Helping pave the way towards financial freedom
It is no secret that the IRA tax code can be confusing. Filers sometimes misinterpret rates and end up believing they must pay more than they usually do. Understanding marginal and effective tax rates are important for tax planning purposes. A funny anecdote is the story of Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Every year…
In my previous piece, I covered some tools of the tax-planning trade, as well as how to deploy them for tax-efficient investing. But tax planning isn’t just for your investments. Life happens. Often, we cannot predict its next moves. But we can weave each event into the tax-planning fabric of your financial life. Following are…
Whether you’re saving, investing, spending, bequeathing, or receiving wealth, there’s scarcely a move you can make without considering how taxes might influence the outcome. No wonder people get nervous when there’s lots of talk about higher taxes, but little certainty on what may come of it, and who it might affect. How do we plan…
Losing a friend or family member is tragic. No one looks forward to it, but it happens. And if you get a notification that you have just inherited an IRA – you’ll need to know what your options are. So what are they? Rules have changed regarding inherited IRAs. And for some reason, I’ve seen…
I love small businesses! I own one myself, and I can relate to what many of them go through. Many of my clients are small business owners. Previously I wrote broadly about the various retirement accounts available (see article). Now I want to dive a little deeper into the small business options and help others…
More than half of Americans, participate in their company’s retirement plan. As of 2019, this equates to more than 77 million people. One of these people (a client of mine), recently asked if it was smart to use their 401(k) as a loan option. More specifically, it was a case where the options were: pay…
2020 will be a year we will never forget. From a global pandemic and civil unrest to an economic downfall that we continue to battle through today. Last year was a challenging time that has impacted millions of individuals around the world. For investors, I think it’s critical we revisit some lessons learned to better…
The final weeks of 2020 present a critical planning window for tax planning options—many that may disappear after December 31. In a year filled with financial and personal struggles, many investors can turn lemons into lemonade by implementing certain strategies. But, time is running out to do so. Before 2020 comes to an end, here…
We all know that prices typically go up over time: this is called inflation. Inflation is generally a result of an increase in the supply of money. As more money becomes available, the purchasing power of a dollar drops. As the value of the currency decreases, the prices of goods and services increase. We’ve seen…
Do you think a blizzard will drive up the demand for people wanting to buy snow tires or 4-wheel drive vehicles? Sure does. How about car dealerships – will they sell more convertibles once the weather gets warmer? Without a doubt. What is at play here is a psychological phenomenon called recency bias. It is…