We tend to focus on taxes at year-end, but it is full-year endeavor, if performed profitably. We will focus on two strategies today: Tax Loss Harvesting and Tax Bracket Management.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Reviewing tax proposals from President-elect Trump's campaign.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Answering questions about the Qualified Charitable Distribution.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Many investors find self-directed IRAs appealing—no professional management fees paired with the opportunity to invest in whatever appeals to you. While this may sound great, it often is wrong for numerous reasons.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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As the Trust Department for First Carolina Bank, we at First Carolina Wealth (FCW) eat and sleep trusts. We cannot get enough of trusts; we live for trusts, EXCEPT sometimes when trusts are the beneficiaries of decedents’ IRAs.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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We all remember the ‘good old days’ when we inherited an IRA from our father and had our entire life expectancies to take distributions from the IRA. In recent years, we have realized significant gains in the number of inherited IRAs, unfortunately from our deceased former clients. The increase in volumes has resulted in an increase in attention from our lawmakers and regulators.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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We undertook last time to delve more into the nuances of Roth IRAs. Backdoor Roths are fairly nuanced. Initially, let us dispatch any confusion between a Backdoor Roth and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 cinematic masterpiece Rear Window. Our pursuits pale in the face of amateur sleuths Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stuart, but we persevere, nevertheless.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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When confronted with life’s quandaries, such as whether to fund a Traditional or a Roth IRA, I find it useful to consult the Bard for guidance. Unfortunately, in this case, Hamlet has identified the question but is a little light on answers. Fortunately, we have recent IRS regulations and various interpretations to plumb for wisdom. We will delve into the nuances between Traditional and Roth IRAs in future issues, but today, we address the fundamental decision points.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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I am sure many of you readers share my quadrennial depression at the end of the Summer Olympics. Regardless of the historic level of U.S. success, I mourn the passing of binge-watching the world’s youth performing astonishing feats of physical prowess. Fortunately, the IRS foresaw this sudden vacuum of entertainment and issued the final Required Minimum Distribution regulations in mid-July.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Should I put an annuity into my IRA? Today, we consider an easy question with a complex answer. There has always been a split opinion between brokers—who apply a suitability standard—and registered investment advisors/trust officers—who apply a fiduciary standard requiring all recommendations be in the client’s best interests.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Taking a break from our quest for IRA understanding, we address something today of great importance, that your humble scrivener has recently encountered personally. The heavily used, but not heavily understood or implemented, mantra that “Everyone needs a will” is not simply a business development tool for estate planning attorneys, it is something everyone should do for those they love.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Remember a few issues ago when we discussed the SECURE Act, the SECURE Act 2.0, and the proposed regulations issued by the IRS.  Late last week, the IRS issued a few hundred pages of Final Regs on Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), in large part adopting the Proposed Regs as presented. Your author has not enjoyed the opportunity to dissect these Final Regs yet, but preliminary conclusions follow.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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We take a brief respite from our expedition through the IRA jungle to consider a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that may be of great importance to you. If not, come back next time.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Last time, we examined the breadth and depth of today’s IRA marketplace. Today, let us look at the fundamentals of IRAs, both from a practical and tax planning focus.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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As we lounge on the beach in the searing heat, our minds wander to thoughts of our retirement plans, specifically our IRAs. Today we start a journey into the intricate world of IRAs, a world we all must live in regardless of our interest or skills in it, or knowledge of it. Over the next several sessions, we will cut the IRA behemoth up into digestible pieces and discretely review each.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Continuing our investigation of President Biden’s 2024 Budget Proposals, consider the end of the favorable 20 percent income tax rates on Qualified Dividends and Long-Term Capital Gains.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Continuing our investigation of President Biden’s 2024 Budget Proposals, we address the often under-appreciated, but incredibly useful, preferential long-term capital gains rate maxing at 20%.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers.

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Continuing our discussion of tax changes contained in President Biden’s new Budget Proposal. 

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers. 

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Known as “The Green Book,” the President issues a budget proposal for the next fiscal year around this time each year. President Biden has made significant proposed changes in the past and the divided Congress has failed to implement them. Will this continue?

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers. 

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Now that we have filed our 2023 returns or extensions, we will examine some tax benefits available for the taking, starting with the Electric Vehicle (EV) Credit as passed in August 2022.

Also includes weekly economic insights from our investment managers. 

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