Financial Planning

Year End 2020 Tax Planning

Bryan Strike

MS, MTx, CFA, CFP®, CPA, PFS, CIPM

November 20, 2020

 

I do not think most of us are sad to see 2020 come to an end.  With COVID, way too much rain early in the year, murder hornets, and the election, it has certainly been tumultuous!  However, the year is not quite over and there may be some actions to take, or not take, to minimize your tax burdens.

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020
As everyone is aware, the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the global economy and stock markets around the world.
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MY PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
This is a letter that I began composing back in 2008, and I was absolutely surprised at the positive responses received from clients. There are some new items for 2020 (primarily retirement and estate planning issues affected by the recently passed SECURE Act), but I have kept the framework the same because the basics really never change. It’s resolution time, so here we go again!
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SECURE ACT PASSED
The SECURE Act was a certainty early in the year but seemed to die off over the last few months. However, the budget bill did include this act, which was signed into law on December 20, 2019.
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SECURE Your Retirement
The House’s H.R. 1994: “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” (SECURE) Act has gained a lot of traction and bipartisan support. The Senate’s own version H.R. 1007: “Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act” (RESA) has also made significant progress. As such, much ink has been spilt discussing the changes.
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Itemizing Deductions When Standard is Higher
“We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale According to Mr. Nightingale, I must be taxes. As many of you who know me are aware, I became addicted to learning tax law in my senior year of college.
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MY PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
This is a letter that I composed back in 2008, and I was absolutely surprised at the positive responses received from clients. There are some new items for 2019, but I have kept the framework the same because the basics really never change. So here we go again!
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Death and Taxes 2018
“… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin Much has changed in the world of taxes because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), but paying taxes remains (and, of course, we will all die eventually). I have written much over the last year regarding changes to taxpayers’ income tax liabilities, but none related to estates. The main reason? Not much changed, but there is plenty of planning still to do.
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Qualified Opportunity Funds
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was passed in late 2017 making changes to several income tax provisions like brackets, standard deductions, personal exemptions, and corporate tax rates. . A relatively unknown provision included, which garnered bipartisan support (a rare thing, indeed), is Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF).
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International Investments and the Role of Currencies
Investing internationally has become a standard method of diversifying the return streams of an investment portfolio. Rather than being subject merely to performance of the domestic markets, such as the S&P 500 or Dow, diversifying internationally is supposed to provide investors with a smoother stream of returns over time.
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