Financial planners: How to survive fiscal cliff
By Blake Ellis @CNNMoney December 23, 2012: 10:26 AM E
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
As Congress struggles to avert the fiscal cliff and its tax increases, financial planners are being peppered with questions from confused, worried or angry clients.
Their advice: Prepare for the worst but don’t panic.
Fiscal cliff quiz: How much will taxes go up?
“We’re doing a lot of hand holding,” said Lynn Ballou, Certified Financial Planner and managing partner at Ballou Plum Wealth Advisors. “Clients were really hopeful that Congress would set aside its differences and come to a decision, so most people don’t actually know what it’s going to mean to them if they go over the fiscal cliff. They’re concerned but they’re also just mad.”
Here are a few questions advisers have been fielding from their clients.
1. What’s going to happen to my money if we go over the fiscal cliff?
If the fiscal cliff isn’t avoided, tax rates on income, estates, gifts, capital gains and dividends will increase, and a number of tax breaks will expire.
The average household will face a total tax increase of $3,500, according to the Tax Policy Center.
https://money.cnn.com/2012/12/23/pf/taxes/financial-planner-fiscal-cliff/index.html?iid=SF_PF_Lead