our tax guru, kevin mccormally is here to help. he's editorial director at "kiplinger's personal finance." tonight's tax tips, an opportunity for older americans to supercharge the tax benefit of their year-end giving. >> tonight, an opportunity for older americans to supercharge the tax benefit of their year- end generosity. i'm talking about owners of traditional i.r.a.s-- individual retirement accounts-- who are age 70.5 or older and are required to take required minimum distributions or r.m.d.s. in most cases, every dime that comes out of a traditional i.r.a. is taxed in your top tax bracket, but there's a way around that. taxpayers age 70.5 and older can order that up to $100,000 of i.r.a. money be donated directly to a favorite charity. it might seem silly to give away money just to avoid paying tax on it, and it would be. but if you're planning a substantial gift anyway, this direct donation strategy can pay off. of course, there's no double- dipping allowed. if you make a direct donation to keep the money out of your taxabl

all this week our tax guru, kevin mccormally of kiplinger's personal finance, joins us with tax tips. tonight, kevin says now is the time to help your kids or grandkids take advantage of an easy tax win. >> here's a tip that could solve an immediate holiday gift-giving dilemma and, long term, earn you the reputation as your family's philanthropist. the idea is to help a child or grandchild get an early start on a financially secure retirement by taking advantage of one of the greatest tax breaks around: the roth i.r.a. first things first. in order to contribute to an i.r.a., a person must have earned income from a job. investment income or a gift from a generous relative doesn't count. but there is nothing in the law that says a worker has to put his or her own money in the i.r.a. thats where you come in. if your teenage daughter made money last summer working retail, say, or a 20-something grandson is struggling to get by on a low-paying job, it's unlikely they'll want to or be able to lock up a dime of their earnings in a retirement account. but, you could give them the money to con

i'm kevin mccormally. >> tom: the name "pop warner" is synonymous with youth football. the league began during the great depression and quickly grew. it has continued expanding through the great recession. in tonight's "beyond the scoreboard," rick horrow spoke with the executive director of pop warner, john butler, about growing demand for its programs in a tough economy. >> i think this recession has been longer lasting. i've also read study that is parents say the last thing they cut from the budget is the children's sports and extra curricular activities. >> but at unxwloimentd over 9%, are parents having a more difficult time funding youth participation, generally? >> i believe parents are. i also believe in many cases local small business upon sponsors are stepping up at 1400 local programs to fill the gap. 30% of our local programs are in financially challenged areas. most inner cities, some former company towns where the company is no longer there, and that's consistent. >> reporter: how do we get to support up to the level it should be in your estimation for th

taking your questions, kevin mccormally of kiplinger's personal finance. and tonight's market monitor says buying stocks with big dividends is the key to investing success in the new year. he's rich steinberg of steinberg global. >> zinca day bud on the nasdaq at top executive from the social gaming company rang the opening bell. the stock popped 10% after it started to trade but soon fizzled. analysts max wolf says it's going to take more than hype to get investors to play zinga. >> $that is a very aggressive valuation for this can. and they have to get everything right. and the next eight or nine games coming forward in their pipeline have to be exciting, engaging, addictive, and drive those four or five percent of users to spend significant money. >> while investors were hoping >> susie: investors were hoping zynga would give some zip to the markets, but investors got nothing but zigs and zags. let's take a look in tonight's market focus. zynga wasn't the only stock getting shunned by investors. many others were caught in the downdraft today. some big t

in tonight's "tax tips" segment, kevin mccormally, executive editor at "kiplinger's personal finance," takes on the wash-sale rule. >> tonight, i want to try to clear up confusion about an arcane tax law that can trip up investors-- the "wash sale" rule. it's easiest to understand if you think about what it's designed to prevent. let's say you own stock that shows a substantial paper loss. although you're convinced the price will recover, you dump the shares, claim a loss to cut your tax bill, and then buy back the stock in hopes of cashing in on the recovery. not so fast. it will work, but only if you wait 30 days to re-buy the shares. otherwise, the i.r.s. will ignore the sale and deny the loss. it sees the deal as a wash, since you wind up with the same stock in your portfolio. although you can't claim the loss on a wash sale, its value is really postponed rather than lost forever. you get to add the amount of the disallowed loss to the tax basis of your newly acquired shares. so the tax benefit of the loss will be resurrected when you sell those shares. i bring up the wash-sale ru

you are on with kevin mccormally.ler: i am a manufacturer in new jersey for its aerospace and automotive. i am on an accrual basis. i can expense 11% of what is needed to make these products. -- expense 100% of what is needed to make these products. the pay terms have changed. today, the average's 90 days, sometimes 120. because i am on an accrual basis, the irs expects me to pay tax on my receivables. well, basically, i am paying tax the last quarter of the year on moneys i have yet to receive, which makes capital investment very difficult, because it is creating a major cash-flow problem. i guess my question is, it is congress aware of this, that this is happening -- my question is, is congress aware of this, that this is happening, that is taking longer and longer to get paid? guest: that is a fabulous question. i cannot answer it. i believe that most congresswomen and congressmen are not aware of this. the accrual-basis rules were written generations ago. the pay-term issue -- everybody drag their feet and paying

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and monday, kevin mccormally begins his week of tax tips, answering your tax questions. >> susie: boeing's flying higher now that the national labor relations board has officially dropped a high-profile complaint against the aircraft maker. the n.l.r.b. sued boeing to stop it from opening a plant in south carolina. boeing's machinists union had claimed the move to the non- union state was retaliation for previous strikes against the company. boeing contested those charges. the labor board dropped its suit just days after the union's 31,000 members approved a new four-year contract. >> tom: hewlett-packard today announced it would make its web o.s. system open source, meaning it would be available to anyone to use for free. the move comes after h.p. earlier this year said it would cease making devices using the technology it acquired in its buyout of palm in 2010. earlier this year, h.p. rolled out a tablet with the web o.s. system, but it failed to attract consumer interest and production was halted several months later. our friday "market monitor" calls this an historic holiday season, an

you are on with kevin mccormally. caller: i am a manufacturer in new jersey for its aerospace and automotive. i am on an accrual basis. i can expense 11% of what is needed to make these products. -- expense 100% of what is needed to make these products. the pay terms have changed. today, the average's 90 days, sometimes 120. because i am on an accrual basis, the irs expects me to pay tax on my receivables. well, basically, i am paying tax the last quarter of the year on moneys i have yet to receive, which makes capital investment very difficult, because it is creating a major cash-flow problem. i guess my question is, it is congress aware of this, that this is happening -- my question is, is congress aware of this, that this is happening, that is taking longer and longer to get paid? guest: that is a fabulous question. i cannot answer it. i believe that most congresswomen and congressmen are not aware of this. the accrual-basis rules we written generations ago. the pay-term issue -- everybody drag their feet and payin

kevin mccormally on tax issues for 2012. washington journal is live at 7:00 a.m.rn on c-span. >> the supreme court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality for the sec standards on indecency. -- fcc standards on indecency. this saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> the listener pointed out that the words for broadcast at a time in the afternoon when a child could have been tuning the dial and would have come across those words. >> c-span radio will air that historic oral argument. listen to c-span radio in washington d.c., nationwide on xm satellit, and online at c- span.org. >> sunday on news makers, john grosso on how republicans -- of the republican record in 2011. that is that in o'clock a.m. and 6:00 p.m. here on c-span. >> sometimes i think it would be best for government to stay completely out of sports. a lot of the time when congress gets involved, the hearings are basically television shows designed to get the congressmen and women involved exposure. >> john feinstein of the intersection of sports and government. >> the flip side -- sports is a mult

kevin mccormally on tax issues for 2012. washington journal is live at 7:00 eastern here on c-span. >> which part of the u.s. constitution is important to you? that is our question in the year's studentcam competition. make a video by-eight minutes long and tell us be part of the constitution that is important to you and why. include more than one point of view and a video of c-span programing. submissions are due january 20, 2012. for all the details, go to studentcam.org. i [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> richard norton smith, "the contenders," 14 weeks -- what was your idea? >> first and foremost, it was the stories -- personal stories within the historical context of these 14 individuals. each of them had the unique experience and made a unique contribution to the story of the country. above all else, it was a chance to, in some cases, remake the acquaintance with some people who unjustly by and large had been forgotten. >> when you look