In this episode of the One of a Kind Financial Show, host Mike Milligan (joined by co‑host Gary Nolan and an analyst) discusses upcoming tax‑law changes under the Opportunity to Build a Better America Act, nicknamed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will take effect on January 1, 2026. The conversation covers several key provisions: a temporary increase in the state‑and‑local‑tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000 (2025‑2029); new thresholds and floors for itemized deductions that make front‑loading expenses advantageous; a raise of the estate and gift‑tax exemption to $15 million per individual (with further phased‑in increases); the re‑introduction of an above‑the‑line charitable contribution deduction of up to $2,000; and a proposal for “Trump accounts,” seed accounts for minors that would receive a $1,000 tax‑advantaged contribution at birth. Mike ties these changes to a broader strategy of proactive tax planning, emphasizing the importance of dynamic, personalized financial plans that address taxes, retirement income, investment strategy, long‑term care, and legacy. The episode also references an anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut and the impact on high‑yield savings accounts, promotes a webinar on that topic, and includes a compliance disclaimer outlining the advisory status of Mike Milligan and Advisory Alpha LLC. Contact information (phone 800‑748‑1838, text “ideas” to 600‑700) is repeatedly provided for listeners to schedule a personalized plan.
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Welcome to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. It is hump day. It's Wednesday, October 29th. And today, ladies and gentlemen, the Federal Open Market Committee is poised, according to everybody's thought process on the stock market, to lower interest rates again by a quarter. And, uh, why do I get excited about Lowering interest rates because we cannot control what the Federal Reserve is going to do. Matter of fact, what they do then controls what national banks do. And listen, national banks are not going to, to lose their profit margins because they have shareholders and board of directors to get to. Insurance companies are not going to lose their profit margin again because shareholders and owners to report to. So who suffers when the Federal Open Market Committee Meets? Well, you know, you do, because if you got money saved in an interest-bearing account that you have for an emergency fund or a rainy day fund or repair fund or as a legacy for healthcare costs, and the banks can just change those high-yield savings accounts rates like that. And we have solutions for that. And we're going to be talking about those not on this today, right? But just in general. So if you want to get more information about what the Fed is doing today, October 29th, or if you want to get logged in So that we can send you details when we're— when we help America solve the high-yield savings problem. We're going to do a webinar based off that. Well, text NEWS, N-E-W-S, to 600-700, and we'll make sure that you get the details on that. So in today's episode for the One of a Kind Financial Show, this past weekend, Gary and I didn't talk about the Federal Open Market Committee meetings, but we talked about the one big beautiful bill. And what the changes that came about that for the July legislation will do for those this year and next year, looking to take control of their taxes. See, we can sit back, just like with the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, we can sit back and allow, uh, something to happen to us, or we can take control. Same thing with taxes. Enjoy this segment and be one of a kind.
The one big beautiful bill relights a large swath of tax code, locking in many TCJA features and introducing new deduction limits, structural changes, and phased-in shifts. Many provisions take effect on January 1st, 2026, making it now a critical window for preemptive moves. So permanence— bracket permanence versus expiration traps— what do we mean by that?
So under the One Big Beautiful Bill, right, or the Opportunity to Build a Better America Act, The individual income tax rate structure for 2027 is permanent, but there are some, there's some structural changes to deduction limits that will be, uh, that have gone up and gone down over time, such as SALT. SALT is shortened for state and local taxes.
So for a 4-year period, SALT deductions increase, is that right?
That is, that is correct. And so, uh, temporarily from 2025 all the way out to 2029, the state and local tax deductions, which were capped in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at $10,000, now go up to $40,000. This really impacts people with high-value properties where their real estate taxes are high, people that pay state taxes, you know, high-income earners, people who are making $200,000 or higher. So now Instead of being able to do itemized deductions at $10,000 of that amount, now they can do $40,000. So the cap goes up. This is especially big for people that live in, live again in high real estate, you know, taxed areas or states like New York, California, Washington State, where state income tax limits are very high.
And that brings us to itemized deduction changes, new floors for that.
Well, the One Big Beautiful Bill reintroduces thresholds or limitations on deduction categories. These limitations are things like medical expense limitations, investment limitations, investment expenses. And so it brings back to the forefront this whole idea of front-loading when possible. Front-loading means that If you have expenses that you know you're going to pay into the next year, like in 2026, you go ahead and bring those expenses into 2025 so that you could itemize them at a higher level this year, right? Because next year they may vanish or shrink when a lot of these provisions go into play.
We're going over some provisions that take place January 1st, 2026, and for the beautiful new The big beautiful tax bill estate and gift exemption bump.
Well, this raises the estate gift tax exemption to $15 million per person, meaning individuals can transfer more of their money tax-free to the next generation. And, uh, you know, we get this question a lot now, Gary, is if, you know, I have close to this money, should I start accelerating my gifts now or wait for the higher threshold? You know, um, Gift tax is a very individualized and personal thing. And so, uh, under the one big beautiful bill, this exemption's going up to $15 million per person, but then it's going up even higher in future years. You know, uh, the thing about gifts, making gifts, is it's not only about the amount you give away, but it's the appreciation on your gift. Or does that gift potentially qualify for a step-up in basis? It's, you know, is it a highly appreciated instrument? Right? Like maybe you bought Dominion stock and it's got a cost basis of $100,000, but it's worth a million. Uh, if you give that million dollars worth of stock to the next generation while you're alive, they also inherit that $100,000 cost basis. Whereas if you wait till you pass away and they inherit a million dollars, they also inherit a step-up in basis.
Mm-hmm.
So like, uh, so giving gifts Versus passing it through your estate is a very one-of-a-kind decision that we need to talk about in the legacy part when we build the one-of-a-kind financial plan.
And that's what Mike does. He builds that one-of-a-kind financial plan, unique plan customized just for you. Get on the calendar right now, 800-748-1838, 800-748-1838, or text the word ideas to 600-700. The show is the One of a Kind Financial Show with Mike Milligan. I'm Gary Nolan, your consumer advocate.
Let's keep moving.
Charitable deduction I guess we've got some new rules there too.
Yeah, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, uh, fewer people did itemized deductions because the standard deduction went so high, or they did a lumping strategy where they did all their charitable deductions one year, they skipped a year, they did them another to itemize them. Well, what, what this bill does is, uh, it, it brought back the what's called the above-the-line charitable contribution. So before you get to standard, whether or not you do standard deduction or itemized deduction, now you can deduct up to $2,000 of charitable contributions before you even get to the taxable part of your tax return. So this, this, uh, this re-engineering gives us a chance to make gifts, uh, and still potentially take advantage of a standard deduction. Or things like qualified charitable distributions if you're over 70 years old.
All right. About a minute or so left. New Trump accounts.
Oh, the Trump accounts. You knew he was— you knew he was going to put his name on something.
Absolutely right. For sure.
So he puts his name on an account that's going to be for kids, like for, for minors. And so for the next— I mean, think about this, folks. He's genius in like his branding. So for the next 50, 60 years, kids are going to have a Trump account. Trump accounts are going to become as popular as Roth IRAs, who were also named after a Delaware senator.
Yeah.
So these Trump accounts are seeded accounts at birth. So it's $1,000 that then has tax-advantaged growth. So any kid born between 2025 and 2028 is going to get $1,000 added to their account that is going to grow. And this is, uh, this is, uh, Trump is going to look like the— in those people's eyes, it's going to look like one of the greatest presidents ever. Because look, uh, President Trump gave me $50,000.
Oh, well, tell us about the One of a Kind Financial Plan, Mike.
Well, again, uh, we, we, we stay on top of what's going on and the changes that are going to be made.
And when we—
when you stay on top of it, that means that your financial plan is dynamic. It's not something that just you put on the shelf. And then you never pull it back down again. So we build dynamic, one-of-a-kind financial plans for everybody we talk to, centered around, uh, paying the right amount of taxes over your life, because it is the biggest expense you'll ever have. Creating a retirement income plan you cannot outlive that adjusts with inflation and is guaranteed for your life. An investment strategy that is right for you, that is clear to understand. A long-term care plan that will take care of the older version of you and a legacy plan that tells your family that you love them. And we build the one-of-a-kind financial plan, Gary, because we believe everybody lives a one-of-a-kind life.
800-748-1838. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600-700. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600-700.
One last message from our compliance team. As a reminder, Mike Milligan, Certified Financial Planner, is an investment advisor representative of Advisory Alpha LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed by me, Mike, or any podcast guests are solely our opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Advisory Alpha. This recording is for informational purposes only, should not be relied on solely for investment, tax, or legal decisions. And it's in no way intended to communicate or guarantee specific performance or suitability of any security instrument or product as we may have discussed. Investment advisory and financial planning services offered through Advisory Alpha LLC, a registered investment advisor. Insurance products are provided by Ideas by Mike, a licensed agency located in Norfolk, Virginia, and licensed to do business in all 50 states. While tax and legal issues may be discussed in the general course of financial and investment planning, Advisory Alpha does We do not provide tax or legal services. Please consult with your tax or legal professional prior to making decisions related to these issues. If you want us an appointment with Ideas by Mike or One Oak Financial, please reach out via our website. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Mike Milligan, LLC.
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