If you are planning on contributing to a traditional or Roth IRA in 2013, you need to know about the contribution and income limits, first to see if you can contribute, then to see how much. First of all, you need to have earned income of at least 100% of your IRA contribution. If single, you have to have $5500 in earned income, if married you need $11000 to make maximum IRA contributions, both for traditional and Roth. If you are over 50, you need another $1000 in earned income if single, $2000 if married to qualify for the catch up contribution. If you are planning to contribute to a Roth IRA, you can contribute $5500 if single and $11000 if you are married. Plus you can each contribute another $1000 if you are over 50 (the ’catchup contribution’.) The only requirement for a Roth IRA is your Modified Adjusted Gross Income – if single, head of household or married filing separately (and you didn’t live with your spouse) you must have MAGI under $127,000, if married filing joint your MAGI must be under $188,000 to qualify for any type of Roth IRA contribution. If you are married filing separately and you live with your spouse, your MAGI needs to [...]
Banks abandon mortgage preapprovals
So it looks like the bank preapproval, which can level the playing field of a buyer getting a potential mortgage versus an all cash buyer, is becoming a thing of the past. See this article in MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal by AnnaMaria Andriotis: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/banks-abandon-mortgage-preapprovals-2013-10-02 The big banks are still mostly doing prequalification, which isn’t in writing and is only good for ninety days. This might not make up the difference with an all cash buyer competing for the house you want. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
How to find financial advice you can trust
It can be hard to find a trusted financial advisor sometimes. Take a look at this post from Andrea Coombes in Market Watch for more details: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-find-financial-advice-you-can-trust-2013-10-01?dist=lcountdown Different ways are discussed to find and pay for financial advisers. If you are still looking, you can check out the financial planners in the resource section of my website. I have known them for years and trust them to put their clients’ interest first – See below: https://briantstonercpa.com/resources/ For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com https://twitter.com/bstonercpa