Blog
6 must-dos when you donate to charity
Donations are a great way to give to a deserving charity, and they also give back in the form of a tax deduction. Unfortunately, charitable donations are under scrutiny by the IRS, and many donations without adequate documentation are being rejected.
Year-end tax checklist
As the year draws to a close, there are several tax-saving ideas you should consider. Use this checklist to make sure you don’t miss an opportunity before the year is out.
The Equifax breach and you: be proactive
Earlier this year, hackers were able to breach the security of Equifax, one of the three national credit reporting agencies. More than 143 million Americans – nearly half the entire country – were exposed to the attack, and may have had their personal information stolen (including names and birthdates, and Social Security and driver’s license numbers). Equifax is still determining exactly whose data has been exposed. While you wait to find out, it’s worth taking a few proactive steps to make sure your info isn’t misused by hackers.
Teri Yoder Passes CPA Exam
Congratulations to Teri Yoder, Whitcomb & Hess Accounting Associate, for passing the Uniform CPA Examination in September!
Welcome Tim Hilterman and Jake Buckwalter!
In August, we were pleased to welcome two new Investment Advisors, Tim Hilterman, CFP®, and Jake Buckwalter, to our Investment Advisory Team at Whitcomb & Hess.
2% Cost of Living Adjustment Just Announced by Social Security for 2018
Social Security recipients will receive a 2% increase in their benefit in 2018.
Equifax Cybersecurity Incident
On September 7, 2017, the credit monitoring company Equifax announced a “cybersecurity incident” involving unauthorized access to consumer information affecting up to 143 million customers.
2017 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits
As we ease into fall, let’s review the maximum contribution limits for Retirement Plans for 2017.
Investment Update
What is usually a quieter summer period was rudely interrupted by more geo-political drama and extreme weather events. Nevertheless, overall good news in economic data from Europe, UK, Japan, and Brazil helped markets continue to creep up. At the time of this publication, US Stocks are rallying to all-time highs. The S&P 500 Index (large US companies) is up 14.24% YTD while international holdings are up 19.17% according to the MSCI World ex-USA index.
How to avoid 3 big tax mistakes
Every year taxpayers are hit with tax surprises that could be avoided if they just knew the rules. Here are three big ones that are easy to avoid with some simple planning.
Don't fall for fake charity scams
After disaster strikes, people often want to help those in need. Unfortunately, this is also when fake charities pop up. The IRS recently reported an uptick in emerging charity scams since hurricanes Harvey, Irma and others made landfall.
September 2017 Market Insight
As September comes to a close, it’s interesting to look at a few market proverbs compared with how markets have been performing. “Sell in May and go away” refers to the strategy of booking profits at the end of May each year and waiting out a traditionally down time in the market. If you subscribed to this strategy in 2017, you would have missed out on the S&P 500 rising more than 4% over the summer (June 1 – Sept 29).
2020 Archive
2017 Archive
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