Word: wanted
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...save Social Security, tax experts say it's unlikely there will be any major tax changes before 2001. So plan around what's known--not what might happen. On these pages, we look at six ways to cut your taxes before Dec. 31. Generally, you'll want to reduce your taxable estate and income while maximizing your tax-deferred savings. Here...
Consider charitable donations of assets that have greatly appreciated. You can take a full deduction for the market value of the asset, yet skip the capital-gains tax. If you aren't sure which charity you want to favor and you're giving cash, consider establishing a gift fund to reduce your estate. You can choose where to send the money next year. A number of mutual-fund companies have such funds, though they give you less freedom in choosing where to ultimately direct the money...
...always, you'll want to defer income where possible and accelerate deductions. That might mean taking a bonus in January rather than December, if you have a choice, or paying your last estimated quarterly state income tax in December instead of January. Other ways to pull deductions forward: prepay health-insurance premiums, student-loan and mortgage interest and some college tuition...
...Roth the opportunity to correct their error. Many rushed to convert in 1998 because of a one-time grant to spread the resulting tax over four years. The effect, though, was to extend the period in which you can unconvert and then reconvert to the Roth. You'd want to do that if your IRA's value is much lower now than when you originally converted. It can save a bundle in taxes. You lose the ability to spread the tax over four years, but you can approximate that benefit by converting a fourth of your portfolio each...
...America's health-care system: the U.S. invents most of the world's great prescription drugs, but thousands of Americans cross into Canada and Mexico to buy them. Some go on their own; others ride buses in organized tours sponsored by senior-citizen advocacy groups. Either way, they want medications that salve ills from leukemia to ulcers, mood disorders to high cholesterol. These are the identical life-improving, death-defying drugs that they would get at home--but for a fraction of the cost. And so it is on a November day in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, just over the bridge...