Variable income
4 min readWhy your bonus withholding is almost never right
Supplemental wages are typically withheld at a flat federal rate. If your household's marginal bracket is higher, every bonus quietly builds a balance due.
Resource hub
The handful of ideas that move the number for most households
No jargon, no filing instructions. Each guide explains one planning idea and points at the part of the app that sizes it with your own numbers.
Retirement
3 min readFinding the 401(k) room you did not know you had
Limits are per person, not per employer. A mid-year job change is the most common source of both over- and under-contribution.
Roth strategy
6 min readBackdoor Roth, plainly: eligibility, mechanics, pro-rata
When MAGI closes the direct Roth door, a non-deductible contribution plus conversion may reopen it — unless pre-tax IRA balances trigger the pro-rata rule.
Investments
5 min readTax-loss harvesting without tripping the wash-sale rule
Losses offset realized gains dollar for dollar, plus up to $3,000 against ordinary income. Buying back too soon undoes the whole thing.
Deductions
4 min readStandard versus itemized: run the comparison, not the assumption
With the SALT cap in place, many households with a mortgage still land on the standard deduction. The only way to know is to total it up.
Rental
5 min readA rental owner's Schedule E sanity check
Rent minus expenses is the easy part. Depreciation, ownership percentage and passive loss limits are where the number actually moves.
Cash flow
4 min readEstimated payments for households with lumpy income
Withholding is treated as paid evenly across the year; estimated payments are not. Timing matters as much as amount.
Timing
3 min readThe year-end tax planning calendar
Most levers close December 31. A few — IRA and HSA funding — run to the April filing deadline.
Not sure which of these apply to you?
The free checkup takes about two minutes and tells you which categories are worth your attention this year.
Take the Free Tax Advantage Checkup