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26 Jan

10 Important Income Tax Changes in 2016

The new year has begun and so has a new tax year. By understanding the latest changes in the tax code, you can better plan for this tax season and your 2016 financial goals. Here are 10 of the most important tax changes to be aware of this year:

 

  • Tax Day Comes a Bit Later this Year

As April 15, 2016 falls on Emancipation Day (a recognized holiday in Washington, D.C.) and on a Friday, the deadline to file 2015 taxes is pushed back until Monday, April 18. In states that officially recognize Patriot’s Day, which falls on April 18 this year, the tax deadline is further delayed until Tuesday, April 19 this year.

 

  • Tax Brackets Are Up

In order to adjust for inflation, most tax brackets are rising by approximately 0.4% in 2016. For a complete list of estimated 2016 tax brackets, standard deductions and alternative minimum tax rates, visit www.taxfoundation.org/article/2016-tax-brackets.

 

  • Penalties for Not Having Qualified Healthcare Are Higher

Penalties for those not in compliance with the Affordable Care Act will rise to $695 per adult or 2.5% of one’s income in 2016. Family maximums apply, but the $2,085 price tag is more than double that of 2015, which was $975 in maximum penalties per family.

 

  • Health Savings Accounts’ Contribution Limits Are Increasing

Health savings accounts help people offset the costs of high-deductible health plans by allowing them to set aside money on a pretax basis. 2016’s contribution limit remains unchanged for individual plans at $3,350; however, holders of family policies can now contribute up to $6,760, a $100 increase from last year. Those 55 and older can continue to contribute an additional $1,000 to their health savings accounts.

 

  • Personal Exemptions Are Increasing

Taxpayers are getting a small bonus by way of personal exemptions this year. They can take an additional $50 in personal exemption for a total amount of $4,050.

 

  • Standard Deductions Are Rising for Heads of Households

Single individuals, married couples filing jointly, and married couples filing separately that qualify as heads of households will see a $50 increase in their standard deductions for a total of $9,300 in 2016.  

 

  • Higher Exemptions from AMT

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) will affect a larger number of taxpayers in 2016. Single taxpayers will see an AMT exemption increase of $300 for a total of $53,900. Joint filers get a $500 increase for a total of $83,800.

 

  • Estate Tax Exemptions Predicted to Rise

As inflation is projected to rise, the gift and estate tax’s lifetime exemption amount is projected to rise with it. The exemption amount will grow by $20,000 from last year for a total of $5.45 million in 2016. The new limit applies only to estates belonging to persons who pass away in the 2016 tax year.

 

  • Earned Income Credit Is Increasing

There is a slight increase coming for the Earned Income Credit. If a taxpayer has three or more qualifying children, the maximum credit will increase by $27 for a total of $6,269. Taxpayers with two qualifying children will see an increase of $24 for a total of $5,572 and taxpayers with one child have a maximum credit of $3,373, up $14 from last year. Taxpayers without children can claim $506 for 2016.

 

  • Laws Will Affect Other Tax Provisions if Not Renewed

Several popular tax breaks have yet to be renewed by lawmakers. These tax breaks include state sales tax deductions, charitable distribution from IRAs, educator’s write-offs for classroom materials, and other deductions. Lawmakers typically renew these tax breaks at the start of the year and are expected to do so again in early 2016.
While many things are not expected to change, it is important to be aware of the tax changes that may impact your taxes this year so there are no last-minute surprises when tax time arrives!

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26 Jan

How to Avoid Sending Your Assets and Loved Ones Into Probate Court

Over the years, we’ve discovered that many people make a BIG mistake, catapulting their assets and loved ones right into the court system. Most of our clients want to avoid probate because it has a reputation for being expensive, time consuming, stressful – and public, meaning anyone anywhere can see who got what and how to contact them. Beneficiaries may become victims to nosey neighbors, predators, and unscrupulous “charities.”

Q: What’s the one mistake that causes all these problems?

A: An unfunded trust.

In this issue you will learn:bigstock-Financial-consultant-presents--14508974

• What it means to fund your trust
• What happens to assets left out of your trust
• Which assets should, and should not, be funded into your trust
• How funding your trust will ensure your final wishes are carried out and save your loved ones valuable time, money, and the frustration of going to court – while preserving privacy

What Does it Mean to Fund Your Trust?

Funding a trust is simply the process of transferring assets from your name into the name of your trust. Often, beneficiary designations are changed to your trust as well.

Funding is accomplished in three ways:

1. Changing the title of the asset from your individual name (or joint names if you’re married) to the name of your trust – for example, from Jane Smith to Jane Smith, Trustee of the Jane Smith Living Trust dated January 1, 2016.
2. Assigning your interest in an asset without a title (such as artwork, jewelry, collectibles or antiques) to your trust.
3. Changing the primary or contingent beneficiary of the asset to your trust. Think life insurance, retirement accounts, and annuities.

Planning Tip: Put together a list of your assets, their values, and locations, then start funding the most valuable ones and work your way down. Keep plugging away until your trust is fully funded. Our office can help.

What Happens to Assets Left Out of Your Trust?

For many people, avoiding probate court is a main reason they set up a revocable living trust in the first place. Unfortunately, you are not “done” when the trust documents are signed. If you don’t take the next step to fund, probate court is guaranteed.

WARNING: If your trust is left unfunded, you will send your family and assets into probate court.

Which Assets Should, and Should Not, Be Funded Into Your Trust?

In general, you will probably want to fund the following assets into your trust:

• Real estate – homes, rental properties, vacant land and timeshares
• Bank and credit union accounts – checking, savings, CDs
• Safe deposit boxes
• Investment accounts – brokerage, agency, custody
• Notes payable to you
• Life insurance – if you don’t have an irrevocable life insurance trust
• Business interests
• Intellectual property
• Oil and gas interests
• Personal effects – artwork, jewelry, collectibles, antiques

On the other hand, you will probably not want to fund the following assets into your trust:

• IRAs and other tax-deferred retirement accounts – only the beneficiary should be changed
• Incentive stock options and Section 1244 stock
• Interests in professional corporations
• Foreign assets – in some countries funding an asset into a U.S.-based trust causes adverse tax consequences, while in other countries trusts aren’t recognized or are ignored due to forced heirship laws
• UTMA and UGMA accounts – your minor grandchild is the owner, not you as the custodian; instead, name a successor custodian
• Cars, trucks boats, motorcycles and scooters – most states allow a small amount of assets, including vehicles, to pass outside of probate, in others a beneficiary can be designated for vehicles, and in others, vehicles don’t have to go through probate at all

Planning Tip: Work closely with your estate planning attorney to determine what should go into your trust and what should stay out. Our office can help.

What Are the Benefits of Trust Funding?

Funding your trust makes it possible to obtain trust benefits:

• Your trust is easy to update.
• Your trustee, instead of a judge, will take control of your trust assets if you become incapacitated or die.
• Your trustee will have direct access to your trust assets without a court order.
• Your trustee will be empowered to pay bills and manage, invest, sell, and reinvest your trust assets without court intervention.
• Your private wishes will remain private instead of being publicized.
• Settlement time, costs, and frustration are reduced.

The Bottom Line on Trust Funding

A trust has a myriad of benefits, including probate avoidance. Yet, in the end, an unfunded trust doesn’t avoid probate.

ACT NOW: Contact our office now at www.ssslegalconsultancy.com and we’ll help you make sure your assets are owned properly and that your trust is up to date.

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25 Jan
23 Jan

Awaken the Divine Wisdom Within You

love and intuition)We all have access to an unlimited and infinite source of guidance and wisdom.  It comes from a source far greater than anything our limited egoic mind can fathom and yet we allow ourselves to receive the information that comes to us from intuition, life flows with ease and grace. Striving and struggle cease to exist, and we experience joy and love in ways we could never create on our own.

In this post I hope to introduce you the the styles of communication in which intuition speaks to you. Intuition is a powerful voice, yet often we are expecting it to be loud, obvious and bold. Yet when your intuition speaks to you, its often very subtle.

Often you are not aware of its presence and guidance and the amazing support it offers you. Most people can relate to a gut feeling and will often comment on things after the fact. They say things like, “I know that was a mistake,” or “If I had only listened to my gut, I would have avoided this.” Conversely you may say things like “I have no idea why I canceled my flight, “ and then find out there were problems with it, and its a good thing that you did cancel.

There are many ways that your intuition communicates with you. The four styles of intuition communication are emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. In this post I will explain briefly each one.

PHYSICAL INTUITION

What does it actually mean or what is happening when you feel in your gut? Have you ever really tuned in, paid attention, and let it guide you? Your gut is related to your third chakra, power center, and where many people do connect with intuition.

Those who are physical intuitives will feel that. They tend to experience things through their body, through touch, and through nature. Physical intuitives will also feel other’s pain and discomfort physically They connect more easily to the life force in all living things, including plants, rocks, and animals.

As a healer, during sessions with my clients, whether tapping or doing energy healing through the chakras, my body often communicates with me to guide the sessions.

Here is an example. I was using EFT (tapping) with one of my clients. At some point, I felt my whole body relax and my back open up. When we stopped to check in, I asked her what let go? She smiled broadly and said, “As we were tapping I saw myself playing tennis…” Later in the session, my whole neck got very tense, so I asked my client what was wrong, when we paused tapping. She told me she remembered something that was upsetting, so we were able to address that issue. That is just one expression for physical intuitives.

If I had not been aware of this communication, I would have thought that stiff neck was my pain, rather than communication and guidance to help me work with my client for her highest good.

We will be exploring as well as practicing the full depth of physical intuition as well as the other intuitive styles during Develop Your Intuition Skills.

EMOTIONAL INTUITION

Emotional intuitives take on the emotions of others. I was speaking with a friend the other day and he told me he was not intuitive. The he shared this experience with me. He had read a post by someone whose posts he ready daily. One morning, nothing was different in her words, yet he felt that something was off. So he reached out and asked her if everything was ok. She was so surprised that he asked because it was not. That was his emotional intuition at work.

Many of my clients are emotional intuitives and it is my dominant style as well. Emotional intuitives work through their heart chakra. An emotional intuitive is like a large satellite that absorbs feelings wherever they go, and can be unsettling especially in large crowds. You may often feel like you are on an emotional rollercoaster ride and have no idea why. . It can be overwhelming being an emotional intuitive until you understand it and protect yourself. You will learn how to do that in during Develop Your Intuition Skills.

MENTAL INTUITION

Mental intuitives like systems and understanding. They thirst for knowledge, continual learning and expanding their minds. They usually love working with numbers and symbols. Many detectives use their mental intuition in solving crimes although they may not be aware that what’s guiding them. A mental intuitive can also receive messages and ideas telepathically from others.

Mental intuitives work from their third eye, or sixth chakra. Then tend see things clairvoyantly. They often know things, yet not sure how or why they know. You can learn more about developing your mental intuitive capacity to your best advantage in Develop Your Intuition Skills.

SPIRITUAL INTUITION

Finally the spiritual intuitive is usually the least grounded and merely tolerates being in the earthly realm since they crave freedom and openness. They have memories of perfection and have rich dream lives. Spiritual intuitives are able to live in the present more than any other intuitive type, but struggle with organization and time management. They work with angels and guides for their intuitive communication, guidance and strength.

A spiritual intuitive is more likely to see spirits or ghosts as well as communicate with them. They are tuned in through their crown chakra, and encourage us to explore our own spiritual knowing.

During Develop Your Intuition Skills, we will explore the full capacity of being a spiritual intuitive.

Although everyone is able to access his or her intuition in all these styles, everyone has a dominant one. You can learn to tune into and strengthen your dominant intuitive language as well as cultivate all of them.

When you listen to the guidance of your intuition, you become more grounded, confident and peaceful. Life becomes more flow and ease. Your business flourishes when you integrate intuition with logic and strategy. You feel happier and less stressed. For many, you stop feeling overwhelmed; anxious or thinking you are crazy.

It’s time for us to awaken our intuition. Many have shut it down because it wasn’t safe, comfortable or encouraged as children. You may have been berated for seeing people no one else could or knowing things that you possibly could not know. You may have received negative feedback when expressing your intuition, and of course you didn’t know that’s what you were doing. You were just doing what was natural for you. But since you were not encouraged and in most case were discouraged, you felt alone, did not fit in and slowly shut down this part of yourself.

It is time to awaken and remember what you already know for your own highest good and that of the world.

Join me on this discovery and awakening – Develop Your Intuition Skills.

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21 Jan
17 Jan

How To Execute With Excellence In 2016.

It is that time of the year when people are coming up with resolutions for the new year and setting goals in many areas of their lives.

 

Rest assured, I will spare you the task of reading another article on resolutions for the new year.

 

What I will focus on instead is how to connect acceptance and appreciation with your goals.

 

Some experts in the fields of personal development and professional development may have told us to stay so focussed on the goal that we become almost tunnel visioned. I have been guilty of doing that in the past.

 

The point that I wish to make is this – goal setting for the new year or for your life will not be very purposeful if you don’t make acceptance and appreciation part of your everyday life.

 

I will totally understand if the present moment is a very challenging time in your life. Last month, I was speaking to a young man who is not a big fan of setting goals in life. He used to set goals and he had massive professional achievements. Then, he got struck by a debilitating illness. Now, getting through daily human tasks such as walking, bathing, and eating is a challenge for him.

 

He emphatically said to me “There is no point in setting goals when you are not making the most of the present moment. Life is full of surprises. What lies ahead, no one can predict. So, I am now of the belief that I must totally be at peace with myself. Then only I can work towards the future, and hope for things to get better”.

 

After speaking to this young man, I came to the conclusion that (in my opinion), acceptance and appreciation should take precedence over goal setting.

 

Here is my three step process to embracing acceptance, expressing appreciation, and executing productively to achieve your goals:

1.    Do you love what you see? – When I asked this young man how he saw himself or what his self image was, he replied “I see someone who is at total peace with himself, his life, and his current situation”. Now, my question to you is this – do you love what you see when you look deep inside yourself? Let’s forget about the ‘superficial you’ ie. the person you see when you look in the mirror. I am talking about the person that you are on a deeper level – your beliefs, your attitude, your values etc. Society is plagued with body image issues these days. Nearly everyone in western society would like to make some changes to their physical appearance. In an article, the Social Issues Research Centre mentioned that at least 80% of people over the age of 18 are not happy with what they see when they look in the mirror. Learn to appreciate and more importantly, respect what you see when you look deep inside. If you wish to make changes to yourself, start on the inside first. Make a list of everything that you are on the inside. Then, tick the items on the list that you are happy with. Followed by, a plan on how to improve on the things that you could be happier with.

2.    Do you appreciate what you have? – When I was doing Life Coaching, I had so many clients who wanted things in life, without acknowledging and appreciating what they already had. In 2007, I read a quote which I mentioned in my book –  “In life, we should be happy with what we already have, and happier with what we will receive.” This quote was from an Anonymous author. Another quote that I once read was “Count your blessings, and you will lose count”. Once again by an Anonymous author. My suggestion to you is to start appreciating everything that you have. A simple way to do this is to start saying two words that have the power to make you more appreciative – “Thank you”. Start saying “Thank you” more in your everyday life. In my book I wrote about how I used to say “Thank you” to my car every time I arrived at work in the morning. The more appreciative you become, the more chances you have in making productive changes in your life, and in the lives of others around you. Being appreciative can be very contagious at times! So, whom have you said “Thank you” to today? What have you said “Thank you” for today? 

3.    Execute with excellence and appreciation –  Be appreciative of the opportunity that you have to work towards achieving something. As I was writing this article, I received a phone call from a friend who is self employed. She called me to share some exciting news – she had just signed a contract with a business mentor! She said that she was very grateful to finally be able to afford the fees that this particular business mentor was charging. My suggestion to her was to tell the business mentor “I will execute with excellence and appreciation”. Now, that is my message to you too. When you are taking action to achieve something, act with excellence and appreciation. Bring your best (excellence) to the table and appreciate the opportunity to take action towards achieving what you want. Coming from a place of excellence and being appreciative at the same time is designed to make you more productive.

Quote: “The reality is – you’re either pushing forward and improving. Or, you’re going backwards, and getting worse. That is life. That’s how it works.” Adam Armstrong

 

I hope I have given you a simple insight into using this three step process in embracing acceptance, expressing gratitude, and executing with excellence this year.

 

Inspiring you towards your excellence,

Ron Prasad (Author, Speaker, Personal Development Coach)

 

PS: To order my book, please go to www.WelcomeToYourLifeBook.com. For $19.95, you get the book, thousands of dollars in bonus gifts from some of the best personal development experts in the world (such as Bob Proctor, Marci Shimoff, Dr Joe Rubino), and you get to give back to the community by supporting my charity!  I appreciate your support.

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19 Oct

Entering Your Inner House

An Excerpt from The Book of SHE by Sara Avant Stover

It’s time to learn how to take care of yourself. I mean really take care of yourself. The most profound self-care practice we can do is right under our noses. It’s an internal practice, so simple and obvious that we often completely miss it. When we bypass this step, no amount of external pampering can nourish our depths when we’re feeling depleted, afraid, overwhelmed, or insufficient.

Self-care is just this: lovingly meeting ourselves exactly where we are and allowing things to be as they are. When we can hold ourselves in this way, our inner world starts to become softer, gentler. We start to trust our own basic goodness, and we even come to learn that irritation, aversion, doubt, and resistance aren’t to be evicted through our self-care; they’re to be allowed and included by it.

Devoid of our loving presence, our bodies become more like haunted houses than goddess temples. How did we end up this way? Trauma has frozen inside. Our bodies house all of our old memories, sensations, thoughts, and emotions. Scary, unpredictable, too much, too little: At some point in our lives, our bodies became scary to inhabit. They craved foods that make us fat, sex that makes us “bad,” or pleasure that makes us “selfish.” They grew hair in inconvenient places. They bled through our pants and stained our sheets.

Deep down in our bodies’ depths roam the ghosts of unhealed trauma, abandoned creative passions, sensual desires, intuition, and the true power that comes from who we are, rather than what we do. Our bodies aren’t indentured servants here to labor for us until we take our dying breath. They are sacred chalices, home to our SHEs. The chalice, a metaphor for the Divine Feminine, is the lake, bowl, vessel, womb, or grail. We are not only embodied as but also governed by circles. Within this roundness, we house the entire universe — each season of the sun, sea, earth, and moon. We are microcosmic containers within which the miracle of life can grow, flourish, and decay. Our bodies help us live out the unique contribution we’re each here to make in the short time that we have. Our bodies always tell the truth and hold the information we need to thrive.

The confusion we harbor about our embodiment has reached epidemic proportions. We’re all living in a time that values spirit (masculine) over matter (feminine). These two qualities exist in everything and are independent of gender. Each man holds feminine, or yin, qualities, just as each woman holds masculine, or yang, qualities — in different degrees. When we appropriately balance these two poles, we become integrated human beings.

The well-known yin/yang symbol from Taoism illustrates how the coessential polarities of masculine and feminine energies intermingle and flow together to create a balanced whole. Yin is inside, slow, passive, dim, downward, female, moon, while yang is outside, rapid, active, bright, upward, male, sun.

Masculine awareness ascends. It rises up and out of the body, seeking spaciousness and the bird’s-eye view (think meditation, quantum physics, and the compartmentalization and mechanization of “the body” in Western medicine). Feminine awareness descends. It moves down and into the body, all the way into the heart of the earth (think belly dancing, Mother Teresa kissing lepers in the slums of Calcutta, and the use of medicine spirits in plants to heal the body). Ultimately, we need both to truly thrive as individuals, and as a society. We need both dancing and sitting still, penicillin and echinacea, splitting the atom and activating our compassionate hearts.

Since we’ve all inadvertently prioritized the “up and out” (masculine) current, we need to remember how to go “down and in” — not just as a concept, but as a felt experience. When we inhabit our bodies, we feel like we’ve come home. Embodying our womanhood needs to be a full-time affair.

# # #

Sara Avant Stover is the author of The Book of SHE and The Way of the Happy Woman. A pioneer in contemporary women’s work, she has been featured in Yoga Journal, Newsweek, and Natural Health and on ABC, NBC, and CBS. Visit her online at http://www.thewayofthehappywoman.com.

Excerpted from The Book of She: Your Heroine’s Journey into the Heart of Feminine Power ©2015 Sara Avant Stover. Printed with permission of New World Library. www.newworldlibrary.com

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