If you want to ensure that your finances are secure and in place to be ahead in 2019, this interview with Christine Benz can assist you with just that. Christine is the Director of Personal Finance for Morningstar and is the author of several personal finance books. She knows how to tactfully manage taxes and how to get your portfolio out of aggressive and detrimental positions. If you want to start off this next year with a well-organized portfolio by making educated tax-deductible decisions, listen in on this episode of Better Money Decisions with your host and financial advisor, Kate Stalter. 

 

 

Show Highlights: 

 

• Things people need to do to wrap up 2018 and jumpstart 2019 
• Ways to improve your portfolio 
• Properly managing IRA accounts 
• Strategies for tax law holdings and gains 
• Working with wash sale rules 
• Why capital gains distributions within mutual funds can be a tax trap 
• Meeting redemptions from departing sale holders 
• Step up in cost basis to account for tax distributions 
• How inheriting money is beneficial in litigating taxes 
• Charitable giving and itemizing 
• Qualified charitable distribution strategies 
• Clustering procedures and donor advised funds 
• The importance of evaluating your portfolio and sourcing portfolio withdrawals 
• Strategizing withdrawals to minimize taxes 
• Taking advantage of temporarily low tax brackets 
• When to take social security 

 

 

Resources: 

 

Christine’s article on Morningstar.com: 

https://www.morningstar.com/articles/891899/retirees-yearend-taxplanning-guide.html 

The Bodacious Benefits of A Donor Advised fund, by Lorraine Ell: 

https://www.kiplinger.com/article/taxes/T054-C032-S014-the-bodacious-benefits-of-a-donor-advi sed-fund.html 

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