Many Americans consider Thanksgiving and Black Friday to be the unofficial start of the Holiday season. What many Americans don’t know however, is that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is internationally known as “Giving Tuesday.” Started in 2012 by 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season, “Giving Tuesday” has quickly caught on in the philanthropic community. Last year, a total of $274 million dollars was raised on “Giving Tuesday,” with several large charities and companies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Facebook offering limited matching to participating donations.
Month: November 2018
Very quietly, the United States economy crossed a remarkable milestone. As of October, America is now energy-independent for the first time. For comparison purposes, the U.S. was spending a whopping 4% of its total gross domestic product to buy foreign oil and gas as recently as 2008.
It’s the time of year to gather with friends and family to celebrate with a hearty Thanksgiving meal. As Americans prepare for the holiday, traffic patterns have been shifting as the roads grow congested with families traveling to visit relatives or making their final preparations for the big feast. Want to make it to Thanksgiving dinner on time without wasting extra hours on the road? Thinking of doing some last-minute shopping for those stuffing ingredients you forgot about? Check out these graphs from Google Maps to help you plan your trip and make the most of your time.
Continue reading “Beat the Traffic During Thanksgiving Week”
You may have read that there has been a drop in new home sales—down 13% in September compared to the previous September—and that, combined with the drop in stock market values, might have you worried about the state of the U.S. economy.
Many investors are aware of the impact that inflation can have on our ability to purchase goods and services in the future. Assuming a modest rate of 2% inflation, a car that costs $30,000 today will sell for over $45,000 by 2040. To help mitigate these rising costs, the IRS periodically increases the limits on contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts which can be accessed penalty-free after age 59½ and in some cases even earlier than that. To account for inflating wages, the IRS also raises the levels of income at which various tax benefits are available, otherwise known as phase-outs. The first table outlines the new 2019 limits for some of the more popular retirement contributions along with a brief description of each. The second table shows the 2019 phase-out ranges for deducting Traditional IRA contributions and saving inside of a Roth IRA. The Traditional IRA phase-outs only apply if the individual participates in a retirement plan at work.
Continue reading “IRS to Raise Contribution Limits for 2019”