Carol Keane & Associates Certified Public Accountants

Your 2019 Social Security benefits recap TEASER: Do you collect Social Security? Find out what's changed for 2019. COMPLETE ARTICLE: The Social Security Administration (SSA) made a 2.8 percent increase to monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 2019. Take a look at some of the most significant changes as you create and update your financial plan for 2019: ... 2019 Social Security benefit highlights Up to $132,900 in wages will be subject to Social Security taxes (up $4,500 from 2018). This amounts to $8,239.80 in maximum annual employee Social Security payments. Retirees under full retirement age can earn up to $17,640 before Social Security benefits are reduced, and up to $46,920 the year they reach full retirement age. The estimated average monthly benefit will be $1,461 per month in 2019 for all retired workers receiving Social Security retirement benefits. This is an average increase of $39 per month. The Social Security and Medicare tax rates do not change from 2018 to 2019 (7.65 percent for employees and 15.30 percent for self-employed). Supplemental Security Income SSI is a benefit for people who have disabilities, who are blind or who are 65 and older, and have limited income and resources. The benefit is $2,000 for single people and $3,000 married people. Children who are blind or have disabilities may also get SSI. A full-time student who is blind or has a disability can still receive SSI benefits as long as earned income does not exceed the monthly and annual student exclusion amounts ($1,870/monthly and $7,550/yearly).

The adjusted gross income (AGI) floor to deduct medical expenses as an itemized deduction is increasing from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of AGI in 2019. This means that depending on your situation, it will either be harder to deduct medical expenses or the deduction you're used to will be less. If possible, bunching multiple medical expenses into one year may allow you to itemize. Call to discuss how these changes affect your situation.

The penalty imposed on individuals without qualified health insurance will be gone starting in 2019. The penalty has been as high as $2,085 per family in previous years, depending on your household. Keep in mind that individual states may impose their own individual mandate penalties. Prepare yourself for possible rising insurance costs.

Interest rates for the first quarter in 2019 are up from last quarter. Those rates include: 6 percent for overpayments (5 percent for corporations), 3.5 percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment over $10,000, 6 percent for underpayments and 8 percent for large corporation underpayments.

Create a plan to pay for next year's tax obligation throughout the year to avoid needing funds to pay your tax bill. This may cause some hardship, but saving a little bit more each week through payroll withholdings is usually more manageable for most of us versus a big tax bite in April.