Making Sense of RMDs
The SECURE Act will impact millions of Americans who will inherit or leave behind a retirement account. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the required minimum distributions on these accounts is 10 years – meaning you’ll likely need to adjust how much you withdraw annually as compared to the pre …
How Your Employee Benefits Fit into Your Financial Plan
Your Health Savings Account (HSA) is a cornerstone of your benefits planning. The money is triple tax-advantaged – contributions, growth and withdrawals for qualified expenses are not taxed. This account is like nothing else, and you need to take full advantage of it.
10 Common Estate Planning Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Estate planning and end of life planning are about taking control of your situation. Death and long-term care later in life might be hard to fathom right now, but we can’t put off planning out of fear of the unknown or because it’s unpleasant. Don’t wait for life to happen to you, though.
How to Think Three-Dimensionally About the Rent or Lease or Buy Question
There’s more to this central question – rent/lease versus buy – than simply the numbers in your bank account. What you don’t spend in cash, you may spend in time and energy; what you save in this market you may pay for a year from now when the market is depressed.
4 Ways To Improve Your Estate Plan
Most people want to plan for a good life and a good retirement, so why not plan for a good end of life, too? Let’s look at four ways you can refine your estate plan, protect your assets and create a level of control and certainty for your loved ones.
Section 199A Deduction for Small Business Owners
The United States Internal Revenue Service Has Big Changes for Small Business Owners Two-hundred-forty-seven pages later, we have one large Internal Revenue Service document — and a whole lot of questions about everything from qualified income to 199A QBI deductions. Section 199A dedu …
Breaking Down The Basics Of HSAs
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) might be the single most powerful tax-advantaged savings vehicle in the IRS tax code. You can deduct contributions, experience tax-deferred gains and withdraw money tax free for qualified tax expenditures.
Politics and the Markets: How to Invest in Politically Challenging Times
When presenting to individual investors, what I worry about the most is offending an audience member’s political views, especially when there’s a Q&A to follow. As our political discussions grow more contentious, it’s more challenging to avoid stepping on toes.
Volatility – What to Expect and How to Act
I recently gave an annual presentation to the 401(k) participants I advise. I always try to explain risk tolerance and investing to my audience in an easily understandable way. For most of the participants, investing in their 401(k) has been their only experience investing, so their knowled …
Took Their Ball and Went Home: Staying in Play with Job-Creators
Valentine’s Day was tough on New Yorkers who hoped to benefit from the more than 20,000 new jobs from Amazon’s move there (not to mention all the additional jobs from construction and supporting the new employees).