The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) changed the rules for taking distributions from retirement accounts inherited after 2019. The so-called 10-year rule generally requires inherited accounts to be emptied within 10 years of the original owner’s death, with some exceptions. Where an exception applies, the entire account must generally be […]
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Chaos in the Sky: New Consumer Protections for Weary Airline Passengers
Banks, hospitals, retailers, and airlines are still dealing with the fallout from the massive CrowdStrike IT outage in July. The tech meltdown impacted businesses across the globe, and airlines were hit particularly hard. This was not good news for the airline industry, which just last year had the highest number of flight delays ever recorded.1 […]
Read MoreTCK Wealth Management Welcomes Laurie Price as Trust Administrator
[Enid, OK] – Laurie Price joined TCK Wealth Management A Division of The Trust Company of Kansas on July 16, 2024, as Trust Administrator. She will work closely with Senior Vice President & Trust Officer, Patrick Anderson, as well as Vice President & Trust Officer, Hayden Staerkel, on the day-to-day administration of our Enid client […]
Read MoreTax Treatment of Work-Life Referral Services
The IRS has provided informal guidance on the federal income tax treatment to an employee of certain work-life referral services offered as an employee benefit. What is a work-life referral program? Employers often provide eligible employees with a work-life referral service as an employee benefit. Work-life referral services assist employees with identifying, contacting, and negotiating […]
Read MoreReal Estate Commission Changes Around the Corner
In March 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reached a landmark $418 million settlement after losing an antitrust lawsuit filed by a group of home sellers. As many as 50 million people who paid commissions on homes sold in recent years could receive a small amount from the class-action settlement. The powerful industry group […]
Read More2025 Key Numbers for Health Savings Accounts
The IRS recently released the 2025 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), as well as the 2025 minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). What is an HSA? An HSA is a tax-advantaged account that enables you to save money to cover health-care and medical costs that your insurance doesn’t […]
Read MoreThe Economic Impact of an Aging World
During the week of June 10, 2024, French markets were rocked by a government bond sell-off after a strong showing by the far-right National Rally party in the European Union election. With polls suggesting the party might win a plurality of seats in the upcoming French parliamentary election, investors feared a promised social spending program, […]
Read MoreInterest Rates on Federal Student Loans Jump to Decade Highs for 2024-2025 Year
Every May, interest rates on federal student loans are reset for the upcoming school year. The rates are calculated by combining the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note with an extra fixed amount set by Congress. Based on this calculation, interest rates on federal student loans are set to increase for the 2024-2025 school […]
Read MoreRetirement Confidence Edges Up, With Some Optimism
After falling in 2023 by the widest margin since the 2008 financial crisis, retirement confidence began to edge back up in early 2024. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey, workers who said they are at least somewhat confident in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement rose to 68%, up […]
Read MoreReal Estate Roundup: Feeling the Impact of Higher Rates
U.S. commercial real estate prices fell more than 11% between March 2022, when the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates, and January 2024. The potential for steeper losses has chilled the market and still poses significant risks to some property owners and lenders.1 On the residential side of the market, the national median price of […]
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