Storm Damage Claims When a major storm hits, dealing with the damage can feel overwhelming long before the insurance paperwork begins. A fallen tree, a leaking roof, shattered windows, or water-soaked belongings can leave you scrambling to protect your property and wondering what your insurance will cover (up to your policy limits). Knowing what to
Protecting Your Child’s Identity A recent survey estimated that about 10 million children have been victims of identity theft.1 Children, unlike adults, generally do not have a credit history, which can make them attractive and easy targets. Protecting your child’s identity is important because criminals can use a child’s clean credit record to open fraudulent
Qualified Opportunity Fund A number of special federal tax benefits are available for investing capital gains in a qualified opportunity fund. These include: (1) the rolling five-year deferral of tax on the capital gains, (2) the partial exclusion of the capital gains from gross income if invested in the qualified opportunity fund for at least
530A Trump Accounts Amid the July 4th fanfare, a new tax-advantaged investment account officially launched: the 530A Trump Accounts, also known as simply a Trump Account, which is designed to help children get a head start on their financial future. Parents (or other authorized representatives) have been able to apply since December 2025. By mid-June,
Introduction to Tax Planning for Specific Types of Investments Investment tax planning can help you maximize after-tax returns on your investments. Tax planning for specific types of investments helps you identify which types of investments are best suited to your unique situation. Because different types of investments produce income or gain that may be taxed differently,
Debt Consolidation Debt consolidation can lead to an improvement in your credit rating by making your debt easier to manage. Sometimes, debt consolidation means taking a loan at a lower interest rate to pay off several smaller loans at higher interest rates. Making one payment instead of many may help you keep your debt under
Municipal Bonds Municipal bonds are debt obligations issued by public entities such as state and local governments, health systems, universities, and school districts to help finance the building and maintenance of infrastructure projects such as roads, airports, water systems, and public facilities. Muni bonds (or munis) are unique investments in that the interest is generally
Crypto Scams As interest in cryptocurrency takes off, scammers have come out in droves to cash in. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there has been a massive increase in scam losses involving Bitcoin ATMs, which are often located in gas stations and convenience stores and used to exchange cash for cryptocurrency. Americans reported
Tax Implications of a Spouse’s Death Losing a spouse is an emotionally distressing time, and not surprisingly, the tax implications of a spouse’s death may not be a priority for a surviving spouse. However, failure to take appropriate steps can lead to a survivor paying more in tax than necessary. Here is an overview of
Value Investing During the period before and after World War II, financial analyst and Columbia University professor Benjamin Graham published two books, Security Analysis (1934) and The Intelligent Investor (1949), that defined an approach to the stock market that became known as value investing. Although some of Graham’s ideas have become outdated, his basic strategy remains a bedrock of
