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Ted Phillips, The Del Ray CPA
(571) 312-1169
FAX (571) 227-7907
114 E. Randolph Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
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FIND LOST MONEY
Every state has an Unclaimed Property program, the goal of which is to help people locate and claim money that is owed to them. This can include uncashed payroll checks, bank accounts that have gone unused for long periods, and refund checks sent by the government or private companies that were never cashed. If you have not done so recently, I recommend that you do a search for unclaimed property that might be sitting out there, for you and your family members.
Most states participate in
MissingMoney.com, where you can search nationwide for your unclaimed property. To search thoroughly, you should also check with the state-run program for any state you have lived in. Below are websites for several states; links to every state unclaimed property program
can be found here.
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One common topic that comes up when planning for the next tax year is the proper way to rollover or convert existing IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts). Below are some general rules and tips on these processes. To discuss particular questions, or how to best plan for your specific tax situation, give me a call or send an email anytime.
- If you roll over your employer-sponsored 401(K) into an IRA (or vice versa), or if you transfer funds between one IRA and another, the funds are not considered a taxable distribution as long as the total withdrawn makes it into the new account within 60 days.
- You can only make one rollover between IRAs per year, no matter how many accounts you have. However, it is only considered a "rollover" if the money is withdrawn at some point; if an amount of money is transferred directly from one IRA account to another and never distributed, this may be done an unlimited amount of times.
- Transferring money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA is called a "conversion" and is also not limited to one per year.
- The IRS "aggregates," or considers all IRA accounts as one, for tax purposes. This becomes relevant if more is contributed to an IRA than is tax deductible, because for all future distributions, the amount that was contributed after-tax must be calculated. This also means that when we discuss how much can be contributed to an IRA or withdrawn per year, we are always talking in total, not into each account.
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Here's an interesting way to test the strength of any password you come up with:
How Secure is My Password? Enter any password combination, and this site will tell you how fast a hacker with standard software could figure it out. From playing around with this, you'll see that passwords that are short, include real words, or contain
only letters or
only numbers will get cracked right away. As you may know, good passwords tend to be long strings of capital and lowercase letters, numerals and special characters.
But how do you come up with passwords that are strong, but that you still remember? Here are a few methods:
- Make your password a short sentence, including capitalization, punctuation and numbers. Many websites even allow spaces in the password, which makes it significantly harder to crack.
- If the length of the password is limited, come up with a sentence or phrase and then use the first letter of each word. Make sure it still includes numbers and punctuation. Since it is much better to have different passwords for each website, try to make each sentence memorable and specific to the site.
- Avoid any part of your name, the names of your family members (including pets), and sequential strings of numbers (1234, 97531, etc.) These are so commonly used and easily guessed that a hacker will test them first. If you must use a word or name, consider spelling it backwards.
- It is all right to write down passwords, as long as you keep this list in a secure place (not on the kitchen counter!). It is much more secure to make a different, complex password for each site, and write them down, than to use one simple one everywhere.
- In a similar vein, you can use Password Manager software on your computer that will create long, complex passwords for you, and automatically enter them when you visit a website. Here's a comparison of some of the top-rated managers. If you use one, it is essential to keep your physical computer secure at all times, and create one very strong password for logging into it.
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We send out this newsletter to address topics that we believe to be relevant and interesting to clients. If there are specific tax- or planning-related issues that you find unclear, or would like to learn more about, please respond to this email and let us know! We will be happy to address them in the coming months.
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Please use our document portal to send documents securely online. If you are using it for the first time, please contact Shannon in the office to set up an account:
Shannon@TheDelRayCPA.com
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Ted Phillips, The Del Ray CPA
(571) 312-1169 | FAX (571) 227-7907
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