Real Money Pros
Articles
Dive deeper into retirement planning and other topics.
1099 Reporting Issues That May Cause You to Pay More Tax Than Necessary
With the federal filing deadline for 2025 individual returns set for April 15, 2026, many taxpayers are doing what they do every year: gathering 1099s, uploading PDFs, and assuming the forms tell the whole story. Often, they do. But when retirement-account transactions are involved, that assumption can sometimes lead to confusion about how those transactions…
When Federal Tax Changes Create State-Level Confusion
Every tax season presents its own set of challenges. But occasionally, the difficulty isn’t in the forms themselves — it’s in the uncertainty surrounding the rules. This year, that uncertainty stems from the gap between federal tax changes and how individual states choose to respond to them. Recent federal legislation introduced new deductions and adjustments…
The Estate Planning Mistake That Creates the Most Headaches for Families
When people think about estate planning, they usually think about documents. Wills, trusts, and other legal paperwork that’s supposed to “take care of everything.” Those tools matter, but focusing only on documents causes many people to miss the part of estate planning that creates the most real-world problems for families: how accounts are titled and…
Hidden Fees: What Your Advisor Really Costs
If you’ve ever stared at your investment statement and thought, “Okay… so what am I actually paying?” — You’re asking the right kinds of questions. On our most recent Real Money Pros radio show, we got a call from Brian in California that perfectly captures what millions of investors are wondering right now. He said…
Retirement Taxes: Why People Get Hit With “Underpayment Penalties” (and How to Avoid Them)
If you worked a typical W-2 job most of your career, there’s a good chance you never once thought about “estimated taxes.” And honestly, that makes sense. When you’re working, taxes are handled automatically. Every paycheck has federal and state withholding built in, the IRS gets their cut throughout the year, and you’re free to…
Trump Accounts: A New Way to Save for Kids — Or Just Political Hype?
Headlines about “Trump Accounts” and a multi-billion-dollar cash infusion have a lot of parents asking the same thing: “Is this actually a good way to save for my kids, or just political noise?” Short answer: Trump Accounts are real, they offer some legitimate advantages, and they also come with quirks and limitations that make them…
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