Many home owners know their capital gains taxes are exempt from the first $250,000 for single filers and $500,000 joint filers when selling the home if you owned and used it as your primary residence for two of the five years preceding the sale. You can also save on future property tax if you are over age 55 to replace primary residence. Thanks to Proposition 19, those over 55 can transfer the base year value of your primary residence to a replacement property of equal or lesser value if it is purchased within two years of the sale in any county in California. Property tax may become a major expense for home ownership in the future. Even if you pay off your house, you are still subject to about 2% annual increase in property taxes in California. Proper planning is advised to save the continuously rising property taxes.
Read more: California State Board of Equalization
Thinking about a divorce? Making this decision is never easy, especially when finances are involved. Marriage is a complex business contract. When you are breaching it, it is advisable to plan for it in advance to avoid adverse consequences. You may feel like you are riding an emotional rollercoaster. Working with legal and financial professionals will help you focus and stay rational. Consult a family law attorney in the county you reside because the laws are different in different counties. Also work with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP©) to project how your finances may change after income and assets divisions to set the right expectations.
Full story: USA TODAY
Recently some long-term care providers significantly increase insurance premiums of their existing stand-alone policies over 50% leading to some class-action lawsuits. If you have an existing stand-alone policy, check if you are affected. The insurance premium of stand-alone policy is not fixed or guaranteed. Carriers can increase their premium anytime when the Department of Insurance approves. Policy holders may enjoy a low premium in early years, but have to pay a lot more later which forces some to cancel their policies. We recommend that you have your insurance agent or financial planner to review your existing policy to ensure it fits your goals and the premium is still affordable. If you have the policy for quite some time, shop around to see if there are more competitive rates. Depending on your financial situation and legacy goals, you may find some new types of policies, such as hybrid/asset-based policies, offering a level or single premium, meaning you are not subject to rising premiums in the future. And if you don’t have one policy, consider looking for a right policy now when you are young and in good health because the cost of long-term care expenses will only go up.
Full story: S&P Global
Energy sector has been outperforming with over 60% gain year-to-date, followed by utilities sector with 5% gain. At Vibrance Wealth Management, we believe in sector investing and rotation during different market cycles. We are in the late stage of the bull market with signs of early recession. We recommend having about 3% to 5% in three to four sectors and performing rotation and rebalancing according to economy and market cycles. Money flows from one sector to another. Understanding what sectors perform well under different market cycles will help to capture opportunities.
Full story: Nasdaq