Stacey

About Stacey Nickens

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So far Stacey Nickens has created 268 blog entries.

Choosing the “Best Fit” Pension Plan for You

2023-05-11T15:17:00-04:00December 13th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning, Retirement|

Choosing the "Best Fit" Pension Plan for You By: Stacey Nickens American Express was the first company to offer pensions to their long-term employees. Beginning in 1875, employees who served the company for more than 20 years had access to half of their annual salary upon retirement. While pensions expanded in popularity during the [...]

Your Guide to the Medicare Surtax

2023-05-11T15:17:09-04:00December 10th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning, Taxes|

Your Guide to the Medicare Surtax By: Stacey Nickens Upper-income taxpayers should be aware of an additional tax that could increase their bill come April 15. Certain taxpayers are subject to a 3.8% "Medicare" surtax on their net investment income. Single filers with modified adjusted gross incomes (AGIs) above $200,000 and joint filers with [...]

Protect Yourself From These 5 Holiday Scams

2023-05-11T15:17:26-04:00December 6th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning|

Protect Yourself From These 5 Holiday Scams By: Stacey Nickens 'Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the land, every mom and dad was buying all the toys that the stores had on hand. When on their credit card statement there arose such a clatter, they had to call American Express to see [...]

Gifting Cash To Reduce Your Estate Taxes

2023-05-11T15:17:57-04:00December 3rd, 2021|Blog, Estate Planning, Financial Planning|

Gifting Cash To Reduce Your Estate Taxes By: Stacey Nickens The giving season is upon us, and you may be sifting through magazines, trying to figure out what to give your relatives. Instead of buying your grandson his fifth pair of headphones, those with highly-valued estates might consider giving cash this holiday season. Doing [...]

Rebalancing Your Portfolio Without Triggering a Tax Bill

2023-05-11T15:18:45-04:00November 29th, 2021|Blog, Investments, Taxes|

Rebalancing Your Portfolio Without Triggering a Tax Bill By: Stacey Nickens Many investors have seen strong gains in their stock portfolio during 2021. As of close on November 26, the S&P 500 was up 22.3%. An investor who desires certain percentage of their funds to be in stocks may accordingly find that their stock [...]

Take Advantage of These Tax Breaks Before They Disappear

2023-05-11T15:19:04-04:00November 19th, 2021|Blog, Taxes|

Take Advantage of These Tax Breaks Before They Disappear By: Stacey Nickens Year-end tax and financial planning is always important. However, the third stimulus payments and changes to the 2021 child tax credit make year-end tax planning especially important this year. Tax payers should be aware of the income thresholds for certain tax benefits. [...]

6 Year-End Financial Planning Moves

2023-12-14T13:45:03-05:00November 15th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning, Insurance|

The holidays can be both busy and expensive. With that in mind, it can be helpful to get your finances in order before you get wrapped up in gift buying and pie making. Use the next few weeks to lower your tax bill, save for retirement, and plan for your future health needs. 1. [...]

Standard Deduction and Income Thresholds Increasing in 2022

2023-05-11T15:19:27-04:00November 12th, 2021|Blog, Taxes|

Standard Deduction and Income Thresholds Increasing in 2022 By: Stacey Nickens This past week, the IRS announced the 2022 tax brackets. With inflation on the rise, the IRS has raised the income thresholds for each tax bracket as well as the size of the standard deduction. Both tax brackets and the standard deduction will [...]

Investing in Companies Benefitting from Supply Issues

2023-05-11T15:19:52-04:00November 8th, 2021|Blog, Investments|

Investing in Companies Benefitting from Supply Issues By: Stacey Nickens I was visiting a friend recently who decided to make me meatballs. They mixed up the spices and ground turkey, but instead of throwing the meatballs in their oven, they pulled a chunky convection oven out of a cabinet. As they put the meatballs [...]

IRS Releases 2022 Retirement Account Contribution and Contribution Deduction Limits

2023-05-11T15:21:19-04:00November 5th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning, Investments|

IRS Releases 2022 Retirement Account Contribution and Contribution Deduction Limits By: Margaret Nickens The IRS released the 2022 contribution limits and deduction income limits for IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts. While there's some disappointing news in the batch, there's definitely some increases to celebrate. The Bad News The IRS is not increasing contribution [...]