The amount exempt from the federal estate tax goes up to $5.49 million per decedent on January 1, 2017, an adjustment for 2016 inflation. The lifetime federal gift tax exemption is also $5.49 million. Married couples have two exemptions, so they can shield $10.98 million from transfer taxes. However, in the minority of states that…
Month: December 2016
Social Security in 2017
Automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) were created for Social Security benefits in 1975. The COLA for 2017 is 0.3%. Here are the basic Social Security numbers in 2017 for your reference. Tax rate for employees 7.65% Tax rate for self-employed 15.30% Maximum earnings taxable Social Security wage base $127,200 Medicare wage base no limit Retirement earnings…
Tom Clancy's Widow Wins Her Court Battle
The estate plan of noted author Tom Clancy had three equal trusts, one for the children of his first marriage, a marital trust for his surviving second wife, and a family trust for the second wife and the daughter they had together. The trusts were funded from the residuary estate (whatever is left after paying…
IRS Announces 2017 Retirement Plan Limits
To make it possible for voluntary retirement savings to keep up with inflation, the various numerical limits embedded within qualified retirement plans are indexed for inflation. In October the IRS announced the numbers that will apply in 2017, as shown in the following table: Note that the deferral limits for 401(k) and 403(b) plans are…