In episode 33, Stephanie and Kevin gave us a broad overview of the estate and gift tax system. Now that we've reached the tail-end of tax season, our hosts sit down to do a timely deep dive on what women need to know about income tax—a subject that, unfortunately, isn't as simple as all of us would love to believe it is.

While state taxes are obviously important to consider when planning out your strategy, in this conversation, Stephanie and Kevin focus primarily on federal income taxes since these are the rates we're all faced with year after year.

Today's discussion centers around how the federal government aims to incentivize certain behaviors from citizens via the tax code, and how our tax bracket dictates the types of choices we need to consider when it comes to all of our major financial decisions.

Key Topics:

• "How do taxes and financial planning come together?" (2:44)
• Our ever-changing federal tax rates (6:31)
• Why being at the 32% tax bracket doesn't actually mean you have to pay 32% of your income in taxes (12:38)
• "What the heck is a 'deduction'?" (16:13)
• How your tax rate impacts what you can do with your retirement savings vehicles (20:50)
• Required minimum distributions (26:56)
• The pitfalls of planning too well (29:55)
• What happens to your wealth when you pass away, depending on your tax bracket (34:05)
• Why a health savings account (HSA) is the perfect savings vehicle (35:31)

Resources:

• State Income Tax Rates
• Federal Income Tax Brackets
• Take Back Retirement Episode 33: What Women Need to Know about the Estate and Gift Tax System
• Take Back Retirement Episode 12: What Women Need to Know About IRA's, With Sarah Brenner
• Take Back Retirement Episode 20: Women + Roth IRA's – What Should You Be Aware Of?
• Take Back Retirement Episode 22: Why You Spend The Way That You Do With Maggie Klokkenga
• Take Back Retirement Episode 27: Health Savings Accounts (HSA's): What Women Need to Know
• Take Back Retirement Episode 29: How Much Cash Should I Have and Where Should I Be Putting It?

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You can find the transcript and more information about this episode at www.takebackretirement.com.

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