Hello, new update! Asset Flow is known as our “everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink” calculator, and it just got another feature! Todd has added the ability to tax income at capital gains rates, in addition to the regular income tax rates. This is a great tool for clients who might have income coming from a trust, real estate, or other property that is taxed as capital gains. The update allows for an individual portion of the income to be taxed at this rate so that it won’t impact the tax brackets of other income.
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Truth Tip, 401(k) Matches in Asset Flow
When you’re analyzing a 401(k) in Asset Flow (the Tax-Advantaged section), you need to pay special attention to how you add the employer match. The results will differ depending on one factor: whether you entered the match as a percentage of the employee contribution, or as a dollar amount. If you entered the match as a dollar amount, you will need to manually stop the match by zeroing out the contributions in the employer match column. This prevents the match from continuing further than intended. If the employer match is
Read MoreTruth Tip, Saving Asset Flow Files
Asset Flow is one of those awesome and mind-boggling calculators that truly does it all. That’s why we love to talk about what it can accomplish. One fantastic feature is that it plays well with our other calculators. It’s important to note, however, that there is a trick to saving it with another calculator in one file. If you have already saved Asset Flow, keep it open when pulling another calculator up. For example, if the Real Estate Calculator is open, ensure that Asset Flow is also open. Otherwise, when
Read MoreTruth Tip, IRAs in Asset Flow
In the Tax Advantaged section of Asset Flow, the “IRA Account” button is used to keep IRA accounts for spouses separate. This is largely for tax purposes because the cost basis of all assets, for each spouse in an IRA, are considered in the cost basis determination. If there is no cost basis, check the “Tax Deductible Contributions” box. Otherwise, the account will use all contributions in the first few years as a cost basis to offset the distributions, rather than spreading them out. Turning the button on will divide
Read MoreTruth Tip, “Old Money” in Asset Flow
All Present Value dollars in our calculators are assumed to be old money—dollars that the client already has access to when beginning an illustration. If an asset is then added as a Present Value, without that money being pulled from existing dollars, data will appear skewed. When illustrating a client’s money being pulled into a new asset, make sure that money exists elsewhere in the illustration. First, you’ll want to ensure that the money being shifted into a new asset is accounted for in the initial Ordinary Taxable Account. When
Read MoreTruth Tip, State Taxes in Asset Flow
When state tax is entered into Asset Flow, the calculator assesses a tax on Social Security. This tax is based on the benefit amount that is subjected to tax on the Federal Side. If you don’t want this to occur, leave out the state tax rate. Currently, the calculator adds the state tax to anything that is also taxed federally (after those federal deductions). Then there is an offset for the tax paid. This offset is taken off of the Federal Income Tax Basis, up to the SALT limits ($10,000).
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