I’ve been asked that question a lot by my clients ever since the 2008 financial crisis. The answer is simple. Sort of.
If you look at your real estate bill or assessment notice you’ll probably see two different assessment amounts. The first, usually called an “assessment value” or “market assessment” is the value that tax assessors come up with and usually bears at least some resemblance to the market value of your home. In most states market values serve as an upper or maximum assessment limit, but it’s not what your real estate taxes are actually based on. Read more →
Remember the 2004 presidential debates when George W Bush said of John Kerry that “first he voted for it and then he voted against it” (Kerry’s votes to fund the Iraq war). The media loved it and since then, with the help of PACs and special interest groups and the so-called pundits who people C-Span and AM radio, have turned “flip-flopping” into something of a political crime. Any politician with the audacity to change his mind now risks his career. Flip-flopping isn’t quite as bad as engaging in Twitter sex with a woman in Texas or disappearing for a week to Argentina, but it’s a whole lot worse than voting for a bridge to nowhere. Mitt Romney, it seems, is the latest culprit (I’m writing this during the primary season). Poor Mitt (pun intended) did it twice, changed his mind about health care reform and about abortion too. God forbid. Read more →
Starting this year, brokerage firms, banks and mutual funds are required to report to the IRS the “cost basis” of stocks and other publically-traded securities sold during 2011. In the past “sale amounts” were reported. The new reports will also indicate whether sales are short-term or long-term. Only gains on long-term sales qualify for preferential capital gains tax rates. Read more →
What is a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)? It’s a health insurance plan with a minimum annual deductible of $1,200 and a maximum of $5,950 for individual plans, or a $2,400 minimum and a $11,900 maximum for family plans. Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Health Care, Aetna and some other health insurance carriers all offer HDHP plans. Generally speaking, premiums for such plans are lower than are premiums for HMOs, PPOs and other traditional types of medical insurance coverage. Read more →
Social Security benefits are typically computed using “average indexed monthly earnings.” This average summarizes up to 35 years of a worker’s earnings. We apply a formula to this average to compute the primary insurance amount (PIA). The PIA is the basis for the benefits that are paid to an individual. The formula used to compute the PIA, called the PIA formula, reflects changes in general wage levels, as measured by the national average wage index. Read more →