Yesterday, April 2, 2025, President Trump announced new tariffs, referred to as “reciprocal tariffs,” against more than 180 countries simultaneously. Both the magnitude of the tariffs and the number of countries against which they will be levied far exceeded market expectations.  This raises new concerns for investors regarding how these new tariff policies will impact the US economy, both in the short term and long term.

While policy can be debated regarding whether or not the new tariffs will bring positive long-term change to the US economy, we believe that additional risk may lie in the method by which the new policy is being implemented. As we have seen in business many times, the right strategy, executed the wrong way, can lead to unexpected negative outcomes. 

March was a tough month for the stock market, with the S&P 500 Index dropping by over 5% for the month.  With the new “Liberation Day” tariffs going into effect on April 2nd, many investors are asking if the new tariffs and the recent stock market correction warrant a change in investment strategy.   Will the selloff continue, or are we in store for a market rally in April? 

In this article, we will share our market analysis, highlight key economic data points to watch as the new tariffs are rolled out, and answer the question: Do recent events warrant a change in investment strategy? 

Deciding to take Social Security benefits early can be a practical choice for many retirees, but it comes with potential challenges. One major consideration is the earned income penalty, which could reduce your benefits if you’re still earning income over a certain threshold. But there is a flaw in the Social Security system that sometimes incorrectly assesses the earned income penalty.   When someone retires, oftentimes their income for the year is already above the $23,400 earned income threshold but very few retirees realize that if their social security benefit is not turned on until after they receive their final paycheck, the earned income penalty will not apply even though social security may attempt to assess the penalty anyways.

The good news? With proper planning and documentation, such as holding onto your final paystub, you can avoid unnecessary penalties and protect your benefits.

Safeguarding a Roth IRA from the Medicaid spenddown process has long been a challenge for individuals preparing for long-term care. Unlike other assets, Roth IRAs cannot be owned by trusts, and their lack of required minimum distributions (RMDs) has historically left them vulnerable under Medicaid rules. However, a groundbreaking strategy recently developed in New York provides new hope for preserving the full value of these important retirement accounts. By voluntarily initiating RMDs on Roth IRAs, individuals can now protect these accounts from being depleted entirely during Medicaid qualification.

Topics Covered in This Article:

• Challenges of Protecting Roth IRAs

• The Role of Irrevocable Trusts

• Understanding the Medicaid Spenddown Process

• Voluntary RMDs for Roth IRAs

• New York’s Innovative Strategy

Irrevocable trusts are powerful tools for long-term care planning and asset protection, but what happens when you need to access those locked-away assets?

Our latest article, Can You Break an Irrevocable Trust?, dives deep into the options available if you find yourself in this situation. Learn about key topics like:

• The strict limitations on accessing the trust principal

• The grantor's rights to trust income

• Pros and cons of adding a gifting provision to your trust

• Revoking a trust – Full or partial

• Changing the trust investment objective to generate more income for the grantor

• Tax trap of realized gains within grantor irrevocable trusts

Whether you’re planning your estate, serving as a trustee, or navigating Medicaid rules, this comprehensive guide is packed with expert insights you shouldn’t miss.

IRS Issues Guidance on Mandatory 401(k) Roth Catch-up Starting in 2026

Starting January 1, 2026, high-income earners will face a significant shift in retirement savings rules due to the new Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Contribution requirement. If you earn more than $145,000 annually (indexed for inflation), your catch-up contributions to 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plans will now go directly to Roth, rather than pre-tax.

The IRS just released guidance in January 2025 regarding how the new mandatory Roth catch-up provisions will work for high-income earners.  This article dives into everything you need to know!

Have you or someone you know recently inherited an IRA in New York? There’s a tax-saving opportunity that many beneficiaries overlook, and we’re here to help you take full advantage of it.

Did you know that if the decedent was 59 ½ or older, you might qualify for a $20,000 New York State income tax exemption on distributions from the inherited IRA—even if you’re under age 59 ½? This little-known benefit could save you a significant amount on taxes, but navigating the rules can be tricky.

Topics covered:
🔹 The $20,000 annual NY State tax exemption for inherited IRAs
🔹 Rules for New York beneficiaries under age 59 ½
🔹 How this exemption can impact the 10-Year Rule distribution strategy
🔹 How tax exemptions are split between multiple beneficiaries
🔹 What if one of the beneficiaries is located outside of NY?

President Trump just announced tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China that will go into effect this week, which has sent the stock market sharply lower.  I have received multiple emails from clients over the past 24 hours, all asking the same question:

“With the Trump tariffs that were just announced, should we be going to cash?”

Prior to 2025, it was very easy to explain to an employee what the maximum Simple IRA contribution was for that tax year.  Starting in 2025, it will be anything but “Simple”.  Thanks to the graduation implementation of the Secure Act 2.0, there are 4 different limits for Simple IRA employee deferrals that both employees and companies will need to be aware of.

When the Secure Act passed in 2019, a new option was opened up for excess balances left over in 529 accounts called a “Qualified Loan Repayment” option.  This new 529 distribution option allows the owner of a 529 to distribute money from a 529 account to repay student loans for the beneficiary of the 529 account AND the beneficiary’s siblings.  However, this distribution option is not available to everyone, and there are rules and limits associated with these new types of distributions.

When parents gift money to their kids, instead of having the money sit in a savings account, often parents will set up UTMA accounts at an investment firm to generate investment returns in the account that can be used by the child at a future date.  Depending on the amount of the investment income, the child may be required to file a tax return.

Do you have enough to retire?  Believe it or not, as financial planners, we can often answer that question in LESS THAN 60 SECONDS just by asking a handful of questions.  In this video, I’m going to walk you through the 60-second calculation. 

Good news for 401(k) and 403(b) plan participants turning age 60 – 63 starting in 2025: there is now an enhanced employee catch-up contribution thanks to Secure Act 2.0 that passed back in 2022.  For 2025, the employee contributions limits are as follows: Employee Deferral Limit $23,500, Age 50+ Catch-up Limit $7,500, and the New Age 60 – 63 Catch-up: $3,750.

There are many reasons why individuals decide to surrender their annuities. Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons that we see is when individuals realize that they were sold the annuity by a broker and that annuity investment was either not in their best interest or they discover that there are other investment solutions that will better meet the investment objectives.   This situation can often lead to individuals making the tough decision to cut their losses and surrender the annuity.  But before surrendering their annuity, it’s important for investors to understand the questions to ask the annuity company about the surrender fees and potential tax liability before making e the final decision to end their annuity contract.

When a business owner sells their business and is looking for a large tax deduction and has charitable intent, a common solution is setting up a private foundation to capture a large tax deduction.  In this video, we will cover how foundations work, what is the minimum funding amount, the tax benefits, how the foundation is funded, and more……. 

As an investment firm, November and December is considered “tax-loss harvesting season” where we work with our clients to identify investment losses that can be used to offset capital gains that have been realized throughout the year in an effort to reduce their tax liability for the year.  But there are a lot of IRS rule surrounding what “type” of realized losses can be used to offset realized gains and retail investors are often unaware of these rules which can lead to errors in their lost harvesting strategies. 

There is a little-known, very lucrative New York State Tax Credit that came into existence within the past few years for individuals who wish to make charitable donations to their SUNY college of choice through the SUNY Impact Foundation.  The tax credit is so large that individuals who make a $10,000 donation to the SUNY Impact Foundation can receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of $8,500 whether they take the standard deduction or itemize on their tax return. This results in a windfall of cash to pre-selected athletic programs and academic programs by the donor at their SUNY college of choice, with very little true out-of-pocket cost to the donors themselves once the tax credit is factored in.

It seems as though the likely outcome of the 2024 presidential elections will be a Trump win, and potentially full control of the Senate and House by the Republicans to complete the “full sweep”.  As I write this article at 6am the day after election day, it looks like Trump will be president, the Senate will be controlled by the Republicans, and the House is too close to call.  If the Republicans complete the full sweep, there is a higher probability that the tax law changes that Trump proposed on his campaign trail will be passed by Congress and signed into law as early as 2025. 

Qualified Charitable Distributions are an advanced tax strategy used by individuals who are age 70½ or older who typically make annual contributions to their church, charity, or other not-for-profit organizations.  QCDs allow individuals who have pre-tax IRAs to send money directly from their IRA to their charity of choice, and they avoid having to pay tax on those distributions.   However, a client recently asked an excellent question:

“Can you process a qualified charitable distribution from an Inherited IRA?  If yes, does that QCD also count toward the annual RMD requirement?”

 Squarespace Excerpt: As individuals approach retirement, they often begin reviewing their annual expenses, looking for ways to trim unnecessary expenses so their retirement savings last as long as possible now that their paychecks are about to stop for their working years.  A common question that comes up during these client meetings is “Should I get rid of my life insurance policy now that I will be retiring?”