So what’s all the fuss over the new financial reform law? The headline-grabbing law raised quite a furor on Wall Street, but what does it mean for you and me? Here is how the law will affect ordinary folk.  The biggest change associated with the new law is the creation of a new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The mandate of the Bureau is to create and enforce regulations that will protect consumers of

Consider the following strategy between now and the end of the year to restructure your investment portfolio in a tax-efficient manner. Taxpayers are allowed to offset capital gains (such as from the sale of stocks) with capital losses. If capital losses exceed capital gains for the year, up to $3,000 of losses can be deducted from other income, such as wages. Any loss greater than that can be carried forward to future years. It’s important to

The IRS and the Treasury are giving employers additional time to adjust payroll systems and procedures to meet the requirement to include the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on employees’ W-2 forms. This reporting requirement was mandated in the 2010 health care reform legislation and was scheduled to take effect with the issuance of W-2 forms for 2011. Reporting the cost of coverage will be optional for Forms W-2 issued for 2011. Employers who fail to

This year a tax advantaged health account (such as a flexible spending account, health reimbursement account, health savings account, or medical savings account) can be used to purchase aspirin, flu medications, allergy pills, cold medicines, and other over-the-counter medications. Effective January 1, 2011, funds from these accounts can no longer be used to purchase over-the-counter drugs unless the taxpayer has a prescription for them. Insulin is an exception and will still be eligible for tax-free reimbursement

Congress has enacted a huge new tax break for people who inherit a 401(k) account from someone other than a spouse. This is great news for anyone who wants to leave a 401(k) to a child, grandchild, domestic partner, or other person other than a spouse.

Congress has changed the “kiddie tax” – the tax that must be paid on children’s investment income.  If any of your planning involves gifts to children, you might want to reconsider your strategy in light of the changes. In the past, the “kiddie tax” provided that if a child under age 14 had investment income above a certain amount – the income was taxed at the parent’s tax rate, not the child’s tax rate (assuming the