Even seasoned homeowners might shudder a little when their property tax bill arrives, but there are steps you can take to make sure you don’t pay more than necessary. All it takes is a little sleuthing and taking advantage of the laws designed specifically to save you, and other homeowners, money on property taxes.

Examine Your Exemptions

One of the first strategies for cutting your property taxes should be to check with your tax assessor’s office for any exemptions for which you might qualify. One of the more common ways to save money is the homestead exemption, which is provided in many states to give homeowners some tax relief. Homestead exemptions usually protect a portion of your home’s value from taxes. The exempt portion might be figured on a fixed amount of the property’s value, or it might be calculated as a percentage of the total property value. Check with your tax assessor’s office to see if you qualify and request the application.

Other exemptions could include those for disabled veterans and other disabled people, senior citizens, school taxes and more. Check with your local tax assessor’s office or county website for all of the exemptions available.

Analyze Your Statement for Errors

Property taxes are based on the assessed value of your property, which means each piece of property in the county must be evaluated before the tax rate can be applied. Assessing and collecting taxes is a big job, and mistakes are bound to happen. County assessor offices might be understaffed and overworked, and even the simplest errors made by a clerk can increase your tax bill.

Review your statement each year when arrives. Check every detail, including your home’s listed square footage, number of baths, improvements, outbuildings – anything that could affect your home’s assessed value. If you spot an error, contact your tax assessor and ask about the procedure for getting it corrected. Even a small error can make a noticeable difference in your taxes.

Be a Nosey Neighbor

This is a case where keeping up with the Joneses, or neighbors with any other surname, is not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a good idea and could reduce your property taxes. Look on your county’s website or other specialty real estate websites (Zillow.com is an example), which collect publicly available real estate and local tax records. You can use this information to compare the assessed values and appraisals of similar properties in your geographic area with those of your own property. If you’re friendly with your neighbors, all the better; you can simply ask them. You can also ask a real estate agent for an appraisal.

If, upon your investigation, you find that similar properties in your neighborhood are assessed substantially below your property’s assessed value, this should raise some questions. Call your tax assessor’s office and ask for an explanation; they might have a perfectly reasonable response. If not, consider filing an appeal.

Appeal For a Better Deal

If you think your property has been assessed too high, you have the option to file an appeal with the tax assessor’s office. You have a defined period of time after you receive your tax statement to file your appeal, so start early and be prepared to provide the supporting evidence.

The first step is to learn as much as possible about your local property tax laws. Talk to your local tax assessor, ask questions and state your case. Simple errors, as stated above, might be fixed immediately, but getting your home’s assessed value lowered could require a formal appeal.

If an appeal is required, ask about the process and any fees. An appeal that is complex or involves a significant amount of money may warrant a tax attorney’s advice. Once your claim is filed, you will have to wait for a response. If denied, the process can be carried further, and may include a hearing. At that point, you may wish to enlist professional advice. If your appeal is accepted, your home’s assessed value may be reduced which should lower your property tax bill.

Stay Vigilant

Even if you don’t find any errors or additional exemptions this year, make sure you stay vigilant in the years ahead. Ask your neighbors to check their tax statements, too. By working together, you can help ensure that property taxes where you live are accurate and fair for everyone.

Social Security benefits are largely funded by today’s workers via payroll taxes. However, the number of retired workers is projected to double in less than 30 years. Furthermore, the ratio of workers paying Social Security taxes relative to the number of people collecting benefits is expected to fall from 2.9:1 to 2:1 by 2034.

Obviously, there’s been a lot of media attention given to the shortfalls of the Social Security system and the need for retirees to be prepared to fend for themselves. However, it’s also important to know that there are strategies you can employ today that will help maximize benefits for both you and the surviving spouse.

First of all, it’s important to know that if you begin drawing benefits before full retirement age (which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later), the amount of your eligible benefit will be permanently reduced.

Spousal Benefits

Spousal or “derivative” Social Security benefits are determined by the work history and earnings of each spouse, as well as the age at which they apply for and/or begin drawing benefits. The spousal benefit is half of the higher earner’s accrued benefit at the time the spouse begins drawing benefits. Should the higher-earning spouse start taking benefits earlier than full retirement age, the spouse’s derivative benefit will be less. Be sure to consider the longer-term advantages of delaying your benefits – for both you and your spouse.

Delayed Retirement Benefits

If you continue working past full retirement age and wish to delay withdrawing benefits, you could earn Delayed Retirement Credits. DRCs are applied to future benefits after full retirement age. Currently, the Delayed Retirement Credit is 8 percent per year and stops once you reach age 70. Be aware that spousal benefits do not include any DRCs, but a spouse may draw benefits while the higher earner accrues the credits.

File and Suspend

A lower-earning spouse can collect benefits based on the higher earning spouse’s history. To do so, the higher earner must apply for Social Security retirement benefits first. However, if the higher-earning spouse has reached full retirement age, he or she may apply for benefits and then file to suspend drawing them until later. This allows the spousal benefit to begin while enabling the higher earner to earn Delayed Retirement Credits.

Restricted Benefit

One little-known strategy is that once you reach full retirement age, you may apply for a restricted benefit based on your spouse’s earnings as long as that earner is already receiving benefits. Even if you are the higher earner, you may instruct Social Security to restrict your benefit to your spouse’s earnings – which means you will be entitled to up to 50 percent of the benefit your spouse receives. This strategy enables you to earn Delayed Retirement Credits on your own benefit up until age 70, at which time you can switch over to the higher benefit based on your work history with the extra credits. This option is not available before full retirement age.

How Job Income Affects Taxes

If you begin drawing Social Security benefits before you reach full retirement age and your earnings exceed the eligible limit ($15,120 in 2013), your benefits will be taxed. Once you’ve hit your earnings threshold, $1 in benefits will be deducted for every $2 earned above $15,120.

To calculate a personalized estimate of your Social Security benefits, use the online Retirement Estimator at ssa.gov/estimator.

People are living longer than ever, but that doesn’t mean they are healthier. While modern medical science has done much to lengthen life spans, it has been less effective at preventing chronic illnesses that are common in old age. The fact is, the longer you live, the more likely you are to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart or respiratory diseases.

That’s why it’s important not just to plan for an active retirement, it’s also important to have a plan for your later years – a time when you might be less mobile and even require assistance with daily life.

Today, the median annual cost for care in an assisted living facility is $39,600 nationally, according to the Genworth 2012 Cost of Care Survey. You might be under the impression that this cost will be covered by Medicaid; however, Medicaid requires that you spend down your wealth before coverage kicks in. That’s why it’s important to create a separate plan for your later years. You might not think you’ll live well into your 80s and 90s – but what if you do?

One of the ways to prepare for a long life is to buy long-term care insurance (LTCI). Long-term care insurance covers costs that Medicare and other health insurance policies don’t cover, such as in-home care, assisted living, adult day care, nursing home care and hospice care. You should consider purchasing a long-term care policy while in your 50s, because premiums become substantially more expensive with age. Also, once you’re in poor health, you might not qualify for long-term care insurance.

An alternative to the traditional LTCI policy is to purchase a universal life policy that offers a long-term care insurance rider for an additional fee. The policy will issue an accelerated death benefit so that you can pay expenses related to long-term care while you’re still alive. The advantage of this approach is that you know you will use proceeds from the policy one way or the other. With an LTCI policy, you run the risk of dying suddenly and never using the benefit.

In early 2012, the Treasury Department offered new guidelines that encourage employers to offer a longevity annuity as a 401(k) option. The longevity annuity account balance would convert to annuity income later in the participant’s life, starting around age 80 or 85. The rest of the 401(k) account options would be available for withdrawals during the first phase of retirement. This arrangement assures that you have a second leg of income available so you don’t run out if you live well into your 80s and 90s.

You could also purchase an annuity on your own that offers an additional rider specific to long-term care. For example, the rider might increase the annuity payout for a specific period of time if you become unable to perform a certain number of basic activities of daily living set forth in the rider. Be aware that this type of rider could require a waiting period and physician’s statement to receive the additional payouts.

Another alternative is a long-term care annuity. This is a contract you purchase for a single premium that may double (with inflation protection) or triple (no inflation protection) the premium amount for distributions used to pay for long-term care. Your premium will grow tax-deferred and there is a death benefit for loved ones when you pass away. Your beneficiary will inherit the greater of the accumulated annuity value if you have not made any withdrawals, or your initial premium minus the amount of any payouts made for long-term care.

One thing you can be sure of: Whatever the baby boomer generation needs, the marketplace will respond. And with millions of baby boomers hitting their senior years over the next couple of decades, it is likely that even more products and policies will become available to help people plan for a longer life.

When deciding upon a firm’s record retention procedures, it would be wise to consult federal and IRS regulations and state and local government record retention requirements. The IRS generally must assess additional tax within 3 years after the due date on a return. (So, keep records for 3 years.) A period of 6 years applies if the taxpayer omits items of gross income that in total exceeds 25 percent of gross income reported on the return. (Therefore, keep records for 6 years.) If a fraudulent return is filed or no return is filed, there is no limit to the period the tax can be assessed. (So, retain records permanently.)*

*See “How Long Should I Keep Records?” at
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/How-long-should-I-keep-records

Record retention policies are generally based on two questions:

1. What must I keep?
2. How long do I have to keep it?

The suggested retention periods listed below have no legal authority and are simply guidelines for use in dictating your firm’s record retention needs. In certain situations, it might be appropriate to keep records for longer periods than legally required.