Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) have been modified many times since their introduction forty-six years ago in 1974. Many of the changes have been beneficial – the contribution limits have increased from the original annual amount of $1,500 up to $6,000 in 2020 (unchanged from 2019); in 1986 the addition of non-deductible contributions expanded the access … Continue reading Will the SECURE Act Affect You?
Starting in 2011, the first wave of “baby-boomers” – Americans born between 1946 and 1964 – reached retirement age. The term tsunami may be more apropos than wave, however. According to Health and Human Services (HHS), more than 10,000 Americans will turn age 65 every day for the next decade1. While turning age 65 does … Continue reading Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Click here to view a PRINT VERSION of this article. Picture this: It’s a bright summer day and you decide to take a visit to your local botanical gardens to enjoy the sunny weather. While you are strolling down the path, you spot a patch of lavender flowers and lean down to smell the sweet … Continue reading Psychology and Money: A Primer on Behavioral Finance
Back in 1946, a nuclear physicist working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Stanislaw Ulam, was convalescing from an illness. Unable to binge Netflix (as I do when recovering under bed rest) he instead amused himself by playing solitaire. Ever the mathematician, Ulam began wondering about the statistical probability of a successful solitaire game. As … Continue reading How I Stopped Worrying About Uncertainty and Learned To Trust the Numbers
A few years ago, a new client asked me to review a “universal” life insurance policy that she bought in the early 1990’s. The insurance company had recently increased her annual premiums by a whopping 32% and the policy would soon lapse unless she opened up her wallet. Suffice it to say, she was equally … Continue reading Universal Life Insurance in a Low Rate Environment
To download a printable version of this article: 201810 OPCM – Trim Taxes, Increase Cash Flow, or Save Time The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into legislation last December, and this upcoming 2018 tax filing will be our introduction to how the changes affect us personally. As Q3 comes to a close, we … Continue reading 11 Tips to Trim Taxes, Increase Cash Flow, or Save Time
The best gift I ever received from my parents growing up was my very own checking account when I was 12 years old. This may sound a bit dull at first, but the gift was much more than the physical checkbook and debit card I was so excited to use back then. That was the … Continue reading Financial Wellness for Kids!
For middle to high income earners, there are IRS limitations on the tax benefits allowed for both Roth IRA and traditional IRA ownership. For an individual with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeding $135,000 (single filers) and $199,000 (married joint filers), the ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is completely phased out. 1 To … Continue reading Backdoor Roth IRAs
As if December wasn’t already one of the busiest times of the year. In between planning menus, shopping for presents, getting groceries, lighting candles, coordinating travel arrangements, and taking care of the regular year-end checklist of charitable gifting and tax-loss harvesting, we had to add to our list a call to our accountant for help … Continue reading Tax Reform And Us
The majority of the time, an IRA owner will list individual(s) as their intended beneficiaries on the IRA beneficiary designation form. Aside from being the most common option, there is good reason for the IRA owner to elect this method a good portion of the time. By choosing the IRA beneficiary outright, the IRA owner provides the beneficiaries with the option of tax-deferred growth in the form of “stretch” … Continue reading Designating The Living Trust As IRA Beneficiary
