By David Enna, Tipswatch.com

Just to give you an idea of how complicated taxes are: For my last post, discussing the tax on Social Security benefits, I made 27 edits and revisions within a day of publishing as I received new information from commenters and other sources.

And that was just one area of the 870-page One Big Beautiful Bill. Grasping this is a challenge. Feeling daring? Read it.

Now I am looking to other sources I trust for as-accurate-as-possible information. One of those is financial adviser Andy Panko, who founded Tenon Financial in 2019 and also runs Facebook’s Retirement Planning Education group, a valuable resource. Panko also has a lot of expertise in tax matters.

I’ve followed Panko’s work for at least 6 years. He admittedly is a “super nerd,” but also a straightforward communicator and — importantly — won’t try to sell you anything. His firm charges a flat fee for financial advice and management. (I am not a client and I am not connected to his firm.)

I featured Panko in an April 2022 post providing his commentary on I Bonds, unusual for a financial adviser. This week, Panko created a podcast taking a deep dive into the Big Beautiful Bill, focusing on areas that would most affect individuals nearing or in retirement.

Here is the link I posted on X:

This is worth a listen (45 minutes), but if you don’t have the time or patience, you can read Panko’s excellent 8-page summary of the key individual income tax provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Panko covers a lot of ground, including “things that are not changing,” which includes the tax on Social Security benefits. He says:

Contrary to what you may have heard or read (including directly from the Social Security Administration itself), the bill makes NO changes to how Social Security is taxed. Social Security is still taxable at the federal level, and the bill makes no particular carveouts or direct exemptions to this. As such, it’s flat out false for anyone to say or insinuate the bill made Social Security not taxable.

For anyone concerned, beyond this one issue Panko is steadfastly neutral politically in his analysis. These are some of the other topics covered:

• Permanency of the current federal tax rates
• Permanency, and a slight increase, to the current standard deduction amounts
• A new temporary personal exemption up to $6,000 per person 65 or older
• Permanency, and a slight increase, to the lifetime gift and estate size exemption
• Permanency of the current Alternative Minimum Tax exclusion amount, but reduction/reversion of its income phase out levels
• Permanency of the $750,000 limit on residential mortgage principal against which interest can be deducted
• Permanency of the elimination of miscellaneous itemized deductions
• Temporary increase to $40,000 for State and Local Tax (“SALT”) deductions
• A new permanent charitable deduction for people who use the standard deduction, beginning in 2026.
• A new minimum AGI-based floor on charitable donations before donations can be itemized deductions
• A temporary exclusion from income tax of up to $25,000 tip income
• A temporary exclusion from income tax of up to $25,000 of overtime income
• A temporary deduction of up to $10,000 of interest loans to buy cars whose final assembly was in the U.S.
• Recissions of multiple “Green New Deal” tax credits such as electric vehicle credits and residential clean energy credits
• Creation of new “Trump” savings accounts for children under 18

That’s an exhaustive (or maybe exhausting) list of topics to cover in a 45-minute podcast. Panko does a great job, and for later look-backs, save a link to the document form of his analysis, which closes with:

There is A LOT going on in the OBBBA, and it will take time for me and the rest of the industry to fully digest and understand it. This was my best crack at breaking it down as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Most likely, we will learn a few more complexities — and smart ways to take advantage of the changes — but this is a great start for your tax planning for 2025 and beyond.

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David Enna is a financial journalist, not a financial adviser. He is not selling or profiting from any investment discussed. I Bonds and TIPS are not “get rich” investments; they are best used for capital preservation and inflation protection. They can be purchased through the Treasury or other providers without fees, commissions or carrying charges. Please do your own research before investing.