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Plan Ahead for Long Term Care and Retirement

Living a long and healthy life is ideal for everyone, but unfortunately that is not always the case. According the to Retirement Research at Boston College, if you are over the age of 65 and are going into retirement in 2020 you are now expected to live another 19 years. People are indeed living longer than years before.

The older we get the more likely we are to face challenges that can be hard to overcome on our own. Age takes a toll not only physically on our bodies, but also our minds are not as quick as they used to be. By the year 2050 Alzheimer’s is predicted to increase to 14 million people. That’s a lot of people who need help with daily activities and assistance.

It is becoming more relevant and important to not only have Long Term Care insurance but to make sure that if you are around 40 years old that you start considering your future. Planning ahead for your retirement and health is highly important. Planning ahead can have many benefits but with the prices of Long Term Care Insurance it can be beneficial to get prepared now and make a game plan. Although you cannot predict the future you can do the next best thing and that is protect it.

Start looking and researching today what your options are for Long Term Care Insurance and start preparing for your future by planning ahead.

Be sure to checkout LTC Tree featured on Clark Howard: “These companies should be on the Long Term Care Insurance Honor Roll”

Tax Planning Tips for Small Businesses

Tax time to many small-scale businesses is usually the most difficult time of the year. Most people tend to ignore the tax planning process which is a very important stage that needs to be planned earlier. Instead of rushing and wasting your time when it’s too late, you can simply take advantage of the tips below for good tax planning.

Get organized – most people hate the tax period because they are not ready or organized. If you have a problem with being organized then you can choose a day in every month so that you can compile all your important documents like the credit card statements, bank statements, and invoices and this helps you keep track of your business expenses.

Give to charity – most consumers like above 90% support businesses that play a charitable role in the community. When it comes to charity, you need to choose a competent charity to make a donation for the simple fact that time volunteered is not taxed while any supplies you may sell during that time can be taxed. In case you donate cash make sure that you keep the receipts received from the charity well. You can also donate items like clothes, furniture, stocks and household goods and then claim a deduction for the fair market value.

Maximize your retirement plans – investing yourself is the best thing you are yet to do now. Deduct your retirement money from your income and this also reduces taxes. Here are some of the retirement plans that you should consider; Defined benefit plan, Simple IRA, Solo 401[k], Simplified Employee Pension [SEP IRA]. You need to consult a professional before opening any of these retirement plans.

Run an inventory check – depending on your accounting methods you can claim a deduction if the market value of your inventory drops. Check with your accountant to make sure that it applies to you.

Take section 179 Depreciation deduction – spend your money on making purchases of the items your business needs so that you can get maximum deductions. This deduction allows you in the same year that you bought the item to recover its full cost, it can be up to $500,000.

File your business taxes – make sure that you file all your business tax returns on time to avoid penalties. If you want to file your federal returns for free you can use Turbo Tax, you can also use Turbo Tax to file state tax at a fee and make sure that receive a confirmation.

Defer income – if you do not want your income to be counted for the current year then you can shift them to the next year using the help of your accountant and this can help you reduce your tax bill.

Tax Deductions and Long Term Care Insurance

The Republicans have just scored a major victory in this last election and while it is hard to predict exactly how this will affect senior citizens, Howard Gleckman has some interesting thoughts in an article for Forbes Magazine.  Typical of democrat scare tactics, Gleckman sees the Republican victory as a dangerous thing for government health programs. Meals on Wheels and a wide range of other community living programs have their budgets on the chopping blocks as the Republicans and even the Democrats look to save money.

The reality is we now have 18 Trillion in debt and of than almost 1/2 of that created under Obama in the past six years.  Cuts need to be made and if a senior has a million bucks in the bank, they need to pay for their own long term care.  Medicaid and government programs are designed for the truly needy, those who have below $10,000 in savings.  Hard choices must be made if the debt is ever going to be tamed.

The Older Americans Act of 1965, which brought many of these services into being, has now been left by the wayside as government spending has exploded.  The Great Society and War on Poverty was created nearly fifty years ago and we’ve spent over 50 trillion on trying to attack poverty and the out come has gotten worse!

Gleckman believes that the Republicans will even push for an increase in Medicaid premiums. Some Republicans even want to lump Medicaid in with Housing and Transportation, which many Democrats fear would make it easier for States to drop these services altogether in attempts to solve our physical crisis.

It is a rough time for seniors who do not have an insurance safety net to fall back on. The government seems poised to limit nursing home benefits just to the truly needly, not people trying to scam the system. The senior population is about to reach unheard of levels as the Baby Boom generation reaches their golden years.

These senior boomers will need to rely more and more on their own personal savings, and insurance as the government programs continue to erode. The space in the work force created by retiring boomers will undoubtedly lead to a smaller tax base. This will cause the government to find further spending cuts and reduced assistance for the elderly. The future is uncertain, we will just have to wait and see what the government is going to do with these programs. There is a good chance that many of them will survive until we reach old age. The question is, how effectively will they be running on their reduced budgets?

Buying private Long Term Care Insurance yourself is the best strategy as it will give you the control on where and when you receive care, not some government bureaucrat in Washington.. Especially when there are steps we can take right now to ensure that we are properly cared for in the future. Buying a Long Term Care policy will help Americans to avoid getting trapped in the red tape as they take charge of their own future by buying the insurance vs. depending on the government and being a burden to society.  LTCTree is a site that we studied and found that will provide you with the tools you need to make your own decisions on Long Term Care insurance. We match you with policies that work for your life and your budget. There are no sales people at your kitchen table twisting your arm. We send you the information and let you make the decisions at your own pace. It is hard to know what the future will bring, but it is nice to know that you are covered.