General News & Insights

Tax filing seasons got underway on 27 January, the date on which the Internal Revenue Service began to accept the first of 150 million anticipated returns.

The due date for tax payments is 15 April*, with interest starting to accrue on any tax owed after this date.

Over recent years many tax filers have become accustomed to filing returns digitally – for many this represents the most efficient way of managing the process – and 2020 is likely to be no different, with a record number of digital tax filers expected. However, this comes despite the problems of the Free File program — a partnership between the IRS and private-sector tax-return software companies.

The antitrust lawsuit against the merger of investment brokers Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade has been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

However, the decision is unlikely to be the end of the matter as the dismissal was made on procedural grounds with the court ruling that the plaintiff, BlackCrown Inc., is a corporate entity and therefore cannot represent itself. The judge cited the 1993 case of Rowland v. California Men’s Colony and the 1997 decision reached in Pridgen v. Anresen as forming the basis for the court’s decision.

On 20 December 2019, President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act into law*. The bill had already passed the House in a resounding 417-3 vote, and the reasons why it had near-unanimous bi-partisan support are clear.

SECURE promises to herald new ways of thinking about, and preparing for, retirement as the US moves into the 2020s. The Act seeks to enhance the coverage of qualified plan rules, not least by allowing smaller employers to collaborate so they can offer their staff 401(k) plans and, in a move that answers a frequent criticism, by giving long-standing part-time workers access to 401(k) plans.

All being well, when an individual reaches retirement they will have enough cashflow to continue their pre-retirement lifestyle; however, a new study indicates that many in the US will be unable to meet even their basic spending needs once they stop working.

The new report, from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), finds that despite accruing around three decades worth of savings into their 401(k) accounts, most retirement savers between the ages of 56 and 61 have a median account balance of $21,000.*

It would be tempting to think that younger people were better prepared, yet the same study reveals that the first generation of millennials are just as poorly, if not more poorly, prepared for retirement, with a median 401(k) saving of approximately $1,000.*

It is a curious thing that for an industry in which success largely lives or dies on the strength of diversity, it has taken a long time for the finance sector to cotton on to the value inherent in investing in female-founded and female-run companies.

There is a lot of debate, and conflicting advice, regarding the age at which it is best to take Social Security benefits.

Of course, if you are 62 and have no other source of income, the answer is taken out of your hands: you will probably need to claim.

However, for those people approaching retirement age who have made financial plans for the future, there is the liberty of choice. So, what are your options, and what should you do? Here are our Top Tips:

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal* suggested that now might be the time for investors to invest in commodities, particularly as part of a longer-term strategy such as a retirement plan, perhaps. The article stated that the best time to invest in an asset class is typically when its performance is at its worst. Given the recent and extended travails of commodities, it contended, they currently make for a potentially attractive prospect.

Commodities are raw materials that are either consumed without processing or are used as the foundations for other products. Examples of commodities range from timber, oil, nickel, gas or gold, to oranges, corn, coffee wheat, cattle and sheep.