In my line of business, we talk a lot about wealth management. The idea, of course, is that financial planners and wealth managers assist you in creating a road map for your money that helps you grow savings for lifestyle goals like retirement, purchasing a home, or sending your kids to the college of their…
Let’s face it – we live in a world where people expect their needs will be met with instant gratification. Social media, online shopping and the availability of having access to everything right at our fingertips means that consumers have high expectations that their needs will be met immediately without having to wait for what…
Would it surprise you to know that students graduating from high school enter college with little to no knowledge about their finances, how to budget, or save for their futures? The problem has become so severe that 40% of these students wind up going into debt in order to fund their social lives and 70%…
While the stock market has been steadily climbing for the past few years, a surprising number of people are keeping a surprising amount of money in cash. And while everyone is going to have a certain amount of cash allocation, what’s even more surprising is how many people are losing out on maximizing the interest…
Investors often choose big banks and investment firms over smaller financial advisors because they think the brand name and size makes the service and product offerings better. In actuality, it’s often the reverse. Unless your firm is a Fiduciary, chances are there are sales quotas and contests for the non fiduciary, “suitability” reps, who are…
There was an excellent article in the WSJ last week about a topic most of us don’t really want to think about (but really need to:) how to prepare in case you die young. No one likes to think about dying and absolutely no one likes to think about the possibility of dying young. Lately…
Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule, stating that it was “unreasonable’ that brokers handling investors’ retirement savings should be required to only act in clients’ best interest. Unreasonable for advisors to only act in their clients’ best interests? Let that sink in for…
Last week, in response to confusion surrounding the 2018 tax law that was passed in December, the IRS released an updated online Withholding Calculator. The tool is designed to help taxpayers make sure they are not wildly underpaying or overpaying what they will owe. The new law is highly complex and made changes that included…
Are you saving for your child’s education with a 529 account? If you are already contributing to a 529 plan, reduced deductions in the new 2018 tax law mean you may want to increase your contributions – or even create a second 529 account – to offset higher state taxes. If you haven’t yet opened…
Saving on taxes, while saving for your child or grandchild’s college education, just got a little trickier thanks to important changes in the “Kiddie Tax”. The tax bill that was signed into law in December made some significant changes to how Uniform Gifts to Minors Accounts (UGMAs) and Uniform Transfers to Minors Accounts (UTMAs) are…