Ups And Downs Of A Windfall
It happens more often that you might think: People receive an amount of money that is larger than they are accustomed to dealing with. Financial adviser Ray Martin has some ideas about how to handle it, and he'll be dropping by The Early Show Thursday as well.
Windfalls happen each year to some of the more than 67 million taxpayers who receive tax refunds each year, the average refund being about $2,100.
About 17 percent of the people born in years 1946 through 1964, known as baby boomers, have already received at least one inheritance, the median value of which was about $48,000 in 2001. Others suddenly come into a large lump sum of cash from severance pay, bonus, life insurance benefits, sale of a business or real estate, stock options or even lottery winnings.
It's a widely held belief for many people that if they only had more money, their problems would go away. So getting a windfall is always a way to lessen life's worries, right?
To be sure, getting a few grand back from your taxes isn't going to change your life, and it can help to make ends meet better for a month or two. But for some people, getting a sudden windfall of a sum they are not experienced in dealing with can come with as many problems as it appears to solve.
Here are a few planning pointers to run through when you get a lump sum of cash that is more than you are accustomed to dealing with:
Think that $1 million prize won by Survivor winner Richard Hatch will set him on Easy Street for life? Think again. He is currently facing IRS charges for failure to pay taxes on that prize money. The taxes alone could be as much as half of the prize amount and interest, and late-payment penalties can amount to another third, leaving Hatch with about a quarter of the original amount.
Some people are surprised to learn that non-cash prizes are taxable. When Oprah gave away Pontiacs to her audience members last year, the winners learned quickly that with prizes, "free" wasn't really "free." Each recipient had to pay income tax on the car they were given, and some were even concerned that in order to come up with the necessary cash to pay for the taxes, they might have to sell their "free" gift.
Anyone who receives a lump sum payment should first and foremost consult with an accountant or tax attorney. What you need to know is if the payment is taxable, how much are the taxes that will be owed, when they need to be paid and how much of the lump sum needs to be set aside or reserved to pay the taxes.
Remember: the IRS will not accept "I did not know I had to pay!" as a defense and getting into trouble here can cost you thousands of dollars in penalties, fines and even jail time.
That's not to say that certain decisions that are clearly beneficial (such as paying off high-interest-rate debt) should not be done. But avoid bigger financial decisions such as selling a home, quitting a job or making long-term investments until some "cooling off" time has passed and all options are carefully considered.
After that, depositors need to know that their bank account balances are insured from bank failure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to $100,000 per depositor per bank. For amounts at one insured bank totaling more than $100,000, different ownership categories of accounts are separately insured up to $100,000, so you may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at one insured bank if you own deposit accounts in different ownership categories. This will apply to accounts titled separately in each spouse name and jointly.
Also, some banks may tell you to deposit your money into their insured money market account, or IMMA, as this may currently pay a higher rate of interest. These money market funds, unlike those in brokerage accounts are still insured under the FDIC.
What you might find is that super-safe Treasury Bills are currently yielding approximately 2.78 percent for the three-month Bill and about 3.02 percent for the six- month Treasury Bill. Assuming a 33 percent marginal Federal Tax bracket, the after-tax yield is 1.86 percent for three months and 2.02 percent for six months.
You should know that if you do buy a Treasury Bill at a fixed rate, and desire to sell it before maturity, your yield can be significantly lower as interest rate are currently rising.
You might also note that the current 7-day after-tax yield on a tax-free money market fund is about 1.75 percent, which has increased about 1 percent since a year ago and is very likely to continue to rise over the next three to nine months.
A reasonable conclusion from this is that investing in a three-month Treasury at this time may not appear to make sense given that the seven-day yield of the money market fund is likely to exceed the after-tax yield of the Treasury Bill in a short period of time. It is reasonable to conclude the same regarding the 6 month Treasury, however the gap in yield is greater and while the money market yield may reach that level, it is unlikely to do so in the near future, therefore investing in a six-month Treasury may make sense for funds that are earmarked to remain in cash for at least six months or more.
If you don't deliver on a promise, you may find yourself on the receiving end of another person's lawsuit claiming breach of an agreement or contract. It's better to keep your lips zipped about your generous intentions and surprise family and friends with your generosity than to become the recipient of hostility because your expressions were taken more seriously than you intended.
Some advice also given is to purchase a security system, hiring a security guard for a period of time and even purchasing kidnapping and ransom insurance to protect you and your family from potential risks that come with being wealthy.
By Ray Martin