Your Wealth, Your Legacy

Discussions of life and death are often uncomfortable. Facing our own mortality forces us to answer questions and consider scenarios we’d rather pretend do not exist. While we’d rather believe life will go on for decades and we’ll be able to continue providing for loved ones, the reality is that we don’t always have that opportunity. When individuals pass away, often their loved ones are left in a...

The American Dream has led thousands of people to start businesses, and eventually, become successful through years of hard work and persistence. In most cases, success did not come without lean times in the early years, late nights and long weekends, and missed quality time with family. On top of the personal sacrifices made, successful business owners typically have paid significant amounts in t...

Marjorie Bloom had worked 42 years as a federal attorney. She had amassed her nest egg of $660,000 for retirement through decades of work and an inheritance from her parents. She was looking forward to her future and ultimately leaving any leftover money to her children just as her parents had for her. Unfortunately, that all changed in 2021 when her computer suddenly froze and cunning con artists...

Between 2010 and 2030, the Baby Boomer generation (estimated at 73 million individuals) is retiring at a rate of 10,000 people per day, and while each of these individuals likely looks toward their new found freedom with excitement, they also face significant challenges. One of the most significant challenges is ensuring their money lasts throughout retirement. When asked about the most likely rea...

At the end of 2023, the Magnificent 7 (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, NVIDIA, Meta, and Tesla) accounted for 28% of the S&P 500 index. With many of the largest exchange traded funds and mutual funds tracking the S&P 500 index, numerous investors have chosen to passively track the S&P 500 index with a significant portion of their portfolio. While the S&P 500 has generally been re...

Happy New Year! Looking back at 2023, it was a whirlwind year that began with bank failures in March, continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine, a new war between Israel and Hamas, consistent increases in interest rates, and retreating inflation. In this episode, we recap 2023 market performance and consider the key changes and planning opportunities for 2024 that individuals should consider a...

Beginning in March 2022, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in an attempt to mitigate high inflation. Over the course of the last two years, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 11 times resulting in targeted interest rates that are 5.25% higher than they were at the beginning of 2022. In this episode, we discuss how the rapid increase in interest rates has resulted in certi...

As year-end approaches and individuals begin considering their charitable giving goals for 2023, it is important to consider not just the charities to support, but also the most tax-efficient way to contribute. In this episode, we discuss how qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) directly from your IRA to charity may be the most tax efficient way for individuals who are at least age 70 ½ to fu...

With the challenges that come from creating and running a small business, most small business owners spend a majority of their time dealing with the day-to-day tasks necessary to keep the business moving forward. This often leaves little time to consider the various retirement plans that are available which can provide significant tax advantages to the small business owners and their employees. In...

One year ago, we highlighted a high return and low risk investment, Series I Savings Bonds (I Bonds), which were yielding an annualized 9.62% due to the high inflation rate in the United States. Since then, the inflation rate has decreased and the inflation component of the I Bond yield has declined to 3.38% as of May 1, 2023. As a result, investors have redeemed over $1.2 billion since the beginn...

Will you need long-term care during your lifetime? If so, what will it cost and how will you pay for it? As individuals progress through retirement, the possibility of needing long-term care becomes an important consideration. The cost of long-term care can be substantial and a common fear for many individuals is losing their life savings in the event that they need assistance in the future. In th...

What does it take to be wealthy? While each person may have a different financial threshold in mind, most people have a similar mental picture of what wealthy looks like. They see a fancy home, nice cars, and lavish vacations enjoyed by someone who sold their company for a fortune or received a significant inheritance. This month we are discussing how most individuals have accumulated their wealth...

Over the past decade, real estate values have soared. Nearly everyone knows someone who has “made a fortune” in real estate and touts it as a “can’t miss” opportunity. While real estate is a valuable addition to many investment portfolios, all real estate is not created equal. Real estate is an industry just like anything else, and those who have devoted careers to it are much more likely to succe...

Health savings accounts (HSAs) have been around for nearly two decades. First introduced in 2004, HSAs provide a way for Americans to temper the bite of significant health care costs by creating a triple tax benefit through an upfront tax deduction when contributions are made, tax-free growth over time, and tax-free distributions for qualified medical expenses. In this episode, we discuss who is e...

March 2023 has seen the start (and hopefully the end?) of a financial industry crisis that has captivated Wall Street and many Americans. It all started on Wednesday, March 8th when Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, CA announced it needed to raise capital to shore up losses on its available for sale securities portfolio. What followed next amounted to the 2nd and 3rd largest bank collapses in Am...

Mutual funds have long provided a simple way for Americans to diversify their assets and invest for the future. The primary attraction of mutual funds has been the ease of diversification and affordable access to professional managers which has helped the US mutual fund industry grow to control over $20 trillion in assets. However, what many people don’t understand is how owning mutual funds in ta...

Beginning with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act otherwise known as “Trump Tax Reform” that was passed at the end of 2017, Americans have seen significant new tax legislation passed almost annually. As we enter 2023, it appears the rate of change in tax and retirement rules is not about to slow down anytime soon with President Biden signing the SECURE Act 2.0 into law on December 29th, 2022.  In this...

Medicare is the primary health insurance for most retired Americans, and given how expensive private health insurance has become, many individuals approaching retirement often plan their retirement around their eligibility for Medicare coverage. While Medicare can be very affordable for most retirees, individuals with high incomes often receive an unwelcome surprise when they learn that Medicare p...

As we near year-end, charitable giving is once again on the minds of many families. While giving charitably is valuable in its own right, most families are also interested in maximizing the tax benefits of their charitable gifts. Traditionally, the default method for charitable giving is cash, check, or credit card, but these gifts fail to maximize the tax advantages available. In this episode we...

For many Americans, saving for retirement is a top priority and ensuring that retirement savings accumulate in the most tax advantaged way is an important step in achieving the retirement of their dreams. For decades, Roth IRA accounts have provided a tax-free option for retirement savings and have accelerated the growth of retirement accounts for many families. While Roth IRA accounts provide att...

Charitable giving is an important part of creating a legacy for those we love and impacting the world we live in. Accordingly charitable giving often plays a substantial role in the financial goals of many families, and while charitable giving is valuable in its own right, the savviest of individuals will go one step further to ensure they also obtain the maximum tax benefits from their charitable...

Investing is typically a game of balancing risk and reward. Those who take more risk have the opportunity for higher reward, and those who take little risk are limited to minimal returns. However, there are occasionally times when the relationship between risk and return breaks down, and investors can achieve great returns without exposing themselves to significant risk. Series I Savings Bonds whi...

A brief review of the Forbes 400 list for 2021 quickly demonstrates real estate’s ability to create wealth. Twenty-four of the billionaires that made the list focused their careers in real estate, and that doesn’t consider the number of other Forbes 400 members who hold real estate as part of their investment portfolios. In this episode, we discuss the benefits and challenges of real estate invest...

Stock market bubbles and the ensuing crashes are nothing new to the experienced investor, and while they are common, they still leave many people asking why they happen in the first place. In this episode, we discuss the causes of stock market bubbles and crashes and consider how investor behavior and psychology play a part in creating market fluctuations. By understanding how investors think abou...

Market fluctuations are part of life when it comes to investing, and while attempting to move money in and out of the market at just the right time is a losing strategy, market fluctuations provide substantial financial planning opportunities for those who are prepared to implement them. In this episode, we discuss the financial planning strategies that are most effective during market downturns a...