The scariest financial risk people face in life is running out of money at an old age. I’m 83 and I’m speaking from personal experience. After a long career as a newspaper editor, I retired in 1991 at the age of 60, with my wife, who is 14 years younger and retired in 2004. I’ve learned about financial matters the hard way, and I ghost-write articles like this one to earn some extra income.

There is more to the federal income tax system than just a single calculation. Upper-income taxpayers---especially those with investment income---must cope with six layers of taxation: (1) ordinary income tax; (2) capital gains and losses; (3) the alternative minimum tax; (4) the net investment income tax; (5) the additional Medicare tax; and (6) a reduction of itemized deductions and personal exemptions.

If you were married or divorced recently, there a couple of things you’ll want to do to ensure the name on your tax return matches the name registered with the Social SecurityAdministration.

The IRS awarded bonuses to almost 3,000 employees who had been recently disciplined – some for not paying their own taxes.

In Bobrow v. Commissioner (TC Memo 2014-21), the Tax Court ruled that the one-rollover-per-year rule applies to all of a taxpayer's IRAs rather than to each IRA separately. This ruling conflicts with IRS Publication 590 which gives the following example:

Many taxpayers overlook this possible filing status when deciding how to file their tax returns. This is epically true among recently divorced couples when there is a still dependent child in the home. While filing as Head of Household will lower your taxes vs. filing as “Single”, you must follow the IRS guidelines to avoid inquiry or audits.