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Give generously, but get a receipt
Thanksgiving traditionally marks the start of the season for giving—to charity, as well as friends and family. You may have stopped saving your charity receipts after the 2017 tax overhaul drastically reduced the number of Americans who itemize tax deductions on their 1040 tax returns. But as part of Covid-19 relief, Congress created a temporary benefit for those who don’t itemize; for 2021, nonitemizers can deduct up to $600 per couple for money gifts to charity (made via cash, check or credit card). More about the tax break here and some tips for smart giving here. So save those receipts, and be forewarned: for reasons unrelated to charitable giving, your tax refund may be smaller next year.
Your aging parents and your own retirement
If you’re seeing your 80-something parents this Thanksgiving for the first time in months or years, pay attention to more than the cranberry sauce and pie. It’s time to think about how your parents are aging (a long absence can make changes jump out) and whether they might soon need a different living situation or to give up driving. Here are some smart questions to ask yourself or them—but, please, don’t ruin the meal with a conversation that begins with, “Pass the peas and hand over the car keys.”
As for your own retirement future, check out the new Social Security statements for a clearer view of how much you’re on track to receive if you claim benefits at age 62 or 67 or at 70. (Your benefits grow each month you delay, until 70.) And if you’re feeling adventurous with your own retirement savings, read about the risks and benefits of putting bitcoin and other crypto in your IRA.
Take your values to work day?
Meanwhile, if the holidays have you thinking about your personal values and how they fit into your current work life, read this report about the war within tech, as young workers push for change within companies like Facebook, GoogleGOOG, AppleAAPL and NetflixNFLX. This is about pay, benefits, flexibility—and so much more. Employees now feel empowered to push for “improved behavior by their firms around climate, diversity and social ethics,’’ says Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University.
Gone home, but not forgotten
While members of the House and Senate have gone home for their own Thanksgiving breaks, they’re facing a bruising December, with action pending on the federal budget, the debt ceiling and the $1.8 trillion climate change and social spending bill (a.k.a. Build Back Better) that passed the House last week. Among the many provisions in the bill the Senate is likely to tinker with, are those affecting taxes. On the corporate side, there’s a serious debate over whether President Biden’s proposed minimum tax on the book income of the biggest corporations (now a part of the House BBB bill) is really the best way to force them to pay some tax. Here’s a possibly better idea. On the personal side, one hot issue is whether and how the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), which President Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul capped at $10,000 per household, will be restored. As it passed the House, BBB would raise that cap to $80,000 a year. But another, more targeted approach cooking in the Senate would eliminate the SALT cap—but only for those making $400,000 or less. Here’s how the two approaches stack up.
Novel graphic: U.S. Opens Its Doors And Biz Travel is Back!
Business hotel bookings are rising steeply.
Adara, U.S. Global Investors
For more on the recovery of business travel, click here.
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How Low Can Zoom Go?
Billionaire distressed debt investor, Howard Marks, says the Fed can’t keep injecting massive amounts of liquidity into markets without some kind “interruption.” Of course, market disruption is exactly what any traditional distressed investor would like to see. In a note to clients, Marks says, “I continue to believe the economy will perform best in the long run if it’s a free market economy, which does the best job of moving resources to their optimal use.”
Pandemic darling, Zoom, continues to suffer as the stock, which is down 60% from its 2020 peak, tumbled after earnings. Is it a bargain buy? Probably not since growth from large customers (employers with more than 10 employees) is down, and MicrosoftMSFT is breathing down Zoom’s neck with its Teams app, which hit a record 250 million active monthly users in July. Zoom has some work to do if it wants to resume its triple-digit growth.
With electric vehicle maker Rivian making its public market debut earlier this month, there’s been no shortage of comparisons with TeslaTSLA. Investors are hoping for another Tesla-like performance for their portfolios but it could be a while before Rivian really takes off. The AmazonAMZN-backed car maker is years away from demonstrating that it can manufacture electric vehicles at scale.