Category Archives: Health Care Issues
Addressing long-term care costs with a tax-qualified LTC insurance policy
No matter how diligently you prepare, your estate plan can quickly be derailed if you or a loved one requires long-term home health care or an extended stay at a nursing home or assisted living facility. The annual cost of long-term care (LTC) can reach as high as six figures, and this expense isn’t… Read More »
Properly planning for incapacity requires specific estate planning strategies
Most estate plans focus on what happens after you die. But without arrangements for what will happen in the event you become mentally incapacitated, your plan is incomplete. If an accident, illness or other circumstances render you unable to make financial or health care decisions — and you don’t have documents in place to… Read More »
2 benefits-related tax credits just for small businesses
Tax credits reduce tax liability dollar-for-dollar, making them particularly valuable. Two valuable credits are especially for small businesses that offer certain employee benefits. Can you claim one — or both — of them on your 2015 return? Retirement plan credit Small employers (generally those with 100 or fewer employees) that create a retirement plan may… Read More »
Finding the right tax-advantaged account to fund your health care expenses
With health care costs continuing to climb, tax-friendly ways to pay for these expenses are more attractive than ever. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) all provide opportunities for tax-advantaged funding of health care expenses. But what’s the difference between these three accounts? Here’s an overview: HSA. If… Read More »
Are you meeting the ACA’s additional Medicare tax withholding requirements?
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), beginning in 2013, taxpayers with FICA wages over $200,000 per year ($250,000 for joint filers and $125,000 for married filing separately) had to pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on the excess earnings. Unlike regular Medicare taxes, the additional Medicare tax doesn’t include a corresponding employer portion. But… Read More »