Donating Stock - It can give you a tax break. It can give a charity a tax break in the future. Why sell shares when you can gift them? If you have appreciated stocks in your portfolio (and you hold them in a non-qualified account that doesn’t get special tax treatment), then you might want [...]
What do you do with big money? A first-world problem, and nothing more? Not quite. Getting rich quick can be liberating, but it can also be frustrating. Sudden wealth can help you resolve anxieties about funding your retirement or your children’s college educations, and newfound financial freedom can lead to time freedom – greater opportunity [...]
Investing Mistakes - How many can you prevent yourself from making? Year after year, in bull and bear markets, investors make some all-too-common blunders. They have been written about, talked about, and critiqued at some length – and yet they are still made. You can chalk them up to psychology, human nature, perhaps even a [...]
Why not plan to lighten your financial burden? Positive moves to counteract negative cash flow. The financial analysis website nerdwallet.com keeps track of the various debts common to the U.S. household. As of April 2014, they’ve found an average mortgage debt of $154,365. They have also discovered an average household has $7,087 in debt from [...]
Politics aside, how could coverage improve for you & your loved ones? Health care reform has many fans and many detractors. Amid all the sound and fury, the plain facts risk being blurred. So here is a look at where the reforms stand, and what they potentially offer you. Here is how the health care [...]
When was the last time you looked at the content of your portfolio? When turbulence hits Wall Street, are you stressed out? If you have taken on too much risk in your portfolio – which can happen through intention or inattention – stock market volatility may make you anxious. So from time to time, it [...]
How might they affect investments, housing & retirees? How will Wall Street fare if interest rates climb back to historic norms? Rising interest rates could certainly impact investments, the real estate market and the overall economy – but their influence might not be as negative as some perceive. Why are rates rising? You can cite [...]
A convenient move that could ward off probate on your accounts. TOD, JTWROS...what do these obscure acronyms signify? They are shorthand for transfer on death and joint tenancy with right of ownership – two designations that permit automatic transfer of bank or investment accounts from a deceased spouse to a surviving spouse. This automatic transfer [...]
Do you have a strategy to follow? Have you created a company that someone will want to buy? Your children won’t necessarily want to take over your business, so an exit strategy is essential to getting the outcome you want. You must prepare your firm for the transition – and you must be prepared as [...]
It is only wise to consider what Medicare won’t cover in the future. As you save for retirement, you also recognize the possibility of having to pay major health care costs in the future. Is there some way to plan for these expenses years in advance? Just how great might those expenses be? There’s no [...]
