Unpaid Student Loans May Result in Docked Social Security Checks

When an individual ceases making payments toward his or her student loan, the loan falls into default. The consequences of someone defaulting on a student loan can be severe and include damage to his or her credit report, the inability to build savings or apply for other loans, and wage garnishment. Recently, many retirees have discovered that defaulting on Federal student loans can result in their Social Security benefits being docked.

The Consequences According to Debt.org (January 2018), Americans owe $1.4 trillion in student loans, which is significantly more than credit card debt or car loans. The student loan delinquency rate is 11.2%. Federal student loans account for approximately 85% of all student-loan debt; private student loans made up the rest. However, private lenders can garnish wages only—they do not have the authority to dock Social Security benefits.

The Federal government is withholding a portion of Social Security benefits from recipients who have fallen behind on their Federal student loans. According to the most recent report from the Treasury Department, while there were only 6 such cases in 2000, by 2007 there were 60,000 cases, and in the first seven months of 2012, approximately 115,000 individuals had their Social Security checks docked due to unpaid Federal student loans.

Although the amount of money the government withholds from Social Security varies, it can be as much as 15%. Supposing an individual receives a monthly Social Security benefit of $1,000, he or she could have as much as $180 docked from each check, which can be significant for retirees on a fixed budget. While some retirees may still be carrying debt from the student loans they took out in their youth, others relied on Federal loans when they returned to college or went to graduate school for a mid-life career change. In many instances, the debt retirees are now carrying was not for their own education, but to help their children, grandchildren, or other dependents fund an education.

Loan Balance Collection The Department of Education provides Federal student loans to students and provides payment plans to accommodate borrowers who fall behind. It would take nearly two years of non-payment before an account is sent to a collection agency. If the collection agency fails to collect the money, the loan balance is transferred to the Treasury Department, which has the power to garnish Social Security checks. The Treasury Department generally sets up payment plans with borrowers on two separate occasions before dipping into their Social Security checks. However, the Treasury does not withhold money from monthly Social Security checks totaling $750 or less.

The Aftermath A variety of extenuating circumstances can lead to student loan default, such as an uncertain economic climate coupled with the rising cost of college tuition. As a result, students in all age groups are incurring more debt than previous generations. Nontraditional students, along with their college-enrolled dependents, may equally have trouble finding jobs after graduation. If you are considering student loans for yourself or a family member, think carefully before you sign on the dotted line. Remember, unlike other types of debt, student loans cannot be discharged by declaring bankruptcy. It can quickly become a burden for even the most financially responsible Americans, and you could be paying student loan debt down well into your retirement years.

Contact us today to start preparing for your financial future.

PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. This material and information are not intended to provide tax or legal advice.    Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.  Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Perry Financial Group and individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.

A Woman’s Guide to Long-Term Care

Women face unique financial challenges as they age. When compared with men, women live longer, earn less, and spend fewer years in the workforce. Financial concerns are often more acute for older women who are divorced, widowed, or otherwise single, as well as for those who have spent all or a significant portion of their adult years caring for children and other family members. Consequently, planning for long-term care (LTC) is an issue of particular importance.

LTC assists people, through various support services, with activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, eating, transferring, and toileting. If a woman has difficulty performing two or more of these activities due to physical limitations, cognitive impairment, or both, LTC may be needed. LTC services are provided in the community, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home.

Most people are unaware of the actual costs associated with LTC. For example, according to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP, 2009), the average cost of a nursing home is $75,192 per year, and the average cost for assisted living is $2,968 per month. It is important to note that these figures are national averages. Actual costs vary widely from state to state. If cost of living is high an area, it is likely that costs for long-term care services will be well above the national average. There are a number of reasons why it is important for women to plan for LTC.

First, women live longer. Back in 1900, women and men shared a similar life expectancy of about 47 years. Today, the longevity of both men and women has increased overall by 20 years, with the life expectancy for women generally five years longer than men. The U.S. Census Bureau (2009) reports that women represent 57% of those aged 65 and older, and 67% of those aged 85 and older. Unfortunately, with longer life comes an increased risk of health problems. In fact, the Administration on Aging (AoA, 2009) reports that women are twice as likely as men to live in a nursing home. They are also more likely to sustain a disability or be diagnosed with a chronic health condition.

Second, women often lack the resources necessary to fund the care needed later in life. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, 2009), the average woman in the U.S. who is employed full-time earns less than her male counterpart (80 cents for every dollar a man earned in 2007). In addition, women typically spend nearly 12 years out of the workforce while taking care of children or elderly parents. It is not uncommon for many women to spend years juggling family, professional, and caregiving responsibilities, and as a result, their income is disrupted, hindering their ability to save money or attain financial stability.

Finally, shorter careers and lower incomes often result in lower Social Security benefits. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA, 2009), the average annual Social Security income received by women 65 years and older was just $10,685 in 2007. Moreover, married women often don’t know that the benefits accrued by their husbands may be reduced if they are widowed or divorced. These factors put many women at high risk for poverty as they age, especially if they do not plan accordingly.

Many women think their children or other relatives will be there for them, should the need for LTC arise. But even if the willingness is there, the costs associated with caregiving often exceed the financial capabilities of the average family. And, if medical care is required, family members may not have the necessary skills to provide care. As you can see, the time has come for women to look toward the future and prepare for LTC.

The Insurance Alternative

The good news is there is an alternative. LTC insurance can help cover LTC expenses before you meet the strict requirements for Medicaid eligibility. Many policies cover the costs of nursing homes, assisted living/residential care facilities, adult day-care centers, and/or home care. The cost is typically based on your age, your current health, and specific policy features, such as scope of coverage, levels of care, and duration of benefits. LTC insurance is designed to help you maintain your independence and quality of life, while offering increased options for care.

Needless to say, it is difficult to prepare for the possibility that you may one day need LTC. While you don’t know what the future holds, planning today for an uncertain tomorrow may help preserve your assets, increase your options for care, and perhaps most importantly, bring you and your loved ones peace of mind.

Contact us today to start preparing for your Long-Term Care.

PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. This material and information are not intended to provide tax or legal advice.    Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.  Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Perry Financial Group and individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.

Tax Changes Around the Home

How the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act impacted three popular deductions.

Three recent tax law changes impact homeowners and home-based businesses. They may affect your federal income taxes this year.

 The SALT deduction now has a $10,000 yearly limit. You can now only deduct up to $10,000 of some combination of (a) state and local property taxes or (b) state and local income taxes or sales taxes, annually. (Taxes paid or accumulated due to trade activity or business activity are exempt from the $10,000 limit.)1,2 If you have itemized for years and are continuing to itemize this year, this $10,000 cap may be irritating, especially if there is no state income tax or a very high state income tax where you live. In the state of New York, for example, taxpayers who took a SALT deduction in 2015 deducted an average of $22,169.1,2

Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York all recently passed laws in reaction to the new $10,000 limit, essentially offering taxpayers a workaround – cities and townships within those states may create municipal charities through which residents may receive property tax credits in exchange for charitable contributions.2

So far, the Internal Revenue Service is not fond of this. I.R.S. Notice 2018-54, released in May, warns that “despite these state efforts to circumvent the new statutory limitation on state and local tax deductions, taxpayers should be mindful that federal law controls the proper characterization of payments for federal income tax purposes.” Both the I.R.S. and the Department of the Treasury are preparing rules to respond to these state legislative moves.2,3

The interest deduction on home equity loans is not quite gone. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act seemed to suspend it entirely until 2026, but this winter, the I.R.S. issued guidance noting that the deduction still applies if a home equity loan is arranged to help a taxpayer “buy, build or substantially improve” the involved house. So, you may still deduct interest on a home equity loan if your receipts show that the borrowed amount is used for a new 30-year roof, a kitchen remodel, or similar upgrades. Keep in mind that the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act lowered the limit on the total home loan amount eligible for the interest deduction each year – it is now set at $750,000. That cap applies to the combined home loans a taxpayer takes out for both a primary and secondary residence.1,4,5

The home office deduction is gone, unless you are self-employed. Before 2018, if you dedicated an area of your home solely to business use and defined it as your principal place of business to the I.R.S., you could claim a home office deduction on Schedule A. This was considered a miscellaneous itemized deduction. Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act did away with miscellaneous itemized deductions. If you work for yourself, though, you can still claim the home office deduction using Schedule C, the form used to report income or loss from a business activity or a profession.5

Are you strategizing to maximize your 2018 federal tax savings? Are you looking for ways to legally reduce your federal and state tax obligations? Talk to a financial professional to gain insight and plan for this year and the years ahead.

Contact us today to learn how to potentially maximize your tax savings.

PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. This material and information are not intended to provide tax or legal advice.    Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.  Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Perry Financial Group and individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.

Citations.
1 – investopedia.com/taxes/how-gop-tax-bill-affects-you/ [1/3/18]
2 – cnbc.com/2018/05/23/irs-treasury-have-set-their-sights-on-blue-states-tax-workarounds.html [5/23/18]
3 – irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-18-54.pdf [5/23/18]
4 – nytimes.com/2018/03/09/your-money/home-equity-loans-deductible.html [3/9/18]
5 – fool.com/taxes/2018/05/20/say-goodbye-to-the-home-office-deduction-unless-yo.aspx [5/20/18]

Understanding Interest Rates and Your Financial Situation

When discussing bank accounts, investments, loans, and mortgages, it is important to understand the concept of interest rates. Interest is the price you pay for the temporary use of someone else’s funds; an interest rate is the percentage of a borrowed amount that is attributable to interest. Whether you are a lender, a borrower, or both, carefully consider how interest rates may affect your financial decisions.

The Purpose of Interest Although borrowing money can help you accomplish a variety of financial goals, the cost of borrowing is interest. When you take out a loan, you receive a lump sum of money up front and are obligated to pay it back over time, generally with interest. Due to the interest charges, you end up owing more than you actually borrowed. The trade-off, however, is that you receive the funds you need to achieve your goal, such as buying a house, obtaining a college education, or starting a business. Given the extra cost of interest, which can add up significantly over time, be sure that any debt you assume is affordable and worth the expense over the long term.

To a lender, interest represents compensation for the service and risk of lending money. In addition to giving up the opportunity to spend the money right away, a lender assumes certain risks. One obvious risk is that the borrower will not pay back the loan in a timely manner, if ever. Inflation creates another risk. Typically, prices tend to rise over time; therefore, goods and services will likely cost more by the time a lender is paid back. In effect, the future spending power of the money borrowed is reduced by inflation because more dollars are needed to purchase the same amount of goods and services. Interest paid on a loan helps to cushion the effects of inflation for the lender.

Supply and Demand Interest rates often fluctuate, according to the supply and demand of credit, which is the money available to be loaned and borrowed. In general, one person’s financial habits, such as carrying a loan or saving money in fixed-interest accounts, will not affect the amount of credit available to borrowers enough to change interest rates. However, an overall trend in consumer banking, investing, and debt can have an effect on interest rates. Businesses, governments, and foreign entities also impact the supply and demand of credit according to their lending and borrowing patterns. An increase in the supply of credit, often associated with a decrease in demand for credit, tends to lower interest rates. Conversely, a decrease in supply of credit, often coupled with an increase in demand for it, tends to raise interest rates.

The Role of the Fed As a part of the U.S. government’s monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) manipulates interest rates in an effort to control money and credit conditions in the economy. Consequently, lenders and borrowers can look to the Fed for an indication of how interest rates may change in the future.

In order to influence the economy, the Fed buys or sells previously issued government securities, which affects the Federal funds rate. This is the interest rate that institutions charge each other for very short-term loans, as well as the interest rate banks use for commercial lending. For example, when the Fed sells securities, money from banks is used for these transactions; this lowers the amount available for lending, which raises interest rates. By contrast, when the Fed buys government securities, banks are left with more money than is needed for lending; this increase in the supply of credit, in turn, lowers interest rates.

Lower interest rates tend to make it easier for individuals to borrow. Since less money is spent on interest, more funds may be available to spend on other goods and services. Higher interest rates are often an incentive for individuals to save and invest, in order to take advantage of the greater amount of interest to be earned. As a lender or borrower, it is important to understand how changing interest rates may affect your saving or borrowing habits. This knowledge can help with your decision-making as you pursue your financial objectives.

Contact us today to start preparing for a better financial future.

PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. This material and information are not intended to provide tax or legal advice.    Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.  Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Perry Financial Group and individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.

Giving Your Card a Charge

According to The Federal Reserve more than 174 million Americans have credit cards. The average credit card holder has at least three cards and carries more than $15,000 in credit card debt. At the end of 2017, U.S. consumer debt totaled $13.15 trillion, which includes mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and student loans. For some, managing debt has become a serious problem. With this increased debt load, more and more Americans are counseled in formal “debt management” programs.

Credit cards have a big effect on the way many Americans shop and budget their expenses. Today, some people will buy an item and charge it to their credit card with the expectation that their next payroll check will be used to pay off the bill. In the meantime, other expenses may build. Thus, when the next monthly statement arrives, some individuals end up paying only the “minimum amount due.” Unfortunately, debt can build up very quickly on a credit card, especially when only minimum payments are made.

How do you manage your debt? If almost every month your statement records a balance due being carried over to next month’s bill, the following process may help you gain a better handle on your debt.

List all credit cards and debts. Begin by making a list of all your credit cards along with toll-free numbers and outstanding balances. Look at recent statements to find the interest rate you are being charged on each card. You may be using a card that is charging you 18% or 21% interest while there are better rates available. This list can also be helpful if your cards are lost or stolen.

Total your debt. Add up all of your credit card debt. Do you have any mortgage or equity loans? What about auto or school loans? You should add these payments together. What percentage of your income is used to pay the debt? Strive to set a limit at thirty-five percent of your gross income.

Consolidate. If you have several credit cards, you may want to consolidate them on one card with a lower rate of interest. Some cards offer low rates for the first several months. If you discontinue the use of any card, destroy it and cancel the account.

Equity loan. Traditionally, many people aim to have their home mortgage paid off before they enter retirement. Yet, equity loans remain popular, and such loans add on to home indebtedness. Some people have used equity loans to consolidate their debts. However, placing short-term credit card debt on a longer term equity loan may be more expensive in the long run.

Call before the due date. Sometimes, for one reason or another, it’s difficult to make a timely bill payment. You may find yourself short of cash. If this happens to you, take the initiative and contact your credit card’s customer service representative. They may be able to assist you and provide you with payment options.

Discipline. If you want to avoid the charge card debt syndrome, establish a savings account. Resolve to regularly save for your purchases first. Or, arrange a layaway plan with a business or store.

At year’s end, some companies provide cardholders with an annual printout of all purchases, charges, and payments (if your credit card company does not provide you with this service, most will do so upon request). Review the statement. How necessary were all your purchases?

Overextending credit card debt is, indeed, a national problem. However, debt management has helped many people adjust their buying patterns by adopting a more disciplined approach to shopping. With better debt management, finances become more manageable and items to be purchased become part of your budget. Contact us today to start preparing for a better financial future.

PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. This material and information are not intended to provide tax or legal advice.    Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.  Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Perry Financial Group and individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.