WRENTHAM — The 4th annual Olde Irish Pub Run will be held on Saturday, March 26th, at 9 a.m. from Mr. Dooley’s Olde Irish Country Pub, 303 Shears St., Wrentham.
The USATF-certified course loops around scenic country roads, and participants can choose a flat single loop (5K) or double loop (10K).
Prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers in various age categories. The first 100 participants who register by March 16 will receive free T-shirts. The post-race buffet will be provided by Mr. Dooley’s Olde Irish Country Pub.
Security CardPeople approaching retirement age rely in part on Social Security (SS) to maximize their retirement income, but they also face a labyrinth of confusing laws and regulations.
The dilemma: at what age is it best for you (or your spouse) to start collecting so you get the most retirement dollars? There are no easy answers to that question, and the questions just got more difficult.
New Budget Bill – Surprise!
Congress just enacted and the President signed into law a bipartisan budget bill designed, in part, to avoid another government shut-down. Effective May 1, 2016, the new law makes major changes to the rules about when and how retirees can claim their SS benefits, and eliminates several planning strategies previously available to them to get more benefit dollars.
The Basics Stay the Same
Some basic rules stay the same. In general, you can begin collecting SS as early as age 62, but your monthly payment will be much lower than if you delayed collecting until your “full retirement age,” which is between ages 66 and 67 (depending on the year you were born). Once you start collecting then, your monthly payment amount is locked in, and will never increase (except for annual cost-of-living increases). But if you further delayed collecting past your full retirement age, and wait until age 70 to collect, your monthly payment increases about 8% a year.
File-and Suspend, or “Having Your Cake and Eating It Too” is Kaput
One lucrative planning strategy no longer available after May was called “file-and-suspend.” Say Tom and Jane both reached their full retirement age of 66, Tom intends to keep working until at least age 70, but Jane wants to retire now. Each could start collecting on their own SS, Tom at $1500/month and Jane at $600/month, or $2,100/month. Instead, Tom would file immediately to collect on his SS, but then “suspend” his right to collect. Why? If Tom waited to collect his own SS until age 70, his monthly payment amount would increase about 8% over the next 4 years, and at age 70, he would be able to collect $1980/month, rather than $1500.
Once Tom filed and suspended, Jane had the right as his spouse to collect on Tom’s SS account, and she immediately started collecting one-half of what Tom would have collected, or about $750/month. Meanwhile, because she is not touching her own SS ($600/month), it would increase to $792/month by the time she reached 70. At age, Jane would have collected about $36,000 on Tom’s suspended claim, and then Tom and Jane both would start collecting on their own SS, for a combined monthly income of $2,772, instead of only $2,100.
The new law eliminates your ability to maximize benefits under this “file and suspend” by requiring that Tom actually start collecting on his SS at age 66 before Jane can claim her one-half spousal benefit on his SS account. The new law made several other changes that tighten up the filing rules.
Robert Deschene, Esq.
What You Need to Know … or Do
Why is it important that you know about these changes in the law. First, since it doesn’t take effect until May 2016, there is a brief “window” for those who are at least 66 (or who will turn 66 by April 30) to get “grandfathered” in to the old rules.
Also, your financial advisor may have projected your estimated retirement income based on the old rules, and you may want to discuss the implication of these changes in the law. SS was intended only to supplement other sources of retirement income, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, and you may have to adjust your planned use of 401(k)s and IRAs to offset the lost SS income. You and your advisor also may have to reconsider whether it makes more sense – or less – for you to delay collecting SS until you reach age 70, when you will receive the maximum monthly SS payment.
WASHINGTON — Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers, headlining the annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams for the 2016 filing season, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.
The IRS has seen a surge of these phone scams as scam artists threaten police arrest, deportation, license revocation and other things. The IRS reminds taxpayers to guard against all sorts of con games that arise during any filing season.
“Taxpayers across the nation face a deluge of these aggressive phone scams. Don’t be fooled by callers pretending to be from the IRS in an attempt to steal your money,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “We continue to say if you are surprised to be hearing from us, then you’re not hearing from us.”
“There are many variations. The caller may threaten you with arrest or court action to trick you into making a payment,” Koskinen added. “Some schemes may say you’re entitled to a huge refund. These all add up to trouble. Some simple tips can help protect you.”
The Dirty Dozen is compiled annually by the IRS and lists a variety of common scams taxpayers may encounter any time during the year. Many of these con games peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns or hire someone to do so.
This January, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) announced they have received reports of roughly 896,000 contacts since October 2013 and have become aware of over 5,000 victims who have collectively paid over $26.5 million as a result of the scam.
“The IRS continues working to warn taxpayers about phone scams and other schemes,” Koskinen said. “We especially want to thank the law-enforcement community, tax professionals, consumer advocates, the states, other government agencies and particularly the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for helping us in this battle against these persistent phone scams.” Protect Yourself
Scammers make unsolicited calls claiming to be IRS officials. They demand that the victim pay a bogus tax bill. They con the victim into sending cash, usually through a prepaid debit card or wire transfer. They may also leave “urgent” callback requests through phone “robo-calls,” or via a phishing email. Many phone scams use threats to intimidate and bully a victim into paying. They may even threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the license of their victim if they don’t get the money.
Scammers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. They may use the victim’s name, address and other personal information to make the call sound official.
Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam.
The IRS will never:
Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:
If you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason to think that you do:
Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
We insure a lot of things in our lives: our cars, our homes, our valuable. But what about something less tangible, such as your love for family? Can you insure that?
Insure Your Love Today. Contact our office to review your plan today. Happy Valentine’s Day from NFS.
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It’s important to use the right filing status when you file your tax return. The status you choose can affect the amount of tax you owe for the year. It may even determine if you must file a tax return. Keep in mind that your marital status on Dec. 31 is your status for the whole year. Sometimes more than one filing status may apply to you. If that happens, choose the one that allows you to pay the least amount of tax.
Here’s a list of the five filing statuses:
Single. This status normally applies if you aren’t married. It applies if you are divorced or legally separated under state law.
Married Filing Jointly. If you’re married, you and your spouse can file a joint tax return. If your spouse died in 2015, you can often file a joint return for that year.
Married Filing Separately. A married couple can choose to file two separate tax returns. This may benefit you if it results in less tax owed than if you file a joint tax return. You may want to prepare your taxes both ways before you choose. You can also use it if you want to be responsible only for your own tax.
Head of Household. In most cases, this status applies if you are not married, but there are some special rules. For example, you must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and a qualifying person. Don’t choose this status by mistake. Be sure to check all the rules.
Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child. This status may apply to you if your spouse died during 2013 or 2014 and you have a dependent child. Other conditions also apply.
The “Filing” tab on IRS.gov can help with many of your federal income tax filing needs. Use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool to help you choose the right filing status. For more on this topic see Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information. Go to IRS.gov/forms to view, download or print the tax products you need.
For further assistance in deciding which filing status you qualify for, please contact our office.
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