Insights
Articles on retirement decisions facing North Jersey households.
Latest articles
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The North Jersey estate where 13.5% goes to a tax people think was repealed
A childless Morris County couple leaves $1,800,000 to a sister and two nephews. The New Jersey inheritance tax is $243,250. The same money to children would have been…
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New Jersey does ask what you were thinking: gifts in the last three years
New Jersey presumes that a gift of $500 or more made within three years of death was made in contemplation of death, and taxes it as though it…
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Medicare open enrollment starts October 15. The premium question was settled two years ago
From October 15 to December 7 you can change Medicare Advantage and Part D coverage for 2027. What you cannot change in that window is your income-related premium,…
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Turning 73 this year? Your first required withdrawal has two deadlines
If you were born in 1953 you reach 73 in 2026. The first required minimum distribution can wait until April 1, 2027, but waiting means two taxable withdrawals…
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The Social Security COLA is announced in October. Here is what it will and will not tell you
Every October, Social Security sets the next year’s cost-of-living adjustment from the third-quarter inflation figures. The number is worth knowing and easy to over-read. What is inside it,…
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The $150,000 line: why a December IRA withdrawal can cost a New Jersey retiree the whole pension exclusion
New Jersey lets a couple 62 or older exclude up to $100,000 of pension and IRA income from state tax, but only if total income stays at $100,000…
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Rates went up this year. Your pension lump-sum offer probably went down
Corporate plans convert a monthly pension into a lump sum using IRS segment rates. Those rates rose through 2026, which makes next year’s lump-sum offers smaller for the…
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Retiring from PERS or TPAF in 2027? The application clock starts now
New Jersey’s public pension systems accept a retirement application up to a year ahead and recommend four to six months. Retirements are always the first of a month,…
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