{"id":23866,"date":"2017-02-26T14:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T20:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=23866"},"modified":"2017-02-26T09:45:26","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T15:45:26","slug":"frazier-allen-opportunity-blooms-in-tax-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2017\/02\/26\/frazier-allen-opportunity-blooms-in-tax-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Frazier Allen: Opportunity Blooms in Tax Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"F&amp;M Investment Services - Raymond James - Clarksville, TN\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/FM-Investment-Services-Raymond-James.gif\" alt=\"F&amp;M Investment Services - Raymond James - Clarksville, TN\" width=\"130\" height=\"122\"\/><strong>Clarksville, TN<\/strong> &#8211; Tax season can bring new possibilities \u2013 especially when it comes to what to do with your refund or, on the flip side, how to settle your bill. We\u2019ve gathered some ideas that may fit into your financial landscape.<\/p>\n<p>Tending to your windfall: So you worked diligently with your tax preparer to complete your return, only to discover some of the fruits of last year\u2019s labor will be coming back in the form of a refund. So, what can you do with your bounty?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_374707\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Field-Of-Daffodils.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-374707\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-374707\" title=\"Opportunity Blooms in Tax Season\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Field-Of-Daffodils-480x270.jpg\" alt=\"Opportunity Blooms in Tax Season\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\"\/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-374707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opportunity Blooms in Tax Season<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Here are some possibilities:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Start fresh<\/strong> \u2013 Strengthen your finances by paying down credit card or other non-tax advantaged debt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cultivate<\/strong> \u2013 Make some improvements to make your home more valuable, comfortable or energy efficient \u2013 or get ahead on the kids\u2019 tuition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nourish<\/strong> \u2013 Invest in yourself (a new gym membership or art classes) or someone else (donate to a charity or sponsor a family or individual in need).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Replant<\/strong> \u2013 Use that money to kick-start this year\u2019s contributions to your retirement account or bolster your emergency fund.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Plan<\/strong> \u2013 Some say a refund is just a loan you give the government interest-free. Should you reconsider your withholdings so that you come out even next year?<\/p>\n<h3>If you owe<\/h3>\n<p>If you end up owing taxes this year, you\u2019ll need to decide how to pay. However, before you write that check or cash in some of your invested assets, consider how those actions may impact you immediately and over the long run.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, liquidating assets in your investment portfolio to pay your taxes may generate new tax consequences. Such an action would also likely impact your long-term investment strategy. And emptying your savings account may leave you vulnerable should another unplanned need for cash arise.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of using the assets working toward your long-term goals, consider liquidity and borrowing options based on the value of your assets, or that offer rewards like cash back or redeemable points. That way, you can access the cash you need to pay your tax bill while keeping your assets where they belong \u2013 invested.<\/p>\n<p>Next, consider these tips for reducing your future tax bill.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Maximize contributions<\/strong> \u2013 Take advantage of tax breaks in your retirement accounts and make catch-up contributions once you turn 50.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harvest losses<\/strong> \u2013 Consider balancing your realized capital gains by selling securities for a loss and reducing your tax liability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Seek advice<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s never too early to discuss tax planning with your financial advisor and your tax professional.<\/p>\n<h3>Let the sunshine in<\/h3>\n<p>Spring is a time of renewal, so use your tax refund wisely, or if you owe taxes, consider your long-term investment plan and borrowing options available to you before uprooting your hard-working, invested assets.<\/p>\n<h3>Next steps:<\/h3>\n<p>Talk to your professional team about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Methods of paying an unexpected tax bill<\/li>\n<li>Adjusting your tax withholding<\/li>\n<li>Year-round tax planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\"><em>Raymond James is not affiliated with any companies mentioned in this material.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clarksville, TN &#8211; Tax season can bring new possibilities \u2013 especially when it comes to what to do with your refund or, on the flip side, how to settle your bill. We\u2019ve gathered some ideas that may fit into your financial landscape. Tending to your windfall: So you worked diligently with your tax preparer to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[825,18527,27795,29792,6711,6348],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-6cW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23866"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23867,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23866\/revisions\/23867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}