Feeling screwed yet?
And no personal exemptions either. But the brackets have been lowered! Yay
Yup, knew it, donāt like it, hitting us hard
Hoping the tax break we get will cover the massive state property tax increase we got socked with.
Yes, we knew and we donāt like it.
I knew it, but in the final analysis it seems to work out in my favor for a couple % net net reduction in federal tax. The overall downward shift in the brackets plus changes in the amt make a difference. (If you were in the amt region, you werenāt getting the full benefit of the deductions anyway.) Donāt assume you know what youāll pay until you actually work through the calculation in detail. I did it in fairly minute detail and I doubt that many accountants have done it that way. Theyāre too busy doing this years taxes.
Speaking of accountants ā Weāve been using an accountant for many years, primarily due to self-employment, but starting next year Iām retiring, and doubt our taxes will be very complex, or beyond the capability of TurboTax. We have no boutique investments; no rental properties; someday may sell a house; hopefully live long enough for RMDās. I asked my accountant for their hourly billing rate, assuming Iāll still have occasional questions. They informed me that due to āethical regulationsā they are not allowed to give tax advice unless they prepare and file my taxes as well. That was a surprise. Is this typical? I understand that targeted advice on one matter, may influence another, but I was not aware that any ethical regulations prevent accountants from providing advice on an hourly basis.
I canāt figure out what will happen for 2018 taxes. It depends in part on how much I make ā in good years I have no AMT and in lesser years I do pay AMT. I assume I am still going to itemize, but honestly Iām unsure.
@kjofkw, never heard of those regulations. Sounds like they are trying to get you to continue on as a client ā this may be the opposite of ethical.
I canāt imagine working without an accountant. Several corporate entities both with 401K plans (one was a DBPP, but hit the cap and rolled it into a 401k), a trust with a PE fund investment, etc. Not sure what would happen if I were winding things down.
Those āethical regulationsā might be the firmās own guidelines, and I can see their point (although framing it as an āethicsā issue seems like a stretch).
They donāt want to give you advice and then have you pointing fingers at/possibly suing them a few years down the road when the IRS is all over you because you messed up your taxes. Unless they are the ones who prepare your taxes they have no idea what you are doing with their advice.
But there are accountants who will sell you an hour or two of time and give you advice, I have done this in the past and may need to do it this year.
I have consulted with CPAs who donated their time, even though they didnāt prepare my taxes. I considered them highly ethical.
I agree that the bookkeeper not wanting to consult with you on an hourly basis sounds like a policy of the firm.
I do use and enjoy our CPA. We COULD use TurboTax (or similar) and do our taxes ourself (and did manually before I met and married H, 30+ years ago), but it is a service we are both happy to pay for because our taxes have gotten more complicated than we like due to rental income, some investments, etc.
Our CPA will and does consult with us as we request outside of tax season about questions we have. He just charges a nominal flat rate for this optional add on, in addition to tax prep fee.
A CPA prepares mine but thatās only because I am one (though I have practiced in more than two decades). TurboTax works well. Complexity in income and investments are addressed by accountants preparing related tax forms. As long as I have sufficient brain cells communicating with each other, I expect to continue preparing my own taxes. At one point is was something of a creative writing exercise because I did next to nothing to keep records during the year. Now everything is kept in one folder that builds over the year. Takes an hour or so now.
As to the question, I havenāt looked at any CPA ethics rules in a long, long time but I think if nothing else it can be problematic to give one off advice on something like taxes. You ask one specific question without providing all of the relevant info that comes into play (and maybe not even knowing all of the info that comes into play), I give advice on that narrow info and there is a problem with those matters we didnāt discuss and I may have a problem establishing I didnāt fail to advise you properly. Much better for me to prepare and file your return as its clear what I am covering (everything) and what I am not. Also, one offs can be a pain in terms of tracking/billing. You call and ask me a question and we talk for 10 minutes. Am I billing that? If your CPA works for a firm, you may find he/she is more willing to take that gig when he/she retires and is looking to maintain some info (as long as they are planning to keep up to date on laws/regs).
Hey, old people! Starting in April (next month) Medicare cards will no longer have your social security number on them. They are issuing a new, different unique medicare number which will be on the card. I think they will be replacing old cards too. Thatās progress! (Wonder how I learned this just now? lol)
SURVEY (retirees) - If you are paying your own health insurance pre-65/medicare, what is approx cost?
A friend is figuring under $1500/month (2 people, age 58 / good health, high deductible planā¦they are hoping it would be closer to $1000). I In our retirement planning we use $2000/month (hoping it is high but trying to be conservative on assumptions).
Iād expect an age band increase at age 60 in addition to the usual premium increases.
This year, we are paying around $1400/month (2 people, turn 63 &64 this year, high deductible plan). We will have most of 2019 to go through before DH reaches 65. I have no idea what I may be paying for insurance by 2020.
What is the definition of āhigh deductibleā in these pre-65, pay-it-yourself plan for retirees?
I just feel like they are such exorbitant prices for what is, basically, catastrophic coverage.
I didnāt think you could even get a high deductible plan except through an employer. Or a catastrophic plan at all if you are over 30.
I think the idea is to price catastrophic coverage (which I think is expensive for the 50+ crowd) knowing some years that out-of-pocket will by high. Then compare the alternatives
You can definitely get a high deductible plan on the individual or exchange markets. And it is just about the equivalent of a catastrophic plan, but plans with lower deductibles are ridiculously expensive.
Someone posted a very good link a few mos back, maybe, about when to file for SS and as it related to taking the spousal benefit . canāt find it. Can you please repost it?