Should Business Owners Raise Their Salary to Earn More Social Security?

Key Takeaways: Pass-through entity owners can choose to take profits as wages or distributions Increasing owner salary raises payroll tax liability but also increases future Social Security benefits Older owners and owners with non-working spouses and/or incomplete earnings records stand to benefit the most from increasing their salaries       Lower taxes are better, […]

Alternative Uses of Social Security Income

Key Takeaways:   Many unique situations could justify taking Social Security earlier. The psychological benefits of a new income stream can relieve anxiety around a new planning strategy. To take Social Security before age 70, the financial and non-financial benefits of claiming Social Security early should outweigh the benefits of deferral.     If you […]

After a Historic Boom in Venture Capital, the Well Appears to be Running Dry

By: Brian Burton, CFP® Cash-burning startups are being forced to take on increasing amounts of debt as VC funding dries up With funding slowing, fundamentals and profitability should return to the forefront of company evaluation The mantra of “growth at any price” that we’ve seen in recent years is likely gone for the foreseeable future […]

When Too Much Tax Deferral Becomes Counterproductive

Most of us have been told from early on in our careers to defer as much income as possible to ensure we’ll be properly prepared for retirement.  While not bad advice, most of these strategies involve only qualified deferrals, meaning all income tax gets punted until the distribution phase.  Now, if you end up in […]

Simplify Budgeting to One Key Number

“Where does the money go?” is a question we, unfortunately, hear all too often when discussing budgeting and cash flow.  Often the only thing simple about a family’s cash flow is that it is simply confusing.  Let’s look at how we help simplify complicated family finances into one key number. Often times we see clients […]