Welcome to your daily briefing on finance developments in Texas. Today we're covering 4 key stories including updates on texas finance headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
1 story
Texas First Bank highlights its SBA loan offering, noting that lower down payments and competitive terms can help a small business move to its next level.
For TX finance professionals, this is a practical financing option to discuss with local clients seeking growth capital for their companies.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
For self-employed individuals, both vehicles allow significant retirement contributions, but the calculation differs. A Solo 401(k) permits an employee deferral plus an employer contribution — often producing higher total contributions than a SEP at identical profit. The crossover point is around $50K-$70K of self-employment income.
Switching from SEP to Solo 401(k) requires plan establishment by year-end (with contributions until tax-filing deadline). Annual review catches the crossover before it costs a year's missed deduction.
Missing a required minimum distribution from a tax-advantaged account historically triggered a 50% excise tax on the missed amount. SECURE 2.0 reduced this to 25% (or 10% with timely correction). The penalty has not gone away — it has just become survivable with prompt action.
Even at 25%, the penalty on a missed RMD is far larger than the income-tax hit on the distribution itself. Detection often happens at year-end review, sometimes years later.
Property held jointly with right of survivorship between spouses gets a full step-up in community-property states and a half step-up in common-law states. The same property held as community property (where available) gets a full step-up regardless. The titling distinction can change the surviving spouse's basis by hundreds of thousands.
Re-titling between spouses is typically straightforward during life; impossible after one spouse's death. The decision has to happen while both are living.
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