Announcements

Your Emergency Fund: How Much is Enough?

An emergency fund may help alleviate the stress associated with a financial crisis.   Have you ever had one of those months? The water heater stops heating, the dishwasher stops washing, and your family ends up on a first-name basis with the nurse at urgent care. Then, as you’re driving to work, giving yourself your best, “You can make it!” pep talk, you see smoke seeping out from under...

Tolerate the Turbulence

Look beyond this moment and stay focused on your long-term objectives   Volatility will always be around on Wall Street, and as you invest for the long term, you must learn to tolerate it. Rocky moments, fortunately, are not the norm.   Since the end of World War II, there have been dozens of Wall Street shocks. Wall Street has seen 56 pullbacks (retreats of 5-9.99%) in the past 73...

No, That Is Not the I.R.S. Calling

Watch out for crooks impersonating I.R.S. agents (and financial industry professionals).    Do you know how the Internal Revenue Service contacts taxpayers to resolve a problem? The first step is almost always to send a letter through the U.S. Postal Service to the taxpayer.1 It is very rare for the I.R.S. to make the first contact through a call or a personal visit. This happens in two circumstances: when...

Is Generation X Preparing Adequately for Retirement?

Future Financial Needs May Be Underestimated If you were born during 1965-80, you belong to “Generation X.” Ten or twenty years ago, you may have thought of retirement as an event in the lives of your parents or grandparents; within the next 10-15 years, you will probably be thinking about how your own retirement will unfold.1  According to the most recent annual retirement survey from the Transamerica Center for...

Your 2019 Financial To-Do List

Things You Can Do for Your Future as the Year Unfolds What financial, business, or life priorities do you need to address for 2019? Now is a good time to think about the investing, saving, or budgeting methods you could employ toward specific objectives, from building your retirement fund to lowering your taxes. You have plenty of options. Here are a few that might prove convenient.  Can you contribute...

A Look at HSA’s

Health Savings Accounts may provide you with remarkable tax advantages. Why do higher-income households inquire about Health Savings Accounts? They have heard about what an HSA can potentially offer them: a pool of tax-exempt dollars for health care, a path to tax savings, even a possible source of retirement income after age 65. You may want to look at this option yourself. About 26 million Americans now have HSAs....

How New Tax Laws Affect Small Businesses

A recap of the major changes impacting corporations and closely held firms.   The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act changed the tax picture for business owners. Whether your company is incorporated or held closely, you must recognize how the recent adjustments to the Internal Revenue Code can potentially affect you and your workers. How have things changed for C corps? The top corporate tax rate has fallen. C corps...

The Different Types of IRA’s

This popular retirement savings vehicle comes in several varieties.     What don’t you know? Many Americans know about Roth and traditional IRAs, but there are other types of Individual Retirement Arrangements. Here’s a quick look at all the different types of IRAs:  Traditional IRAs (occasionally called deductible IRAs) are the “original” IRAs. In most cases, contributions to a traditional IRA are tax deductible: they reduce your taxable income,...

A New Day for 529 Plans

Federal tax reforms lead to new possibilities for these education savings accounts.   Do you have a 529 college savings plan? Have you thought about opening a 529 plan account? If the answer to either question is “yes,” you should know about two major changes that broaden the possibilities for 529 plans. They may give your family some new options. You may be able to pay K-12 tuition with...

Are Financial Advisory Fees Tax Deductible?

In some cases, they may be.  Read on. Do you itemize your tax deductions? Then you might have a chance to partly or fully deduct the cost of the advisory fees you pay for the investment, legal, and tax advice you receive.   Under federal tax law, you may deduct “investment fees, custodial fees, trust administration fees, and other expenses you paid for managing your investments that produce taxable...