One of the many ways we help people save money on taxes is by using a strategy called Tax Lot Optimization or TLO. Tax Lot Optimization is a strategy in which shares are sold in a thoughtful way to reduce or eliminate capital gains when trading in a non-retirement investment account. Investors can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the short term when this strategy is used. To get more granular, Tax Lot Optimization is utilized when someone has multiple share lots of the same stock/fund purchased on different dates. For a retiree, this is a very common scenario. For example, if an investor bought shares of a S&P 500 index fund over a period of 30 years, they would have many different purchases dates as well as a different cost basis for each lot of shares. If these shares are held in a taxable account, the investor can...

The Senate and the House are currently working their way through approving another round of stimulus to help keep people and businesses afloat during the pandemic.  Like previous rounds, it is expected to include stimulus checks paid to individuals and families. This would include $1,400 per individual, plus children and adult dependents qualify this time as well. You must have income below $75,000 if you are a single filer or income below $150,000 if you file jointly with your spouse to get the full stimulus payment. In past packages, the stimulus payment would phase out completely for a single filer who earned more than $100,000 or a married couple who earned more than $200,000.  It was recently announced that the new package may have the phase out happen much faster, with single filers being completely phased out once they earn more than $80,000 and married couples phasing out once they earn more...

Once again this year, Level Financial Advisors has been named a finalist in Buffalo Business First's Best Places To Work in WNY!  This year's virtual award ceremony is being held on March 31st....

Throughout our working life we become accustomed to seeing chunks of our paycheck withheld for different types of taxes. Not many of us get a warm fuzzy feeling about contributing our share of payroll taxes to the government for Medicare and Social Security. Fortunately, the government gives you back the money in the form of monthly payments for the rest of your life and possibly your spouse’s life as well. As you approach the age range when you can finally claim social security, between age 62 and 70, it becomes imperative you consider the best strategy for your situation. As you delay claiming your benefit, the government significantly increases your benefit each year. In fact, every year you delay after full retirement age, you receive a guaranteed 8% increase in your benefit (this stops after you reach age 70). Try finding a guaranteed 8% return anywhere else! While there are many factors...

We are pleased to offer a new educational session, “Medicaid and Estate Planning: Answers to Popular Questions,” to our clients and special guests. Wednesday, March 10th at 6pm This is a great chance to familiarize yourself with the basics of estate planning as it pertains to long-term care and Medicaid. This webinar will discuss: • Should I put my house in my kids' names? • Can I pay my kids to take care of me? • How do NY partnership long term care insurance policies work? • Options for paying for a nursing home (private pay, Medicaid, long term care insurance). • Medicaid qualification criteria. • Nursing home pre-planning options (gifting and trusts). • Nursing home crisis planning (gift/loan strategy). • In home care: what will Medicare/Medicaid pay for? Click Here To Register For this Event...

The CARES Act and the 2020 year-end coronavirus relief bill had a lot built into them.  As we start the 2020 tax return season, here are a few items affecting individual taxpayers that we feel are most relevant: Certain charitable contributions deductible by non-itemizers Many who take the standard deduction, which became more popular after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 raised the standard deduction amounts, will be able to deduct $300 in 2020 for all taxpayers and $600 in 2021 for married couples filing jointly. This means that if you made a cash contribution directly to a 501(c)(3) you will be able to reduce your taxable income by up to $300 in 2020 and $600 in 2021. It is important to note that the contribution must be in cash, check, or credit card, and it must go directly to the charity and not a donor advised fund or 509(a)...