4 December 2018 FT — Articles to Read

4 December 2018

 

Question: According to MSN: Money, what are 10 brilliant ways to reduce your taxes in retirement?

 

Mnuchin warns Beijing on truce pledges – Pg. 4

–          …warned China to avoid “soft commitments” in a new round of trade talks expected to follow a ceasefire deal reached at the weekend…

–          According to the agreement that hit the pause button on the months-long trade war between Washington and Beijing, Mr Trump agreed not to ratchet up tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports from 10% to 25% on January 1, as planned.

–          In exchange, China agreed to buy US goods to narrow the trade gap between the countries and move ahead with structural changes to its economy to address practices such as intellectual property theft and the forced transfer of technology that the US regards as unfair

–          Apart from its main demands, the US has also pressed China to refrain from competitive devaluation of its currency to offset the impact of the tariffs

 

Dallas Fed chief urges caution on further interest rate rises – Pg. 4

–          …seeing signs of weakness in sectors sensitive to higher interest rates, such as  housing, as well as more sluggish growth readings overseas and tepid US inflation data.  …predicted expansion would decelerate over the next two years following a strong performance in 2018

–          The boost from higher public spending may have been “masking” some of the effects on the economy from the Fed’s eight quarter-point increases in short-term rates, as well as its balance sheet reduction programme…

–          The US monetary policy outlook is becoming murkier as official interest rates get closer to neutral levels that neither stimulate the economy nor hold it back, as the expansion loses some of its shine

–          …possible “downside risks” included the waning impulse from fiscal stimulus, the effects of past rate rises, signs of weakness in the housing sector, decelerating global growth, and the impact of tariffs and trade tensions

 

Answer: (1) Pick your retirement state carefully; (2) Contribute to or Convert to Roth accounts; (3) Roll over from a traditional IRA to an HAS; (4) Withdraw extra from tax-deferred accounts in low-income years; (5) Make charitable contributions from RMDs; (6) Invest in tax-free bonds; (7) Strategically withdraw from Roth accounts; (8) Harvest Capital losses in High-Income years; (9) Bunch itemized deductions; (10) Cut your expenses