Benefits of a Taxable Investment Account
The benefits of tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)’s, IRA’s, and HSA’s, among others, are often touted and generally for good reason. That said, the benefits of a taxable investment account tend to be overlooked but can be meaningful as well. This post will go over financial planning benefits a taxable investment account can provide as part […]
Off to School: Guide to 529 Distributions
For most investors, the 529 account is the most used account type to save and invest for a child’s education. This type of account provides for tax-deferral on the growth of the investments and if the funds are used for ‘Qualified Educational Expenses’ the funds can be withdrawn tax free. If you have a young […]
Essential Estate Planning Documents Everyone Should Have
Estate planning is a crucial aspect of financial planning for individuals of all ages and income levels. Having the right estate planning documents in place ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, and your loved ones are protected in case of unexpected events. In this blog post, we will outline the essential […]
Five Action Items to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft and Cybercrime
Create an Online Social Security Account at SSA.gov This step becomes more important as you approach age 62 (the earliest age you can claim social security) and is critical if you are over that age. With the number of data breaches that have occurred, there is a good chance your social security number and other […]
The Red Dot Talk
All of our clients have heard this talk and many of them have heard it several times. This chart is from the JP Morgan Guide to the Markets and we’re going to pull two lessons from it. The first thing on this chart is the bars and what they represent is what the S&P 500 […]
Time Value of Money
This is a little sample from the Finance 101 meetings that we do with our client’s children. Young adults need to learn about money and investing – this story is about the time value of money. There are two people in this story: Joe Early and Joe Everybody. Joe Early starts early – 22 years […]
Fitness, Food, and Personal Finance: My Journey with Health and Weight Loss and How it Applies to Your Journey with Money
The First Step It was September of 2011 and I tipped the scales, didn’t like what I saw and decided it was time for a change – 282 pounds. I had decided I wanted to make a change before but I had never actually done anything meaningful about it. This time would be different. This […]
What Can March Madness Teach us about Survivorship Bias: Luck vs. Skill
As I write this post, it is the second round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. I proudly boast a near perfect bracket – having selected the winner of 29 of the first 32 games correctly. I check my bracket’s ranking; it sits at #845 in the world – out of the roughly 17.3 million brackets […]
What is the Mega Backdoor Roth 401(k)?
When it comes to making 401(k) contributions there are two sets of limits that an individual must be aware of – the first being the maximum deferral limit and the second being the total contribution (or 415) limit. The maximum deferral limit represents the total amount that you as an individual can contribute to your […]
Should I Add my Kids to the Payroll? Understanding the Tax Benefits of Shifting Income to your Children
If you are a business owner in one of the top tax brackets, adding your kids to the payroll can be a great tax move that shifts income from your tax bracket down to your child’s bracket – which in many cases can be a 0% rate as we will explore further in this post. […]
