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You should know more about restricted stock units, an important form of equity offered by an increasing number of companies.
This benefit is easy for employees to understand, and can be structured in a way that helps attract and retain key employees and drive performance. You must read our feature article below on this subject.
Have you checked your withholding amount recently? This month we provide a withholding calculator for you to do so. Please see our second feature article below.
This month's Whats Happening Now section has been simplified, but is nonetheless as interesting as ever. Did you know that an essential element in flu vaccine comes from llamas?
We'd like to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us by phone at 614-888-2121, toll-free 877-389-2121 or e-mail [email protected] with any questions or comments.
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How do restricted stock units work? |
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Restricted stock units (RSUs) - a contractual right to receive company shares or an equivalent cash payment at some point in the future-are an increasingly popular form of equity award offered by companies of all shapes and sizes. Companies are shifting to RSUs because they are administratively convenient, are easy for employees to understand, and can be structured in a way that helps attract and retain key employees and drive performance.
Given this growing trend, let's take a closer look at what RSUs are and how they can work for employees. Read More
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© 2018 Commonwealth Financial Network®
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Taxpayers who haven't checked their withholding
should use the Withholding Calculator
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IRS Tax Reform Tax Tip 2018-154, October 3, 2018
The IRS recommends taxpayers use the Withholding Calculator to do a "paycheck checkup" as soon as possible. This will help taxpayers check that they are having the correct amount of income tax withheld from their paychecks.
Earlier this year the IRS updated the Withholding Calculator tool on IRS.gov to reflect changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December.
Doing a checkup can help protect against having too little tax withheld and facing an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time in 2019. Some taxpayers might prefer to have less tax withheld up front and receive more in their paychecks, which would reduce their tax refund next year.
While it's a good idea for everyone to check their withholding, it's especially important for these people to use the Withholding Calculator to make sure they have the right amount of tax withheld:
• Two-income families
• People with two or more jobs at the same time or who only work for part of the year
• People who claim credits such as the Child Tax Credit
• People who claim older dependents, including children age 17 or over
• People who itemized deductions in 2017
• People with high incomes and more complex tax returns
• People with large tax refunds or large tax bills for 2017
Remember, the Withholding Calculator does not ask the user for personally identifiable information, such as name, social security number, address, or bank account numbers. The IRS does not save or record the information the taxpayer enters in the calculator.
Click here to use the calculator.
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$100,000 for cancer research
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As managing partner of our firm, I oversee and approve our philanthropic efforts. "We have always believed in giving back to the Central Ohio community and view our giving back as an opportunity to share our success," says Joe Chornyak, Sr.
This year we passed the Pelotonia $100,000 lifetime threshold for donations to cancer research.
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More tricks than treats for markets in October
Unfortunately, October lived up to its scary reputation for the markets. Here in the U.S., all three major indices were down for the month. The Nasdaq Composite fared worst with a 9.16-percent loss. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.84 percent and 4.98 percent, respectively.
Slowing growth and a change in sentiment with regard to large technology companies drove the stock sell-off. The big tech names have been a major driver of returns throughout the year. As such, a pullback here had a disproportionate impact on the broader markets. From a technical perspective, all three indices finished the month below their 200-day moving averages. But a rally at month-end cut losses and moved them back toward the trend line.
Given this partial recovery, there is reason to believe that the sell-off may have been a bit overdone. For example, fundamentals for U.S. companies remain strong. According to FactSet (as of October 26, 2018), with 48 percent of S&P 500 companies reporting, the blended average earnings growth rate was 22.5 percent. This result is an improvement from the beginning of the month, when analysts projected earnings growth of 19.3 percent. In the long run, fundamentals drive performance, so these better-than-expected results are encouraging.
International markets also experienced volatility. The MCSI EAFE Index fell 7.96 percent, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index declined by 8.70 percent. From a technical perspective, both indices remained well below their 200-day moving averages, as they have for the past few months. Political concerns in Europe and a strengthening dollar contributed to the losses seen in foreign markets.
Even fixed income markets fell in October, albeit for different reasons. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index dropped by 0.79 percent, driven by rising interest rates. The 10-year Treasury yield ended September at 3.05 percent. It reached a high of 3.23 percent midmonth, before finishing October at 3.15 percent. This increase was caused in large part by rising inflation concerns. Read More
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