Personal Finance
Co-signing a mortgage can affect your taxes in several ways, depending on the loan’s structure and the property’s use. In general, being a co-signer does not automatically give you the right to claim mortgage interest or property tax deductions. Those tax benefits typically belong to the person who actually pays…
The S&P 500 is up roughly 100% over the past three and a half years. At its historical average annual return of about 10%, you’d expect it to be up closer to 40–50% over that same stretch. That means there’s an enormous amount of “free money” floating around, returns above…
You know someone who makes a fortune but constantly stresses over credit card bills. You probably also know someone with a modest salary who quietly paid off their mortgage early and takes a monthlong vacation every year. If building wealth were simply a math problem, the highest earners would always…
So you’re dreaming of moving to the Golden State—but can you afford the cost of living in California? That’s a smart question to ask before you sell your house and load up a U-Haul with surfboards and sunscreen. According to a 2020 Cost of Living Index, the average city in…
Landing in a higher tax bracket can feel like a penalty for earning more, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable. With the right strategies, you may be able to reduce your taxable income and limit how much of your earnings are exposed to higher tax rates. Smart tax planning…
A solid investment strategy gives you focus, clarity and direction—and you need all three to become a successful investor. You need to have an investment strategy that’s going to help turn your retirement dreams into a reality. Market chaos, inflation, your future—work with a pro to navigate this stuff. Your…
Prospective homebuyers in Texas are demanding thousands of dollars in price cuts as once-hot real estate markets cool off. It’s the same in Southwest Florida, where owners are offering to repaint their homes in hopes of enticing buyers. Even a little prayer helps, said Emily Alspaugh of Grandville, Michigan, who…
Excise taxes and sales taxes both generate government revenue, but they work in fundamentally different ways. Sales taxes apply broadly to most retail purchases at a uniform percentage rate, appearing as a line item at checkout. Excise taxes, by contrast, target specific goods, like gasoline, tobacco and alcohol, and are…
If you already have a will, that’s great! Every adult needs a will. (And that includes you—so be sure you get that done right away if you haven’t already.) But did you know that if you’re married, your spouse needs a will too? That’s right. This is a case where…
While the process of adding a spouse to a deed can be relatively simple, there are some tax implications that make it more complicated. Depending on how you handle the property transfer, it can affect gift taxes, capital gains taxes, and estate planning outcomes later on. State laws and ownership…
