Categories for Financial Planning

• Retirement Tax Planning For 2023

  Posted Date December 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Although you might get busy with the holiday season, don’t forget to consider ways to strengthen tax efficiencies for 2023 and beyond. 2023 Retirement Contribution Increases Set up your accounts to automatically defer money to meet the new increases in retirement contributions next year. In 2023, you can defer up to $22,500 in a 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the government’s Thrift Savings Plan. Plan participants who are age 50 and older may defer up to $30,000 next year. Furthermore, the combined 2023 limit for Traditional and Roth IRAs is $6,500, or $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older.... View Article

• Do You Have an Investment Exit Strategy?

  Posted Date November 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Are you a trader or an investor? The difference is frequently discerned by how closely you monitor the stock market and how quickly you move in and out of investments. Traders are often referred to as market timers because they actively seek to buy into positions when share prices drop, and sell out when those prices rise. Many financial planners and professional money managers are not strong proponents of market timing. The reality is that no one can predict market movements accurately over the long term, so success is often a matter of luck and opportunity. However, market timing is... View Article

• Recent Trends in Long Term Care Insurance

  Posted Date October 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Long term care (LTC) is associated with the elderly for good reason. Over the past 50 years, life expectancy has increased significantly and is therefore something all families should be prepared to address. Even though we may live to a ripe old age, that doesn’t mean we will be healthy or able to live independently. Most people develop one or more chronic conditions that require living assistance – and many live with that ailment for years. Conditions such as arthritis, joint and muscle deterioration, or back pain often lead to chronic disability, making it difficult to impossible to take care... View Article

• Should You Upgrade Your Homeowners Insurance?

  Posted Date September 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  During the first year of the pandemic, many homeowners spent their down time upgrading their homes. The year 2020 alone experienced at 3 percent uptick in spending on home improvements – to the tune of nearly $420 billion nationwide. This included modifications for remote work, online schooling and leisure activities at home. Between remodeling, high inflation and today’s elevated real estate prices, it’s important to review your homeowner’s insurance policy to ensure it’s up-to-date. Does it include enough coverage for recent upgrades to your home? Does it carry an inflation factor to ensure coverage is on par with more expensive... View Article

• Stock Splits, Explained

  Posted Date August 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Imagine selling slices of a large pizza. You can cut it into four even slices and charge $2 a slice. Or, you can cut it into eight even slices and charge $1 per slice. Either way, the total value of the pizza will still be $8. That’s what happens when a stock splits. Let’s say a stock’s market price is $100. With a 2-for-1 split, each current owner receives one additional share for each share he owns. Now, each share is worth $50. If you had one share to start, you now have two, but the total value of the... View Article

• Building Wealth Through Home Equity

  Posted Date July 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Often the first house a person buys is an affordable condominium, townhouse or older single-family dwelling, also referred to as a “starter home.” It might be small and lack features they dream about, from new appliances in the kitchen, to dual sinks in the bath, to a large yard or a garage. However, the key to a starter home is not to acquire your dream house, it is to build equity that you can eventually deploy to buy your dream home. It’s important not to wait until you have enough money for the ideal property. Start as early as you... View Article

• How Social Security Benefits Are Affected by Earned Income

  Posted Date June 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Thanks to the Great Resignation trend over the past year, there is a high availability of jobs. Therefore, now is a good time for retirees who would like to go back to work to ease into the job market. However, if you’ve already begun drawing Social Security benefits, you should understand how earning income will affect those payouts. First of all, you have two options if you’d like to stop receiving Social Security. One option is available only if you’ve been drawing benefits for a year or less. In this case, you may cancel your application; but be aware that... View Article

• New Required Minimum Distribution Rules for 2022

  Posted Date May 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  Starting in 2020, new legislation increased the age to begin Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from 70½ to 72. More recently, the IRS updated the Uniform Life Table for alignment with longer life expectancies. Note that it takes years for actuaries to work up new data for this table, and the recent changes do not reflect the downturn in life expectancies resulting from the pandemic. These updates were established pre-pandemic and scheduled to take effect in 2022. The good news is that retirees who prefer not to withdraw from their retirement portfolios now have a couple more years of growth opportunity... View Article

• Give a College Savings 529 Plan For Graduation

  Posted Date April 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  If you really want to make impact in your new grad’s life, make an investment in his or her future with a 529 College Savings account. There are two versions: an investment account and a prepaid account. Assuming you are opening an account now and don’t have time for investment growth, you may need to fund it with a significant chunk of money for it to be useful. The savings plan is good for building an investment balance over time, including while the student is in college. On the other hand, the prepaid option is a good way to reinvest... View Article

• How To Maximize the Potential of Your 401(k) Plan

  Posted Date March 1, 2022 Posted Time 12:00 am Published in Service2Client

  One of the easiest ways to save for retirement is to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. You simply select a percentage of your paycheck that you would like transferred to your 401(k) (or similar) account. Not only does your employer make the transfer for you, but it comes out of your paycheck before income taxes are taken out. This way, you avoid paying taxes on that income from each paycheck, and those taxes are not due until you withdraw the money from your retirement plan. This usually happens once people retire and enter a lower tax bracket. That’s the... View Article