Your Guide to Taxes for Homeowners: A cheat sheet for the generous breaks Congress has bestowed on homeowners
By Ashlea Ebeling | WSJ For most Americans, buying a home is the biggest investment they will make. There are ways to make it less taxing. The Internal Revenue Service spells out the details in Publication 530, Tax Information for Homeowners, which it updates each year. To see all the key tax numbers for filing 2024…
Read MoreIRS Cuts Could Complicate Tax Time. Here’s How to Avoid Snags.
Online accounts, identity-protection PINs and other ways to prevent headaches this filing season By Ashlea Ebeling | WSJ IRS watchdogs are warning of potential trouble this tax season, but there are measures you can take to avoid it. Americans are filing their returns to an agency that has lost more than a quarter of its workforce, is…
Read MoreDon’t Miss Out on Big Tax Breaks When You Sell Your Home
A recent Tax Court case highlights the pitfalls that can cost sellers dearly By Laura Saunders / WSJ If you plan to sell a home, be sure to follow the rules on tax breaks. Losing them could put a big dent in the profits on one of your biggest investments. Jeffrey Pesarik just learned this the…
Read MoreYour Guide to Taxes for Retirees and Retirement Accounts
A cheat sheet on contributing to, withdrawing from and converting 401(k)s, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and other funds By Laura Saunders / WSJ To encourage retirement saving, Congress has provided Americans with an array of tax-favored accounts. These provide individual Americans many benefits, but there are pitfalls in terms of when and how you contribute to,…
Read MoreChange Your Money Mindset to Unlock Financial Success
By: Jeff Nguyen For busy parents juggling work, bills, and family goals, money stress often isn’t just about income; it’s about negative money mindsets running the show in the background. The core tension is exhausting: even with good intentions, personal finance psychology can turn simple choices into financial success barriers through repeatable financial behavior patterns…
Read More5 Tax Scams to Watch for This Filing Season: High-pressure tactics, official-sounding messages and other tricks are potentially bedeviling taxpayers
By Lori Ioannou for WSJ Tax-filing season is prime time for scams, and this year could be particularly busy thanks to several new rules for taxpayers to deal with under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the rise of artificial-intelligence techniques that give scammers powerful new ways to infiltrate communications. Tax-scam perpetrators often use fear,…
Read MoreEstimated Taxes Are a Pain. Here’s How to Avoid Costly Penalties.
It’s important, but not easy, to get the timing right for tax payments on income that doesn’t have withholding By Laura Saunders for WSJ Want a lower income-tax bill? Check whether you’re one of millions of Americans who are paying billions of dollars in late-tax penalties to Uncle Sam. If so, there are moves you…
Read MoreUnpacking How the Tax Landscape is Changing: Enjoy current tax advantages, but prepare for a future that might be different
The U.S. tax landscape is shifting in ways that carry real implications for investors and households alike. Congress’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) makes the Trump-era tax cuts permanent, offering short-term certainty while diminishing the need for urgent year-end tax maneuvers. At the same time, tariff-driven inflation is acting as an…
Read MoreThe “Family Tax Office” Mindset: Kids, Education, and Inter-Generational Planning
Most families experience taxes in fragments: a 529 plan opened when a child is born, a custodial account started with a grandparent gift, retirement accounts scattered across employers, and estate documents drafted years ago. The “Family Tax Office” mindset takes a different approach. Instead of treating each account or decision in isolation, it views the…
Read MoreAnnual Rebalancing Steps for 2026
It is important to rebalance your investments regularly, at least on an annual basis. In simple terms, rebalancing is the process of reviewing and then possibly changing your current mix of investments in your investment accounts. For example, as you settle into your career and still have decades until your retirement, you might decide that…
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