How to minimize tax hit with severance check

Discussion in 'Merck' started by Anonymous, Jun 28, 2014 at 1:21 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Fidelity charges NO fees, it is a discount broker. I have a brokerage account. There are no fees to buy/sell a large variety of funds (index, etf's and ALL fidelity funds) The commission on stock trades is under $10. It is a great company.
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    What about expense ratios compared to Vanguard?
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Yep, the package we received states the severance will be a lump sum check and 401k will not be taken out of it, so max out your 401k now.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Yes. Max out at 25% asap.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I see Sales jobs on merck career link, quite a few
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I see dead people. Pun intended.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    The industry has shrunk rep jobs by 40,000 in the last 4 years. And more to come.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Well, some ppl have bad, bad, teeth. Just trying any which was to help.
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I went thru the same thing a year ago at another company. My severance payout was around 63K and I got a check for around 44K as I recall. The one thing I did that I am really glad I did was to increase my 401K contribution so that I would max out my 401K for the calendar year. This kept my adjusted gross income for the year much lower than it would have been had I not done that. My accountant told me that had I not done that I would have been a victim of the AMT. I agree that there is not much you can do about the tax rate on the severance check but you can make adjustments in other areas.

    I also stocked up on all my Rx meds. Also don't forget to spend your entire flex plan contribution than you elected for the year. They have to give you the entire amount and can't take it back.

    I ended up getting another job immediately after being laid off and ended up actually getting a tax refund of about 2K for 2013.

    So if you can afford to do without the cash, max out your 401K
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Job right away? Connections or pulled strings? 'Gotta Be!
    All I'm experiencing is massive overload of applicants for each and every job!
    Applicants coming out of the woodwork! Competing against coworkers and outsiders...jobs are incredibly competitive!
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No pulled strings or leveraged connections. I knew for almost a year that I was likely going to get laid off. I got a weekend "per diem" job working at a hospital where I live just to get my foot in the door. When I got laid off, I transitioned to full time with benefits. For a little over a year I was working almost every other weekend. So-no pulled strings-just worked my ass off to prepare.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Anyone collecting unemployment insurance? What's that process like?
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Profession? Getting into a hospital is not easy ;exact credentials or a no go.
    Most people do not have that option unless they are an MD, NP, PA or some allied like RN, LPN, physician therapy or small amount of low paying jobs for the diabetic educator or RD.

    For most of us going back to school and creating heavy big bills is not a possibility... A job
    with the education you have now is the #1 priority.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Should you max out pre tax or after tax
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    RN