A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) lets IRA owners aged 70½ and older move money straight from a traditional IRA to charity, keeping that amount out of taxable income. This guide covers RMD satisfaction, lowering AGI and MAGI, IRMAA, NIIT, Social Security taxation, contribution limits, and the SECURE 2.0 changes.
A practical 2026 guide to the Roth conversion ladder for FIRE and early retirees: how the per-conversion 5-year rule works, filling low tax brackets in gap years, the pro-rata trap, and coordinating conversions with ACA subsidies and IRMAA surcharges.
A practical 2026 guide to the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT): the 3.8% Medicare surtax thresholds ($200k single, $250k married filing jointly, $125k married filing separately), which income counts as net investment income, how the lesser-of calculation works, and the planning moves that actually lower the bill.
A complete guide to the Health Savings Account (HSA) for 2026: eligibility rules, the triple tax advantage, contribution limits, HDHP thresholds, the stealth-IRA retirement strategy, HSA vs FSA, and the mistakes that quietly cost people thousands.
A working CPA's guide to Section 179 expensing versus bonus depreciation for US businesses in 2026: annual dollar caps and the taxable-income limit, what property qualifies, the heavy SUV and truck vehicle rules, the 179-then-bonus-then-MACRS ordering, state conformity traps, recapture risk, and how to actually choose.
How the step-up in cost basis works when you inherit stock in the US, how to figure date-of-death fair market value, the double step-up in community property states, which assets like IRAs do not get a step-up, gifting versus inheriting, and the mistakes that cost heirs the most.