The IRS has released the 2023 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), as well as the 2023 minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). An HSA is a tax-advantaged account that's paired with an HDHP. An HSA offers several valuable tax benefits: (1) You may be able to make pre-tax contributions via payroll deduction through your employer, reducing your current income tax; (2) If you make contributions on your own using after-tax dollars, they're deductible from your federal income tax (and perhaps from your state income tax) whether you itemize or not; (3) Contributions to your HSA, and any interest or earnings, grow tax deferred; (4) Contributions and any earnings you withdraw will be tax-free if used to pay qualified medical expenses. Read on to see the key tax numbers for 2022 and 2023.
Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT) are estate planning instruments in which a grantor locks assets in a trust from which they earn annual income. Upon expiry, the beneficiary receives the assets with minimal or no gift tax liability. GRATs are most useful to wealthy individuals who face significant estate tax liability at death. In such a case, a GRAT may be used to freeze the value of their estate by shifting a portion or all of the appreciation onto their heirs. Please read on to learn more and call us so we can help!
Do you have a Federal Student Loan or family members with student loans? The new Student Debt Relief Plan announced late last month will cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individual borrowers whose income was below $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples) in 2020 or 2021, plus another $10,000 for Pell Grant recipients.
Over the last several weeks, a few clients have called and asked if we were considering changes in their portfolios as a result of the recent volatility and geopolitical landscape. One brought up that, being new to the firm, he hadn’t endured a market shock like this so it might be comforting to know why we were confident in our process in the first place. We thought it was a very apt comment so took the inspiration and ran with it. Below we offer a brief overview of our investment process. We hope you find it helpful.
Seascape Capital Management is a proud sponsor of the Cross Roads House 20th Annual Benefit by the Sea on May 7th at the Wentworth by the Sea. The Benefit by the Sea gala is a vital part of securing the necessary funds to continue providing shelter and life changing services for men, women, and children in our community who are experiencing homelessness. Please read on for the link if you want to get involved!
Cyber criminals exploit our increasing reliance on technology. Methods used to compromise a victim’s identity or login credentials – such as malware, phishing, and social engineering – are increasingly sophisticated and difficult to spot. A fraudster’s goal is to obtain information to access to your account and assets or sell your information for this purpose. Fortunately, criminals often take the path of least resistance. Following best practices and applying caution when sharing information or executing transactions makes a big difference. Please read on to learn how Schwab protects your account as well as best practices you should follow. Many suggestions may be things you’re doing now, while others may be new. If you have questions, we’re here to help.
We have all watched the crisis in Ukraine unfold in the media over the last two weeks. Many US citizens and some of our clients have been fortunate enough until now to have been spared the real-time images of war on this scale. Gut-wrenching and difficult to comprehend, it’s natural to feel helpless and yet still want to act to help and protect yourself. Last month we tried to put geopolitical conflicts in context vis-à-vis the market. Here we briefly discuss a couple of very different aspects.
A donor-advised fund offers an easy way for a donor to make significant charitable gifts over a long period of time. A donor-advised fund is similar to a private foundation but requires less money, time, legal assistance, and administration to establish and maintain.
If you have connected to the new Reporting Portal, you now have two connected Seascape client portals: one for Reporting and one for Financial Planning, each with its own username and password. We agree that we all have far too many passwords to remember, so below we explain how to easily connect the portals. Once you complete this simple step, you need only log on once to access both. Read on to learn more:
Did you know that, if you are at least 70½ years old, you can make tax-free charitable donations directly from your IRA? By making what's called a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), you can benefit your favorite charity while excluding up to $100,000 annually from gross income. These gifts, also known as "charitable IRA rollovers," would otherwise be taxable IRA distributions. Please read on to learn more and call us so we can help.
