Wealth management

Broker-dealer HD Vest has released VestVision, a software solution that lets advisors and clients establish and prioritize financial goals and then track progress toward them.

Check out the digital edition of the August 2014 issue of Accounting Today.

Wealth transfer and estate planning can be among the most difficult conversations to have with clients

Simple questions during tax prep can unlock a client's needs

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is hoping to lift the veil on the use of anonymous companies for financial transactions by forcing financial firms to disclose and verify the identities of the actual people, or “beneficial owners,” behind the transactions.

Republicans are considering voting this year to repeal the U.S. estate tax, said House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp.

Thirty-five percent of adults in the U.S. have a debt in collections reported in their credit files, a new study shows.

A pair of Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill that would provide tax relief to student loan borrowers who have been granted debt relief after consistently repaying their student loan debt for at least 20 years, giving them an exemption from being taxed on the amount forgiven on the loans.

Withdrawals from individual retirement accounts tend to be driven largely by people who are 70-½ or more, according to new research.

The scheduled depletion date for Social Security’s Disability Insurance Trust Fund is only two years away, in late 2016, according to a new government report.

On the same day that the Securities and Exchange Commission issued long-awaited rules for money market mutual funds, the Internal Revenue Service has issued its own rules for money market funds and wash sales.

I remember the tax-cutting years in previous political eras. Those were the good old days. Now it’s easy to get the impression we have higher income taxes and an extra tax on investment earnings. But analyzing taxes and the reasons behind them are not that simple. Some brackets are actually lower today, and some taxpayers are paying at a higher rate while others are paying at a lower rate.

Critical challenges facing Americans and their advisors

U.S. Wealth Management president and CEO John Napolitano discusses how accountants should take charge of the various advisors that their clients deal with and coach them, in an interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Dan Hood.

The Internal Revenue Service has partially withdrawn some of the rules it had earlier proposed on limiting rollovers from individual retirement arrangements.

Three-quarters of Americans are worried about having enough money for retirement, according to a new survey that found three out of 10 Americans are not saving for later years.

In 2014 many of the country’s high-income earners will keep less than they pay in taxes.

A federal appeals court has upheld a penalty assessed against the estate of a deceased man because the executor filed the return late, even though estimated taxes had been paid.

One time I had three clients who were on the board of directors of the same NYSE-listed company. Two of them questioned every bill and every hour spent, and their fees were fairly low for people of that caliber. The third person did not seem to care what he paid, and his fees were quite high.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued final rules on longevity annuities, which can help retirees manage their savings to ensure they have a stream of regular income as they get older, making longevity annuities accessible to the 401(k) and IRA markets.