Tax filing season is here again. If you haven’t done so already, you’ll want to start pulling things together — that includes getting your hands on a copy of your 2021 tax return and gathering W-2s, 1099s, and deduction records. You’ll need these records whether you’re preparing your own return or paying someone else to
The IRS processed more than 164 million individual income tax returns for tax year 2020 (most recent full-year data). Almost three out of five returns showed an adjusted gross income (AGI) under $50,000, while a little over 1% showed an AGI of $500,000 or more. 9.5% – Percentage of taxpayers who itemized deductions on their
714 – The national average FICO score in 2022. Baby boomers and the silent generation had scores higher than the national average, while other generations had lower-than-average scores. Source: How Credit Card Usage Differs by Generation, Experian, September 13, 2022 During the past two years, credit-card balances of younger generations have grown at a faster
47% – Percentage of retirees who retired earlier than planned, with nearly one-third citing an unexpected hardship, such as a health problem or disability. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2022 Workers typically plan to retire much later than the actual age reported by retirees. In the 2022 Retirement Confidence Survey, 65% of workers said they
Busy, cash-strapped parents might welcome all the help they can get when saving for college. Building a college fund, even a small one, can help families feel more in control and less stressed during the college research and admission process. Think of a college fund as a down payment. Then at college time, it can
65.4% – Percentage of U.S. adults ages 55 to 64 who were working as of May 2022, nearly the same rate as in February 2020 (65.5%) before the pandemic. The rate dropped during the summer of 2022 due to seasonal variation, but this represents a strong and unexpected rebound for this age group. Many economists
After dropping the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 0%–0.25% early in the pandemic, the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has begun raising the rate aggressively in response to high inflation and a stronger economy. Following 0.25% and 0.50% increases in March and May 2022, the Committee implemented successive 0.75%
5.12 million – Existing home sales in June 2022, down 14.2% from June 2021. Rising mortgage rates and general inflation have cut into purchasing power for homebuyers, while the national median existing-home price reached a record $416,000, up 13.4% from one year ago. A recent increase in homes on the market may help to ease
Higher taxes could follow in the wake of soaring government spending on pandemic relief measures — a likelihood that shines a new light on the tax advantages of life insurance. Permanent life insurance offers a tax-free death benefit, and a portion of each premium goes into a cash-value account that accumulates on a tax-deferred basis.
Most teenagers probably aren’t thinking about saving for retirement, buying a home, or even paying for college when they start their first jobs. Yet a first job can present an ideal opportunity to explain how a Roth IRA can become a valuable savings tool in the pursuit of future goals. Rules of the Roth Minors
