OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Act)
Joint filing taxpayers with a MAGI below the phaseout range of $505,000 - $605,000 can claim up to a $40,000 deduction of this on their schedule A. Taxpayers over the phaseout can only deduct the previous $10,000 amount.
A. Enhanced Senior Deduction
B. Mortgage Interest
C. Healthcare Expenses over 7.5%
D. State and Local Taxes
D. What are State and Local Taxes (SALT)
In 2026, $19,000 per person is the amount that can be given without being taxable.
A. Qualified Charitable Distributions
B. Backdoor Roth Conversions
C. Annual Exclusion Amount
D. The Gifting Amount to Qualified Beneficiaries
C. What is the Annual Exclusion Amount?
This act eliminates reduced social security benefits resulting from non-covered pensions typically collected by teachers, firefighters and potentially other government workers. Those retirees can now collect their full benefit (based on their social security work history) or collect spousal benefits.
A. The One Big Beautiful Bill
B. The Social Security Fairness Act
C. Secure 2.0
D. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
B. What is The Social Security Fairness Act?
Adding funds into a qualified retirement account, such as a 401(k) only to then convert them to Roth to gain access to Roth savings when a workers income would prohibit them from contributing to a Roth IRA is commonly referred to as this.
A. Super Catch-Up Payments
B. Deferring the Max
C. Backdoor Roth Conversions
D. Contributing up to the 415(c) limit
C. What are Backdoor Roth Conversions?
The cost to our clients for a financial plan.
A. A minimum of $5,000
B. $200 per month subscription
C. Additional 20 basis point fee
D. Free with their current fee.
D. What is free with their current fee?
The OBBBA introduces several new deductions for taxpayers who do not itemize, including donations to charity, tips, overtime, interest on qualified vehicles, and an enhanced senior deduction, all of which expire in this year.
A. 2030
B. 2028
C. 2026
D. 2035
When is 2028?
Taxpayers will pay 0% in these tax brackets as long as their taxable income is less than $98,900.
A. Long-Term Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends
B. Capital Gains and Ordinary Dividends
C. Medicare's Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA)
D. Federal Ordinary Income Tax Brackets
A. What are Long-Term Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends?
If a college graduate has been the beneficiary of their 529 plan for more than 15 years and is employed, the owner of the account can gradually make transfers to this type of account on their behalf. (Subject to contribution limits and a lifetime maximum of $35,000).
A. A traditional IRA
B. An HSA
C. A Roth IRA
D. A qualified employer plan - 401(k), 403(b) etc.
C. What is a Roth IRA?
Newly retired clients that have substantial cash, high future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), beneficiaries they would like to leave a legacy to, and are in a low tax bracket should consider these.
A. Family Gifting Strategies
B. Backdoor Roths
C. Qualified Charitable Distributions
D. Roth Conversions
D. What are Roth Conversions?
A software that reads tax returns, lets us run scenarios, and used for accurate short-term tax planning for this year and next.
A. Microsoft Excel (The Income Planning Statement)
B. The MoneyGuide Snapshot
C. Holistiplan
D. Vanilla
C. What is Holistiplan?
This is the amount taxpayers who file jointly deduct as a charitable donation if they don’t itemize and their donations are made in cash. Gifts to donor advised funds and private foundations don’t qualify.
A. $1,000
B. $7,500
C. $2,000
D. $5,000
C. What is $2,000?
In 2026, joint taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income below the phase-out range of $242,000 - $252,000 can make a contribution of this amount to a Roth IRA.
A. $7,500
B. $8,000
C. $8,600
D. $9,000
C. What is $8,600?
Taxpayers under 50 years old who make a $7,500 tax deferred contribution to a traditional IRA can also make a contribution of this amount to a Roth IRA.
A. $7,500
B. $500
C. $8,000
D. $0
D. What is $0?
This is the name given to deducting several years' worth of charitable donations by making use of a Donor Advised Fund, often used to offset high income years.
A. Bunching
B. Super funding
C. A Max Donation Strategy
D. Donating up to the Annual Exclusion
A. What is bunching?
The preferred method over email to securely exchange documents with clients and keep sensitive information safe.
A. The MoneyGuide Snapshot
B. The Client Vault
C. SECURE emails
D. The Income Lab Vault
B. The Client Vault
Joint taxpayers 65 and older can get an enhanced senior deduction of up to $6,000 each, in addition to their standard deduction and the existing $1,600 per senior, but only if their Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) falls below this range (partial can be claimed for taxpayers in the range).
A. $200,000 - $250,000
B. $150,000 - $250,000
C. $250,000 - $500,000
D. $153,000 - $242,000
B. What is $150,000 - $250,000?
Starting in 2026, workers over 50 years old who are eligible to make catch-up contributions must make them as Roth if this exceeds $150,000.
A. Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
B. 415(c) limit
C. Taxable Income
D. Wages from employment
D. What are wages from employment?
A Roth conversion can generally be made using funds from any qualified plan with some exceptions including this common type of account.
A. 403(b) plan.
B. Inherited IRA
C. Governmental 457(b) plan
D. SEP IRA
B. What is an inherited IRA?
If permissible, this technique allows the exchange of assets of comparable values from grantor to trust and vice versa without violating the ownership requirements of an irrevocable trust.
A. A SLAT
B. A Power of Substitution
C. An Asset Swap
D. A Section 1035 Exchange
C. What is a power of substitution?
The financial planning queue is more than a waiting list, it is also used for this.
A. Type of planning needed
B. All of these
C. Which planner is the best fit
D. Timeline for plan delivery
B. All of these
For taxpayers in the 37% income bracket, there are now two provisions that can reduce the value of charitable gifts deducted on schedule A. One is the new 0.5% AGI exemption for charitable deductions that applies to everyone and the other is a rule that reduces their deduction by 2/37ths of the lesser of their income above the 37% tax bracket or this.
A. The total itemized deduction
B. MAGI
C. Total charitable deductions
D. The alternative minimum tax (AMT)
A. What is the total itemized deduction?
Secure Act 2.0 introduced “Super Catch-Up” provisions for 401(k), 403(b), or Governmental 457(b) plan savers who are age 60-63. In 2026, this is the total catch-up amount for a 62-year-old worker.
A. $13,000
B. $7,500
C. $8,000
D. $11,250
D. What is $11,250?
Aggressive retirement savers between the ages of 60-63 and their employers can contribute a combined maximum of $83,250 to their retirement plans through a sum of the Super Catch-up Provision and this. (Only if the plan allows).
A. 415(c) limit
B. The max deferral limit
C. The Section 121 Exclusion
D. Backdoor Roth
A. What is the 415(c) limit?
This strategy aims to maximize the income received in retirement by choosing the highest possible benefit and using life insurance to replace spousal survivor benefits.
A. Life insurance laddering
B. Pension Maxing
C. 1035 Exchange
D. Annuitizing
B. What is Pension Maxing?
The frequency we recommend clients update their financial plan.
A. As material changes arise
B. Never
C. Every 1 -2 years or more if needed
D. At each portfolio review
C. What is Every 1-2 years or more if needed.