Many have recently learned for the first time that corporations have offloaded the decision-making for retirement portfolios on their (not always financially sophisticated) employees, but provided virtually no guidance.  The 2008 market crash wiped out investors who had naively put their entire retirement savings in stocks and then sold out at the bottom in a [...]

In short, no!  This may surprise you, and it surprised me when I discovered it.  I stumbled across the issue at the end of last year. On August 15, 2012 I invested $5,000 in a mutual fund at Fidelity.  On December 31, 2012, this position was worth $5,237.47.  In doing the math, this would reflect [...]

Mark Berg was recently quoted in an April 21st article in the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The article identifies sound financial reasons for contributing to an IRA.  The article discusses how 1) IRA’s provide an opportunity to further grow your retirement nest egg and diversify retirement assets,  2) you can generally participate as long as you [...]

The investment markets offer no guarantees; you lay your money on the table and take your chances.  In the first quarter, those who placed their bets that U.S. stocks would enhance their wealth–plus, of course, those of us who stayed the course with our investment portfolios–were rewarded handsomely. When you look at global returns, it [...]

The conventional wisdom among the attorneys and CPAs who plan for estate taxes, right up until the new Fiscal Cliff legislation was signed into law, was that the $5 million exemption was probably too good to be true.  Couples could gift up to $10 million to their heirs without paying any gift taxes, and if [...]

On January 2, 2013 President Obama signed into law The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  This was robust legislation, in some ways temporarily and in other ways “permanently” addressing various tax issues.  The following is a summary of some highlights of the 59 page bill that might affect you. This will be followed in [...]

For small and large business owners alike, clarity was brought to several areas of taxation that have been in limbo.  The following is a summary of the highlights. The payroll tax holiday for the Social Security tax was allowed to expire. Consequently, the employee-share of OASDI taxes reverts back to 6.2% (from 4.2%); 50% first-year [...]

For estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes, for individuals dying and gifts made after 2012, there is a $5 million exemption (adjusted for inflation). The top estate, gift and GST rate was increased from 35% to 40%; The 2010 Tax Relief Act introduced the “portability” rules into the federal estate transfer tax system. Under the portability rules, [...]

Mark Berg was recently quoted in a November 21 article in U.S. News & World Report. The article discusses how to maximize the federal tax benefits of 529 plans by 1) scheduling regular contributions 2) combining federal tax benefits with state tax deductions 3) not limiting investments during poor stock market years and lastly 4) [...]

Timothy Financial is proud to announce that Hoan Taussig has been named a 2012 FIVE STAR Wealth Manager, which was published in the November 2012 issue of Chicago Magazine. After a thorough review of criteria ranging from Customer Service, Integrity, Knowledge/Expertise, with adjustments to reflect inputs from peers, regulatory compliance reviews and Blue Ribbon Panel [...]