Rules on Opening a 529 Plan Account for College

Year over year, participation in 529 plans continues to rise.¹ Anyone can open an account, lifetime contribution limits are typically over $300,000, and there are tax benefits if the funds are used for college. Here are some common questions on opening an account.

Even though tax filing season is well under way, there's still time to make a regular IRA contribution for 2018. You have until your tax return due date (not including extensions) to contribute up to $5,500 for 2018 ($6,500 if you were age 50 or older on December 31, 2018).

Maxing out your retirement account contributions can be a smart financial move not only to help reduce your tax bill, but also to ensure you're setting aside enough money for the future. But do you know how much you're allowed to contribute?

More than 60% of children under age six in the United States have two parents in the workforce. ¹ Many of these working parents must spend a burdensome share of their earnings on child care, especially if they don't have relatives who are willing and able to help out.

Tax filing season is here again. If you haven't done so already, you'll want to start pulling things together — that includes getting your hands on a copy of your 2017 tax return and gathering W-2s, 1099s, and deduction records. You'll need these records whether you're preparing your own return or paying someone else to prepare your tax return for you.

Did you know that your beneficiary forms will trump any other estate planning documents you my have established?                          

Failing to properly update these forms can compromise the legacy you worked so hard to build.

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The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended after 35 days on January 25, 2019. A temporary appropriations bill extended funding for shuttered federal agencies to February 15, 2019, while a bipartisan committee negotiates a new spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security.¹

We all have certain causes that we choose to support monetarily. In fact, in 2017, Americans gave more than $410 billion to charities, breaking the $400 billion mark for the first time in history.

But anytime that we give our money to an organization, it’s important to do our due diligence, ensuring that the funds that we give will be used effectively.

While tax scams are especially prevalent during tax season, they can take place any time during the year. As a result, it's in your best interest to always be vigilant so you don't end up becoming the victim of a fraudulent tax scheme.

Here are some of the more common scams to watch out for.

In the final quarter of 2018, interest rate and growth fears, along with geopolitical events, sparked volatility in the financial markets and reversed many of the outsize stock gains notched earlier in the year. The S&P 500 posted a loss of about 6.2% for 2018.