Taxes, investments major viewer concerns
Our panel on March 8:
Dennis Hebert, Hebert Financial Strategies
Grace Ghezzi, Benefit Consulting Group
Ted Sarenski, Blue Ocean Strategic Cakpital
Among the viewer questions addressed:
>Trust Terms. A viewer emailed on whether they could get access to a trust set up by her late mother, for educational purposes, if the terms stated the children couldn't have access until they are 25. The husband is named trustee and he can approve 'special payments.'
>Do I NEED to file a tax return? You MUST file a federal return if you have a gross taxable income over over $9,350 filing single, or $18,700 for married filing jointly. An individual claimed as a dependent must file if his unearned income is more than $950 or the total income is more than the standard deduction. You must also file a NY form if you filed a federal return, or if your federal gross income was more than $4,000 ($3,000 if single and claimed as a dependent).
>Should you file a tax return? Yes---to reclaim moneys withheld, even if you don't have to file (like for a school summer job).
And, there's a statute of limitations beyond which the IRS cannot look back. If you file a return, they can only look back for 3 years from then--if there's no form filed, they can look back forever.
>Investing. If you stopped contributing to your 401K it's probably a good time to start again, especially if your company is matching---that's like 'free' money. You can also contribute to your IRA, and count it for last year, until April 15th.
>Spring house cleaning. As you do your taxes, also check your financial 'house' since you have all the documents in one place. It's a good time to evaluate your credit card debt (and fees), and look at your budget, and re-align investment allocations in IRAs and 401Ks.
We will be adding, shortly, a website that lists what records you can discard and what you should keep, for how long. Check back!
>IRA and 401 K withdrawals....with strings attached. If you withdraw from a 401K (our caller wanted to pay off a mortgage) be aware that if you lose your job, the 'loan' will be treated as a withdrawal and faces taxation as well as a 10% penalty. Loans are not allowed from IRAs but disbursals are--again check the rules! With a Roth, you can withdraw as much as the contributions but if you take out what's been earned, it's taxable.
>>>We answer your questions live every Monday 5 - 6:30pm, and you can email at money@cnycentral.com
