest
rates
Develop a plan to manage your payments
and avoid late fees
Pay off high interest debt first or take
advantage of debt consolidation/refinancing
Understand the importance of having
good credit
Credit reports affect so many different aspects
of one's financial situation--from being able to
obtain a car loan to being a prerequisite for
employment. Having a good credit report will
allow you to obtain credit when you need it, and
often at a lower interest rate. As a result, it's
important to establish and maintain a good
credit history by avoiding late payments on
existing loans and eliminating unpaid debts.
Finally, it's important to monitor your credit
report on a regular basis for possible errors.
Evaluate your insurance needs
As a younger individual, insurance is probably
not the first thing that comes to mind when you
think about your finances. However, having the
right amount of insurance to protect yourself
against possible losses is an important part of
any financial plan. Your insurance needs will
depend on your individual circumstances. For
example, if you rent an apartment, you'll need
to obtain renters insurance to protect against
loss or damage to your personal property. If
you own a car, you'll need to have appropriate
coverage for that as well. You'll also want to
evaluate your needs for other types of
insurance (e.g., disability and life).
Finally, under the Affordable Care Act,
everyone, regardless of age, must have
qualifying health insurance or risk paying a
possible penalty. If you don't have access to
health insurance through your parent's health
plan or an employer- or government-sponsored
health plan, you may purchase an individual
health plan through either the federal or a
state-based health insurance Exchange
Marketplace. You can visit www.healthcare.gov
for more information.
Tips for paying off student
loans:
To make your payment
schedule easier, consider
consolidating or
refinancing your student
loans
To shorten the overall
repayment term and save
on interest charges, try to
divert extra funds toward
monthly principal
prepayment
If you are having trouble
paying your federal
student loans, look into
the government's
Income-Based Repayment
(IBR) plan
Page 2 of 4, see disclaimer on final page
Financial Choices: College, Retirement, or Both?
Life is full of choices. Should you watch
Breaking Bad or Modern Family? Eat leftovers
for dinner or order out? Exercise before work or
after? Some choices, though, are much more
significant. Here is one such financial dilemma
for parents.
Should you save for retirement or
college?
It's the paramount financial conflict many
parents face, especially as more couples start
having children later in life. Should you save for
college or retirement? The pressure is fierce on
both sides.
Over the past 20 years, college costs have
grown roughly 4% to 6% each year--generally
double the rate of inflation and typical salary
increases--with the price for four years at an
average private college now hitting $192,876,
and a whopping $262,917 at the most
expensive private colleges. Even public
colleges, whose costs a generation ago could
be covered mostly by student summer jobs and
some parental scrimping, now total about
$100,000 for four years (Source: College
Board's Trends in College Pricing 2013 and
assumed 5% annual college inflation). Many
parents have more than one child, adding to the
strain. Yet without a college degree, many jobs
and career paths are off limits.
On the other side, the pressure to save for
retirement is intense. Longer life expectancies,
disappearing pensions, and the uncertainty of
Social Security's long-term fiscal health make it
critical to build the biggest nest egg you can
during your working years. In order to maintain
your current standard of living in retirement, a
general guideline is to accumulate enough
savings to replace 60% to 90% of your current
income in retirement--a sum that could equal
hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. And
with retirements that can last 20 to 30 years or
longer, it's essential to factor in inflation, which
can take a big bite out of your purchasing
power and has averaged 2.5% per year over
the past 20 years (Source: Consumer Price
Index data published by the U.S. Department of
Labor, 2013).
So with these two competing financial needs
and often limited funds, what's a parent to do?
The prevailing wisdom
Answer: retirement should win out. Saving for
retirement should be something you do no
matter what. It's an investment in your future
security when you'll no longer be bringing home
a paycheck, and it generally should take
precedence over saving for your child's college
education.
It's akin to putting on your own oxygen mask
first, and then securing your child's. Unless your
retirement plan is to have your children be on
the hook for taking care of you financially later
in life, retirement funding should come first.
And yet ...
It's unrealistic to expect parents to ignore
college funding altogether, and that approach
really isn't smart anyway because regular
contributions--even small ones--can add up
over time. One possible solution is to figure out
what you can afford to save each month and
then split your savings, with a focus on
retirement. So, for example, you might decide
to allocate 85% of your savings to retirement
and 15% to college, or 80/20 or 75/25, or
whatever ratio works for you.
Although saving for retirement should take
priority, setting aside even a small amount for
college can help. For example, parents of a
preschooler who save $100 per month for 15
years would have $24,609, assuming an
average 4% return. Saving $200 per month in
the same scenario would net $49,218.* These
aren't staggering numbers, but you might be
able to add to your savings over the years, and
if nothing else, think of this sum as a down
payment--many parents don't save the full
amount before college. Rather, they try to save
as much as they can, then look for other ways
to help pay the bills at college time. Like what?
Loans, for one. Borrowing excessively isn't
prudent, but the federal government allows
undergraduate students to borrow up to
$27,000 in Stafford Loans over four years--a
relatively reasonable amount--and these loans
come with an income-based repayment option
down the road. In addition, your child can apply
for merit scholarships at the colleges he or she
is applying to, and may be eligible for
need-based college grants. And there are other
ways to lower costs--like attending State U over
Private U, living at home, graduating in three
years instead of four, earning credits through
MOOCs (massive open online courses),
working during college, or maybe not attending
college right away or even at all.
In fact, last summer, a senior vice president at
Google responsible for hiring practices at the
company noted that 14% of some teams
included people who never went to college, but
who nevertheless possessed the problem
solving, leadership, intellectual humility, and
creative skills Google is looking for ("In
Head-Hunting, Big Data May Not Be Such a Big
Deal," New York Times, June 19, 2013). One
more reason to put a check in the retirement
column.
A juggling act
It's the paramount financial
conflict many families face,
especially as more couples
start having children later in
life. Should you save for
college or retirement? The
pressure is fierce on both
sides.
Note
*All investing involves risk,
including the possible loss of
principal, and there can be no
guarantee that any investing
strategy will be successful.
Page 3 of 4, see disclaimer on final page
Income Solutions
Wealth Manangement
Lance A. Browning, RICP
Sr. Vice President/Founding
Partner
3200 Troup Hwy, Suite 150
Tyler, TX 75701
903-787-8916
lance@incomesolutionstx.com
www.lancebrowning.com
Prepared by Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2014
The opinions voiced in this material
are for general information only
and are not intended to provide
specific advice or
recommendations for any
individual. To determine which
investment(s) may be appropriate
for you, consult your financial
advisor prior to investing. All
performance referenced is
historical and is no guarantee of
future results. All indices are
unmanaged and cannot be
invested into directly.
The information provided is not
intended to be a substitute for
specific individualized tax planning
or legal advice. We suggest that
you consult with a qualified tax or
legal advisor.
LPL Financial Representatives
offer access to Trust Services
through The Private Trust
Company N.A., an affiliate of LPL
Financial.
What is duration, and why should I pay attention to it?
The Federal Reserve's actions
over the next year could be
important to bond markets,
particularly if and when the
Fed decides to increase its
target interest rate. Since bond prices typically
move in the opposite direction from yields,
rising bond yields will translate into a decline in
bond prices.
If you have bonds or bond mutual funds in your
portfolio, you might want to pay attention to the
duration of each one. Technically, a bond or
bond fund's duration calculates the length of
time it will take to receive the full true value of
the investment; duration takes into account the
present value of expected future payments of
interest and principal.
However, duration's biggest value to an
investor is as a gauge of how sensitive a bond
might be to changes in interest rates. The
longer a bond's duration, the more its price is
likely to be affected by an interest rate change.
A mutual fund's duration can be found in its
prospectus; for an individual bond, you'll
probably need to ask your broker or the bond's
issuer.
To estimate the impact of an interest rate
change on a specific bond holding, simply
multiply its duration by the change in interest
rates. For example, for a bond fund with a
duration of 5 years, a 1% increase in interest
rates would generally result in a 5% drop in the
fund's value (1% x 5 years = 5%). Though the
Fed's target rate is already at its historic low,
the same principle would apply in reverse if
interest rates were to fall. A 1% decline in
interest rates would likely result in a 3% gain for
a bond holding with a duration of 3 years.
Note: These hypothetical examples are
intended as an illustration only and do not
reflect the performance of any specific
investment. They should not be considered
financial advice. Before investing in a mutual
fund, consider its investment objective, risks,
fees, and expenses, which can be found in the
prospectus available from the fund. Read the
prospectus carefully before investing.
Bear in mind that duration can work somewhat
differently for specific types of bonds--for
example, floating-rate bonds whose interest
payments get reset. That's also true for
mortgage-backed bonds, since interest rate
changes can cause homeowners to refinance
their loans.
Are con artists adopting trendy twists on old scams?
In a word, yes. You may be
great at deleting e-mails from
Nigerian princes to avoid
online phishing, but fraudsters
keep coming up with new
schemes for prying information or money from
potential victims. And while scams sometimes
involve hot topics that are getting a lot of
attention in the news, which may make them
seem legitimate, they still may be based on
old-school techniques such as phone calls.
If a broker contacts you about investing in
high-yielding certificates of deposit, don't
provide any information or send money right
away. Why? Because of reports that scammers
have been posing as brokers to pitch CDs,
claiming to represent a legitimate firm--perhaps
even one that you already do business with.
They may give you a number to call or offer to
have their supervisor send you forms to help
you transfer funds in an attempt to acquire data
that can be used to steal either your money or
identity. Even caller ID can be rigged to fake a
firm's number; check the number independently
with the firm's website or your own records and
call directly to verify the caller's identity.
Another area ripe for fraud is linked to the
recent legalization of medical or recreational
marijuana in some states. As with any
enterprise making headlines, so-called
"pump-and-dump" artists have begun touting
small, thinly traded companies linked to that
industry. In many cases, they hope to inflate
demand and drive up the stock price
quickly--the "pump"--and then dump their vastly
inflated shares at a profit, leaving their victims
holding the bag(gie). Any unproven company in
a relatively new industry deserves extra
scrutiny of its financials, management, business
plan, and other information. Don't be rushed
into a decision just because a stranger tells you
the window of opportunity is closing or
promises fast profits.
Finally, if you receive a phone call threatening
you with jail time or the loss of your driver's
license unless you pay what you owe the IRS,
don't panic, even if they cite part of your Social
Security number or you also get a call from
your local police department or motor vehicles
department that seems to "verify" the claim.
Again, your first step should be to contact the
IRS, police, or motor vehicles department on
your own, using a phone number you obtained
yourself rather than one provided by a caller.
Page 4 of 4