Real estate investors trying to defer taxes may want to explore like-kind exchanges. What exactly is a 1031 exchange? For some real estate investors, it may be a nice answer to a dilemma involving an income property. A properly executed 1031 exchange lets an investor sell one property and buy a similar one while deferring capital gains taxes. Also called a Starker exchange or a like-kind exchange, this procedure has been used for some time.1 Why would an income property owner choose a 1031 exchange over a standard sale? It comes down to taxes. The Internal Revenue Service does not … Read More
The A, B, C, & D of Medicare
Breaking down the basics & what each part covers. Whether your 65th birthday is on the horizon or decades away, you should understand the parts of Medicare – what they cover and where they come from. Parts A & B: Original Medicare. America created a national health insurance program for seniors in 1965 with two components. Part A is hospital insurance. It provides coverage for inpatient stays at medical facilities. It can also help cover the costs of hospice care, home health care, and nursing home care – but not for long and only under certain parameters.1 Seniors are frequently … Read More
Sailing with the Tides: Planning Your Investment Journey
Embarking on a financial plan is like sailing around the world. The voyage won’t always go to plan, and there will be rough seas. But the odds of reaching your destination increase greatly if you are prepared, flexible, patient, and well-advised. A mistake many inexperienced sailors make is not having a plan at all. They embark without a clear sense of their destination. And once they do decide, they often find themselves lost at sea in the wrong boat with inadequate provisions. Likewise, in planning an investment journey, you need to decide on your goal. A first step might be … Read More
Q1 2018 Financial Market Update
The Quarter in Brief Stocks rallied in January, corrected in February, and slumped in March as volatility and economic policy changes took some of the enthusiasm out of the market. The Trump administration announced tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum, and assorted products from China; China soon said that it would reciprocate with excise taxes of its own. The Federal Reserve adjusted the federal funds rate upward and welcomed a new chair; the White House appointed a new chief economic advisor. An orderly process was outlined for the Brexit. The Nasdaq Composite advanced for the first quarter, but the Dow 30 … Read More