529 College Savings Plans
Some families plan for college costs by saving money in a designated account over time; others simply plan to pay the bills when the time comes. In either case, most families I know are not taking advantage of one of the most beneficial tax planning strategies to come along in many years.
When Tax Shelters Backfire
Like anyone else, I like a good tax shelter when I can get one. Among the beauties of a tax system that is tens of thousands of pages long is that there is a little something in there for everybody.
All Else Is Never Equal
To illustrate the ceteris paribus concept, we can examine the effect of price changes. Let’s say we want to figure out the effect of gasoline price increases on a household’s consumption of gasoline.