Without any excuses, I simply have to apologize to any of the agents who attended our classes that discussed taxes this past year, namely WISE FINANCIAL CHOICES and SUCCESSFUL TAX & TRUST STRATEGIES. In nearly every course, I uttered these words, “Based on what I understand of the new tax code, I imagine nearly every American will get a tax cut this year.” I went on to say that there were exceptions. That there would be some who might pay more, but based on what I knew, MOST people would pay less.

This statement was true. That was how I understood it, BUT the problem is I didn’t take the time to understand ALL the various dynamics in the recent tax legislation to make such an emphatic statement. The truth of the matter is some of us would pay less. Others sadly, will pay more. Which camp you will fall in depends on a few key variables. I was trumped by a tax twist.

You see, Standard Deduction nearly doubled and many of the tax rates went down. These two things combined made me think that we ALL would pay less; however, the tax bill also did away with some major deductions and personal exemptions. I recommend this CBS NEWS ARTICLE to better understand all the intricacies.

This is the BIG picture, those with many deductions and several dependants, especially older kids, didn’t fair well through the change. It is like shooting craps. You may or may not have been lucky enough to catch a break. At least that’s how it was for middle America. The very rich, the top 1%, they for sure got a tax cut.

This blog is not intended to be political. Each sitting President has their tax plan, so I guess that’s where politics comes into this. I’m not here to debate if it’s good or bad. I am just here to tell you the truth. To give you the facts and to apologize to those of you who’d attended our classes before in which I gave you the truth as I knew it, but that truth wasn’t the reality. Now you have the real story.

I also encourage you to come back to class for the full story–all the information. If you attended WISE FINANCIAL CHOICES already, come back and join us for SUCCESSFUL TAX & TRUST STRATEGIES, or vice versa. If you haven’t attended either, pick one or both and come join us for our LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE. I personally believe, and I figure you do too, that when we are armed with the truth, we can make the BEST decisions for ourselves, our families, and our clients. See you in class!

Published April 2019. This blog highlights two of our 2019 live classroom insurance CE courses, WISE FINANCIAL CHOICES and SUCCESSFUL TAX & TRUST STRATEGIES. Renee E. Bryan also publishes writing at her blog: WrongWayLizzie.Me.