March 25, 2024 Weekly Update

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We do love it when someone refers a family member or friend to us.  Sometimes the question is, “How can we introduce them to you?”   Well, there are multiple ways but a very easy way is to simply forward them a link to this webpage.

Here are this week’s items:

Portfolio Update:  Murs and I have recorded our portfolio update for March 25, 2024

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE UPDATE

Navigating Tax Withholding – A Guide for Retirees

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon, Murs, and Taylor discuss navigating tax withholding for retirees. When you retire, you have various sources of income, and you can choose to either withhold the tax on them, make estimated tax payments throughout the year, or do a combination of both.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Navigating Tax Withholding – A Guide for Retirees

While you’re working and earning a salary, your employer handles tax withholdings. When you retire and transition to multiple sources of income, it’s worth reviewing your tax situation to be sure you’re withholding enough to avoid any surprise payments and/or penalties due at the time you file your return.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE BLOG

Navigating Tax Withholding – A Guide for Retirees

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Taylor Wolverton joined us on our podcast this week, and for those who don’t know, she’s our go-to person for everything taxes. This week we’re discussing tax withholding, which can change considerably when you retire.

While you’re working and earning a salary, your employer handles tax withholdings. When you retire and transition to multiple sources of income, it’s worth reviewing your tax situation to be sure you’re withholding enough to avoid any surprise payments and/or penalties due at the time you file your return.

What is Withholding vs Estimated Tax Payment?

There are two main ways to pay taxes (you can do a combination of both) which include:

  1. Withholding from income sources
  2. Making estimated tax payments

For our first method, taxes can be withheld from pensions, social security, IRA distributions, etc. Once you have your withholdings set up properly, this option requires the least amount of effort to maintain.

Estimated tax payments are another option and are due quarterly. At the time your tax return is filed, it’s common for your CPA / tax preparer to help you estimate how much you’ll need to pay every quarter with vouchers listing the amount to pay and when you need to pay it. You can go to IRS.gov and your state government website to make your quarterly payments.

The payment due dates are not even quarters and are:

  1. April 15th (for tax due on income received January 1 – March 31)
  2. June 15th (for tax due on income received April 1 – May 31)
  3. September 15th (for tax due on income received June 1 – August 31)
  4. January 15th (for tax due on income received September 1 – December 31)

The IRS requires taxpayers to ‘pay as you go.’ For example, if you sell highly appreciated stock before the end of March, the IRS requires that you make an estimated tax payment for the tax due on that sale of stock by April 15th of the same year. If you sold the stock during the month of November, your estimated tax payment would be due by January 15th of the following year. The potential consequence of not making estimated tax payments on time is underpayment penalties from the IRS which will be determined and reported on your tax return once it has been filed.

What You Need to Think About: Social Security

Social Security is something we review with our clients annually. You might receive your benefits immediately and your spouse years from now, so there may be a transition period for some families to consider.

The default withholding amount on Social Security is 0%. If you don’t make an election to have federal taxes withheld from social security, you may need to pay quarterly taxes on the income. We have an entire episode on taxation of social security benefits (listen to the podcast or read the blog post) if you’re interested.

Most benefits will be taxable on the federal level, but each state varies on whether they will tax social security benefits or not. The state of North Carolina does not tax social security.

If you want to withhold taxes from your Social Security, you can Google “form W-4V” or go to the IRS site (here). It’s an easy form to fill out and will allow you to start withholding taxes, with options for:

  • 7%
  • 10%
  • 12%
  • 22%

Once you fill out the form and submit it to the social security administration office, taxes will automatically be withheld. If you want to stop withholding taxes, you’ll fill out the same form again but ask for the withholding to stop.

It is not possible to withhold state tax on social security.

What You Need to Think About: Pension Income

Not everyone will have a pension, but if you do and want to begin withholding taxes from your pension, you’ll need to fill out Form W-4P. You’ll often receive the form from where your pension is coming from, such as the government or a union, but you can also find it publicly available online.

Unfortunately, the form is not as straightforward as the social security withholding form, and it’s more of a guide to approximate withholding taxes.

We recommend using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator, which will help you fill out the form.

What You Need to Think About: IRA Distributions

An IRA is an interesting form of income because you contribute to your IRA for so long, and then in retirement, may begin withdrawals to cover expenses, and/or be forced to withdraw through required minimum distributions (RMD).

Clients turning 73 begin RMDs for the first time and will owe federal and state tax on those distributions. The amount of the RMD, the associated tax liability, and appropriate rate for withholding is a conversation we often have with clients.

If you’re starting recurring monthly distributions from an annuity, the most common default federal tax withholding is 10%. You can fill out Form W-4R to withhold an amount other than 10% or not withhold taxes at all.

What You Need to Think About: Income Not Eligible for Withholding

Some forms of income are not eligible for withholding. Some of these sources of income include interest (from a money market account, CD, checking account, and/or savings accounts) dividends, capital gains, sale of property, rental income, self-employment income, royalties, alimony, etc.

For a one-off income event such as the sale of property or sale of highly appreciated stock, you may consider making a one-time estimated tax payment.

However, if you have income not subject to withholding that recurs more regularly such as self-employment or rental income, you want to consider paying quarterly taxes before each due date during the year.

To review your situation in-depth and determine whether any adjustments to withholdings are needed, you will need to review all sources of income, determine the annual dollar amounts expected to be received, and review all current tax withholdings.

Every client’s goal is different. You may want a refund every year, or you might prefer to make a payment at the time your tax return is filed.

Your financial professional can help you set this up properly to align with your goals.

If you’re unsure about taxes in retirement, just reached retirement, or want to adjust your withholdings so that you’re not hit with a surprise tax bill, feel free to give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help you through this process.

Schedule a call to speak with Taylor Wolverton.

October 9, 2023 Weekly Update

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We do love it when someone refers a family member or friend to us.  Sometimes the question is, “How can we introduce them to you?”   Well, there are multiple ways but a very easy way is to simply forward them a link to this webpage.

Here are this week’s items:

Portfolio Update:  Murs and I have recorded our portfolio update for October 9, 2023

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE UPDATE

This Week’s Podcast – Social Security Taxation – How it Works in Retirement

Learn the importance of understanding your sources of income, social security benefits, and how they’ll be taxed, and have a long-term perspective. You will also learn why some people with low income in other areas can have their social security untaxed.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE

This Week’s Blog – Social Security Taxation – How it Works

Social Security taxation is complex. You may need to pay taxes on your benefits, or you may not have to pay taxes. Ultimately, your combined income will determine if you pay taxes and will include the sum of….https://pomwealth.net/social-security-taxation-how-it-works/

CLICK HERE TO READ THE BLOG

Social Security Taxation – How it Works

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Social Security taxation is complex. You may need to pay taxes on your benefits, or you may not have to pay taxes. Ultimately, your combined income will determine if you pay taxes and will include the sum of:

  • Adjusted gross income
  • Non-taxable interest
  • Half of your Social Security benefits

Often, clients of ours are taken aback because they paid into Social Security their entire lives, and then they find out that they may be taxed on their benefits. For many of our clients, the benefits that they receive are not enough to live the lifestyle they want in retirement, so they’ll need other sources of income, such as distributions from their IRA.

We brought Taylor Wolverton, a member of our team, to our podcast to discuss how your Social Security is taxed because there are a lot of moving parts to consider. Taylor is our lead tax strategist and an Enrolled Agent, so she’s hyper-focused on individual taxation.

P.S. We are going to go through a lot of numbers, so take your time and reread this post a few times. However, if you do have questions about your specific situation, feel free to schedule a free 15-minute call with us.

Breaking Down the Figures

We have three main factors in determining how much of your benefits are taxable, but what do these really encompass?

What is Adjusted Gross Income?

Adjusted gross income (AGI) includes:

  • Interest from savings accounts
  • Dividends
  • IRA or other distributions

Your AGI includes any type of income that you’ll be taxed on in a given year.

What is Non-taxable Interest?

Your non-taxable interest comes from things like municipal bonds. Now, you must combine all this income plus half of your Social Security benefits. It’s a lot to consider.

Example of Taxation on Social Security

Someone has other sources of income of $75,000. Bob and Jane each receive $3,000 per month from Social Security ($6,000 total). Based on this example, there is:

  • $75,000 AGI
  • $0 tax-exempt interest
  • 50% of Social Security benefits, or $36,000 annually

Other sources of income are now $75,000 + $36,000 or $111,000. Now, it gets a little more complicated because of your tax filing status and the various thresholds that this may include.

Married Filing Jointly

If your income is between $32,000 and $40,000, up to 50% of your benefits may be taxable. However, if the couple’s income is more than $44,000, up to 85% of benefits will be taxable.

In the example above, the couple has $72,000 in Social Security benefits, so $61,200 will be reported on the couple’s tax return and will be taxable.

Going over these figures again, based on these calculations, the couple would have:

  • $75,000 AGI
  • $61,200 (85% of $72,000) from Social Security

Total taxable income is $136,200.

Note: For people who have income less than $32,000, you might not pay any taxes at all on your Social Security. However, taxation is on a sliding scale. At the most, 85% of your benefits are taxable.

Thresholds for Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Widow(er), or Married Filing Separately (and you did not live with your spouse during the year) 

A single person will have a different threshold for Social Security. You’ll be taxed up to 50% if you have income of $25,000 – $34,000. You may be taxed up to 85% if you have income of more than $34,000.

You’ll want to keep in mind that taxes are a bit more complicated than the examples above. We used approximations for these figures, but you’ll also need to consider credits, deductions, and special financial situations, which can lower your tax bill, too.

Variations Based on States

All the taxation above this point is based on the federal level. Every state has different rules that you must consider when retirement planning because some may follow federal rules, while others may not tax Social Security.

In North Carolina, where our office is located, there is no tax on Social Security, and this can be advantageous when trying to secure your retirement. 

How Social Security Taxation Impacts Retirement Planning

When looking at Social Security taxation, it’s important to know:

  • Sources of income
  • Taxes

Often, one of the largest expenses people have is the taxes that they need to pay in retirement. You’re not saving money for retirement any longer – you’re living off what you saved.

You need to understand how Social Security benefits will impact your taxes this coming year.

It’s possible to withhold taxes in some areas to lower the pending tax burden, but this is something that you need to consider well ahead of time. You never want to have a surprise when filing a tax return because you didn’t realize that Social Security is taxed.

Example of the Impact Social Security Had On One Client

One client of ours has the goal of leaving a tax-free legacy behind when she retires. She turned on Social Security, but she didn’t realize that she would be taxed on her benefits. 

What did she do?

  • Turned off Social Security
  • Paid it back
  • Leveraged Roth conversions for a few years
  • Turned benefits back on

She wants to leave a tax-free legacy behind, so it was crucial to make the most out of tax-free Roth conversions.

While she did have to pay back the benefits she received, she does benefit from higher Social Security benefits when she does decide to take them in the future.

Working with an advisor allows you to take the long-term approach to your Social Security and maybe avoid 85% of your benefits being taxable. A long-term perspective, based on your goals, needs to be considered.

Our goal is to limit the amount of taxation over a lifetime rather than a short period of time.

You may find that paying more taxes this year allows you to lower your burden over your lifetime. If you pay a bit more in taxes today but save 10% every year, it’s often in your favor to take the tax hit immediately.

Where to Learn How Much of Your Benefits Were Taxable

Pull out your most recent tax return and find your 1040 form. Often, this is the first page of your return. You’ll want to go to line 6a. This will show you how much of your benefits were for that year. If you look to the right to 6b, you’ll see how much of your benefits were taxable.

IRS officials do like to update income tax brackets and change percentages around for inflation. You’ll need to consult with us or a tax professional to learn the current year’s guidelines for income ranges and maximum taxation percentages.

The IRS does have an online calculator (here) where you can plug in data and learn how much of your benefits are taxable.

Do you want to talk to us about your tax situation?Schedule a free 15-minute call today.