Overview: Tune into this week’s episode of Launch Financial as we discuss how the markets are on track for their best January since 2019. The markets are now bracing for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike annoucnement at the conclusion of their two-day meeting tomorrow. All eyes are on earnings, especially from mega-cap tech firms. For inquiries or questions, email info@shermanwealth.com.
Show Notes:
https://twitter.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1620391496892416001?cxt=HHwWgoCwlebe5PwsAAAA
The last few years have certainly changed the cadence in which many of us operate on a day to day basis. This is especially true with the emergence of technology and transition to remote work, telehealth, and curbside shopping. Another area that has shown significant change is in the use of robo-advisors. While robo-advisors can virtually help you with your finances on a daily basis, a Vanguard survey of 1,500 investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets found that “nearly 90% of robo-advised clients would switch to humans”. Given the current economic environment we are in, adjusting to a higher cost of living and rising interest rates, many individuals have more thoughts and feelings about their finances than ever. In these instances, having a human to vent to and talk through ideas with is so helpful and improves financial confidence.
The survey also found that “more than 90% of human-advised clients say they would not consider switching to a digital advisor, while 88% of robo-advised clients would consider switching to a human advisor in the future.” While digital advice can get the job done, there is something to be said about the human connection that develops between an advisor and their client.
I would say it’s quite difficult to establish trust, loyalty, and a relationship with a digital robot, which is what differentiates the robo-advisor from working with a human advisor. In fact, the survey discovered that loyalty within those who work with a human advisor is unmatched to those who are currently utilizing a robo-one. It is interesting to see that even though our society has transitioned a huge chunk of our lives online, human interaction within the financial industry is still the trusted and preferred method.
At Sherman Wealth, we specialize in behavioral finance, which goes beyond just the quantitative aspect of investing that a robot can properly assist with. We customize each and every financial plan to fit the needs of each client. No one client is the same so their advice should not be generalized, rather tailored to fit their specific needs. In a world where the economy is ever-changing, having a pro-active and trusted professional to hold you accountable and constantly update your financial roadmap far outweighs an online robot. Studying the behavioral aspects of our clients allows us to build connections with them, uncover hidden complexities, and truly understand their biases and relationship with money and investing. We take pride in our 24/7 accessibility and being a “financial concierge”.
Given the rollercoaster we saw in the markets last year and the extreme volatility we’ve experienced, personalized advice is more prudent now than ever. With rising interest rates and this inflationary economy, having a financial roadmap and guidance can help you navigate this climate. If you haven’t done so, think about re-visiting your financial plan, whether its adjusting your budget for inflation, checking in with your asset and risk allocation, or just an overall check-in. If you haven’t done so already and we head into February, set some financial goals for yourself to achieve before the end of the year. If you need help or even just a sounding board to bounce ideas off of, we’re here to help! If you have any questions about your financial situation or current method of advice, email us at info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary intro call here.
Overview: Tune into this week’s episode of Launch Financial as we discuss tax tips as we kick off this year’s tax season, as well as mega-cap tech earnings reporting this week. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve next week as they are set to report the next set of interest rate hikes. For questions and inquiries, email info@shermanwealth.com.
Show Notes:
Are You HSA eligible? If so, here’s how to take advantage of it during this time of year. Open enrollment just passed, but if you did not consider contributing to your HSA, now is a great time to do so given that we’re in the beginning of the year. Many individuals have questions about what benefits they are eligible for, and what those benefits truly mean. Retirement savings and medical coverage are typically a large part of your workplace benefits, which is why it’s so important to take advantage of what’s available to you, such as an HSA.
So, what are HSA’s? An HSA is a tax-advantaged health savings account that allows you to save money to use to pay medical and health care expenses. If you get your insurance coverage through high-deductible health plans, you can qualify for an HSA. Your contributions within the account will grow on a tax-free basis, and any untouched dollars can be rolled over year to year. By using untaxed dollars in a Health Savings Account to pay for deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and some other expenses, you may be able to lower your overall health care costs.
Due to inflation, the IRS increased the contribution limits for HSAs in 2023. So, employees and employers can now contribute a total of up to $3,850 for individual coverage, up from $3650 in 2022, and up to $7750 for family coverage, up from $7,300 in 2022. The HSA catch-up contribution if you are 55 years or older remains at $1000, the same as 2022. These adjustments are quite large, so be sure to take advantage if you are eligible to do so!
Be sure to contribute by the end-of-the-year December 31st deadline, so that you can make the most of your yearly contribution. Keep in mind that HSAs are just one of the many benefits that you can take advantage of. Check out our open-enrollment blog to see what else you may have been eligible for and our retirement contribution limits blog to see the increases in retirement contribution limits ! For other end of the year tips, check out our financial checklist blog here. If you have any questions about funding your various accounts, email us at info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation here.
Do you want to earn more money without taking on more risk? If so, keep reading! With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to combat inflation over the last few months, and set to raise them about .25% in a few weeks at the February meeting, we have been seeing a huge spike in short-term rates, CD’s, and money market accounts. At the same time, many clients and prospects we’ve been talking with are actually holding onto a ton of cash at large institutional money center banks that are paying close to 0%, so there’s a large opportunity for those of you in this position to better manage your cash in this type of increased savings rate environment. Let’s take a look.
Many of you might be weary right now about your financial picture given extreme market volatility we saw last year, 4-decade high inflation, and rising rates from the Federal Reserve. The interest rate market has sky rocketed over the last year with the Federal Reserve projecting and telegraphing future hikes in the coming months. With recent inflation data slowing, the Federal Reserve may be slowing the rate in which they increase future hikes, but interest rates are still quite high from the lows we saw in 2020 and beyond. Because of this uncertainty, a lot of people might want to hold on to extra cash in the case of a potential recession or future large purchases. However, because of these rising rates, there’s an opportunity to earn more money risk-free on cash sitting in your savings or checking accounts.
You can now get FDIC insured savings above 3%, with some even in the 3.25% range now, so make sure you are looking at high-yield savings accounts instead of your traditional ones and are shopping around for the highest rates. If you feel like taking on further time risk, we have also been seeing individuals purchase CDs and Treasury Bills in the 4% range, which was unheard of just a year back. Additionally, for those of you looking for other higher interest rate vehicles, check out our blog on I-bonds as well which have been increasingly popular for many looking to take advantage of higher rates.
With this changing economic environment, it’s super important to stay on top of your financial plan and make sure you are updating/altering it accordingly. As we kick start 2023, it’s important you are making sure you are taking advantage of all the interest you can earn and that you money is in the right places. If you are interested in re-visiting your financial plan or have questions about your cash management needs, email us at info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary intro call here.
Overview: Join us for our 121st episode of Launch Financial as we discsus the markets after digesting last week’s CPI data for December, along with earnings season and what we anticipate to see this week.
Show Notes:
As we reflect on 2022 and digest the economic volatility we saw last year, the need for having and financial plan seems more urgent. With high inflation levels, an increased cost of living, and rising interest rates, we’ve been hearing from many individuals that they do not feel financially confident or secure. Interestingly enough, it has been revealed that many Americans do not have a financial plan or are letting the current economic uncertainty derail their original plan. In fact, “nearly 70 percent of Americans at or near retirement age have less than $250,000 in savings, according to a recent survey by Schroders, the London-based asset manager.” We found this statistic quite startling, as we believe that financial planning for the long-game is extremely important in order to achieve financial success throughout your lifetime and in retirement.
While some may not understand the underlying purpose of financial planning, a financial plan and working with a financial professional allows individuals to take both a macro and micro view of their whole financial picture, assess both their life and monetary goals as well as qualitative and quantitative risk tolerances, and set strategies to achieve long and short- term financial success. They are also able to uncover hidden investor and behavioral underlying biases that may be impacting their financial decision making process. Another benefit that comes from creating a financial plan is organization. When creating a financial plan, you are taking inventory of everything that you have, figuring out where it all is, and where it needs to go. Just being organized can immensely improve your feeling of financial confidence and ease.
According to a survey of 1,000 investors across the U.S. between the ages of 45 and 75 by Schroders and 8 Acre Perspective, “76 percent of Americans say they feel overwhelmed by the thought of creating one and 56 percent say life is too uncertain for a plan to have any value”. At Sherman Wealth, we believe that life is complicated, but your finances don’t have to be. We are here to simplify the financial planning process and relieve our clients of some financial stressors they may feel on the day-to-day. Given the rollercoaster the markets took us on last year, many of the “do-it-yourselfers” might be realizing that their life is becoming too hectic to also be navigating their financial picture which is why we are here to help. We believe that it is never to early nor too late to create a financial roadmap for yourself and your family, and that you never need a certain amount of investable assets to get started.
For those of you who do not have a financial plan in place or would like to revisit your old plan that may be outdated given the current market conditions, please reach out to us and we are happy to help. Email us with questions at info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation here.
Overview: Tune into this week’s episode of Launch Financial as we discuss interest rates and the market as we await December’s inflation report later this week along with comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. As consumers take note of record high food prices, American’s credit card debt remains higher month to month. Check out our social channels @shermanwealth later this week for our take on December’s CPI report.
Show Notes:
The IRS has increased many contribution limits for 2023, including retirement savings, but also recently just adjusted the tax exclusions and exemptions for inflation. We want to mention a few that often times impact or apply to our clients, which involves estate planning.
For 2023, the IRS increase the annual gift tax exclusion $1,000 from $16,000 in 2022 to $17,000 for this year. So, that means that the $17,000 is the amount that a taxpayer may gift to another individual without setting off the gift tax or tapping into the taxpayer’s lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. Additionally, if the gift remains under the limit, the taxpayer does not have to report it on their tax return. This annual exclusion is applied to each donee or receiver per year and a married couple can both utilize this exemption, donating up to $34,000 per calendar year.
Other exemptions and exclusions that may apply to your situation are the unified credit along with the generation-skipping transfer tax credit (GSTT). The unified credit which provides the limit that an individual can gift in their lifetime before setting off taxes. For 2023, the unified credit will be increased to $12.92 million and can be shared with your spouse. The GSTT exemption is an amount that can be transferred down to two or more generations younger without setting off a tax, which is also $12.92 million for this year.
Whether you or someone in your family intends on gifting money to others, it’s important to know the limits so that you can avoid setting off unnecessary taxes or penalties. Of course, consult with a tax professional with any specific tax questions you may have, or let us know your questions at info@shermanwealth.com and we are happy to point you in the right direction.
Happy New Year everyone, we hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. Before the start of 2023, on December 29th, Congress passed the Secure 2.0 Act that was promised to provide changes to help many Americans’ retirement plans, including over 90 updated retirement plan provisions.
The provisions are set to encourage more employers to create retirement plans and automatically enroll employees to stimulate retirement savings growth, change the age individuals must take RMDs, make it easier to take cash out of retirement and more. We wanted to share a few of the updates that may have an impact on your financial plan and will report back with additional information and changes:
“Mandatory Retirement Auto-Enrollment
Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)
Effective on January 1, 2023, the RMD age has been raised for some individuals based on the following criteria:
Roth 401(k) RMD
Beginning in 2024, RMDs are no longer required from Roth 401(k) accounts. RMDs are still required from Roth 401(k) accounts in 2023.
Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) Indexed for Inflation
Beginning in 2024, the maximum annual QCD of $100,000 will be adjusted for inflation.
401(k) / SIMPLE IRA Catch-Up Contributions
Starting in 2025, some individuals can increase their employer-sponsored retirement plan catch-up contributions.
While these are only just a few of the many changes made in the Secure 2.0 Act, we know that these updates and information may be overwhelming, which is why it is important to defer to a trusted source such as your financial advisor to ensure you are understanding all and any changes. As we embark on 2023, it is a great time to get organized and review your budget and overall financial plan for the year to come. If you have any questions for us on the Secure Act 2.0 or your personal financial situation, email info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary intro call here.
