Financial Education Is Empowering

Getting an early start helping your grandkids pay for college is a smart approach. Most of us are very aware of how much college costs have been increasing in recent history. In fact, if you compare college costs from 1980 to 2020, the price to attend a four-year college full-time increased a whopping 180%! Starting some early savings for your grandchildren can allow you to take advantage of tax favorable investment options and compounding interest.

Many of us are wrapping up the 2023 tax process whether self-preparing or working with a tax preparer. As we come to the end of this process, it can be helpful to reflect on what changes might make an impact going forward into the new 2024 tax year. In this article we provide suggestions for how to improve or correct past tax issues as well as proactive tips to put you in a better tax position for the future.

This blog will provide tips to help people understand what documents they should keep and what documents they should shred.

Over the last several years you may have noticed that despite diligently organizing all your charitable donation activity and providing it to your tax preparer, the amount of your tax deduction simply doesn’t change. This can be a confusing and frustrating experience given that in the past this process likely led to a larger tax deduction. So, what is going on and is your tax preparer missing something?

In some good news for Minnesota taxpayers who are receiving social security benefits, you may end up paying significantly less in state taxes for the foreseeable future. As of the May 24, 2023 signing of the Minnesota omnibus tax legislation, there have been some significant changes to how Social Security benefits are (or aren’t) taxed that will take effect for the current 2023 tax year.

We have outlined some of the major areas to consider when preparing a partner to take over financial management below. The items have been divided into regular daily tasks, tasks that are annual or less frequent as well as estate planning concerns.