Educating Your Next Generation
Key Takeaways: Our most successful planning relationships are those in which we work with our client’s other professional advisors – and their children and heirs as well. Involving heirs in your financial and estate planning makes the next generation’s estate administration job much easier. You do not have to tell them every detail, but at […]
Taxes in Retirement – Case Studies
Key Takeaways: Your sources of income will change, but you will still owe taxes in retirement. In general, your principal (or “cost basis”) will be returned to you tax-free. A diversified portfolio protects in down markets and provides flexibility when planning for taxes. When you’ve spent your adult life working and saving, retirement […]
How Much Cash Should I Hold?
Key Takeaways Rising inflation increases the opportunity cost of holding cash We believe the benefits of cash outweigh any loss in purchasing power Market drawdowns like today are relatively good times for long-term investment The question we are getting more than any other these days is, “What should I do with […]
Top 10 Personal Finance Best Practices
As more investors seek out and embrace personalized asset management and individualized financial advice, industry tycoons Vanguard and Russell Investments researched the value created by professional advice. Both companies measured the impact on investor returns when partnering with an advisor who provides skilled management and guidance. Russell Investments identified up to an additional annualized […]
Getting Creative with College Funding
In our previous discussions about college planning, we’ve discussed where and how much to save while acknowledging that these questions require several assumptions. Is it sensible to make saving for college a major financial goal when there’s no guarantee the child will attend? That’s a tough question for families and for this reason, we favor educating […]
The Power of Homeownership
Key Takeaways: Having a fixed-rate mortgage keeps a large portion of your budget constant versus the variability of rental costs Lower expenses in retirement creates more disposable income, greater flexibility in combatting rising costs, and the ability to invest Saving what’s left rarely works – making monthly mortgage payments creates a forced savings vehicle saving […]
Balancing Saving and Giving
Most of our clients aspire to be financially self-sufficient. As those clients age, we notice some amount of transition into wanting to benefit others with accumulated resources. This giving can range from donations to charities of interest to paying for a grandchild’s education to helping a friend in need. We have been fortunate since the […]
Inflation Concerns: Are Higher Prices Here to Stay?
Higher prices are here – I learned this last month when booking a rental car for our summer vacation, a 6-day rental for which I had typically budgeted $400-$500 was now going to cost over $1,000. Although an unpleasant surprise, the reasoning is quite simple, the travel demand has skyrocketed, in conjunction with a major […]
