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...hopes of regaining control of how their money is being invested, many families have been asking about the possibility of cashing in their 529 accounts altogether and writing off the loss on their taxes, says Joe Hurley, who runs savingforcollege.com, a website that provides information and advice about 529 plans and allows investors to compare different state plans. The good news is that for some people, closing an account can result in a significant tax write-off. But as with most things tax-related, the rules are complicated. Here's what to consider before you bail...
...Your chances of getting a tax break. The bad news is that in many cases, investors can't write off as much as they might think. Among the restrictions: you must completely liquidate your account in order to claim a loss. You have to claim it as a miscellaneous deduction, which means you can only deduct losses that exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI); other miscellaneous deductions can include IRA losses and fees paid to a financial adviser. So if your AGI is $100,000, for example, and your 529 lost...
...beneficiary. If your child is young, the account has a long time to bounce back before you'll need the funds for college. If you stand to reap big tax savings, however, liquidating may be worth it since you could later re-invest the money in another 529 account. Just make sure to wait at least 60 days before you open a new 529, or the IRS may consider it a rollover, which isn't deductible for tax purposes...
...soon you need the money. If you need to tap the account in the next year or two, it likely won't have enough time to recover, says Ross Levin, a financial planner in Edina, Minn. One option is to move the remaining funds to a less risky investment within your plan (a new IRS rule allows 529 holders to swap their investments twice this year). But if you're concerned about the conservative options your plan offers, you may be better off cashing in and parking the money in an online savings account or money market fund. Finally...
...report puts the spotlight firmly on the Pentagon - specifically on former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his DOD lawyer Jim Haynes, his policy chief Douglas Feith, Guantánamo commanders Major General Michael Dunleavy and Major General Geoffrey Miller, and a raft of other DOD officials. It offers a detailed account purporting to show how these officials - some of them knowingly, others unwittingly - allowed SERE techniques to be used for interrogation. It suggests, too, that many SERE experts and military lawyers raised concerns about and objections to this reverse engineering of techniques used in courses to train Americans to survive captures...