Student Loan Forgiveness Best Practices
Key Takeaways: Federal student debt cancellation up to $10,000 ($20,000 for Pell grant recipients) Cancellation limited by income ($125,000 single, $250,000 for married couples) Limited PSLF Waiver ends October 31, 2022; review your eligibility This past Wednesday, the President announced a student debt cancellation plan. Unfortunately for borrowers hopeful to log in to their […]
Tax Savings on Company Stock
If you work for a publicly traded company, chances are you can own company stock inside your 401(k) retirement plan. We’ve seen many workers nearing retirement who have accumulated substantial shares of company stock. These workers are often unaware that they have an option with the tax treatment of these shares that could potentially result […]
Putting a Value on Your Social Security Benefits
Key Takeaways: Most retirees don’t think of Social Security as an asset and therefore exclude it from their balance sheet. The present value of Social Security payments over an average life expectancy can easily be several hundred thousand dollars. We can’t predict what will happen with Social Security down the road, so it is important […]
Takeaways From a Week at the Chicago Booth School of Business
As all the children in our community are getting ready to go back to school, I am reflecting on my week back in the classroom this summer. I was lucky enough to spend time at the Chicago Booth School of Business learning from the country’s leading practitioners in estate and tax planning. Earlier this year, I set […]
Managing a Household Allocation
One of our mantras in planning is to “Know What You Own.” Peter Lynch popularized this term during his management of a Fidelity mutual fund in the 1980’s, and we think it applies to more than just investments. Your home, your health insurance, your business, and yes, your investments each have features, risks, and opportunities […]
(With Perspective) There Is Good in This Selloff
Yes, I said it; there are countless reasons to celebrate what we are and have been experiencing in the financial markets. From a historical perspective, we believe the developments in this environment are constructive to a healthier economic and market environment in the future. Let me count the ways: 1. The Market is […]
Paying Down Debt vs. Saving for Retirement
Here is one we hear all the time – “How can I save for retirement with all of these monthly debt payments?” For what is seemingly a simple question, the answer can actually be somewhat complicated. Striking the right balance between debt payments and savings contributions will vary with each household and the solution is […]
Market Volatility & Behavior Finance
If you feel like the stock market has been all over the place recently, there is some merit behind the feeling. So far, during 2022 we have experienced 41 days where the S&P 500 has returned greater than a +/- 1% return. This represents approximately half of the trading days of the year so […]
The Investor Taxation Lifecycle
We are not CPAs nor are we tax preparers, but a great deal of our time is spent working with clients and their professionals honing a financial plan that is tax efficient. We advise our clients to hire a CPA with whom we can work together to manage their financial plans. The financial plan and […]
Alternative Uses of Social Security Income
Key Takeaways: If you live a longer than average life, you will very likely receive more in Social Security if you wait until age 70 to claim. However, in numerous situations, we have advocated for earlier enrollment if the client’s situation justifies doing so. In most of these instances, the rationale is a combination of […]
When Too Much Tax Deferral Becomes Counterproductive
Click here to watch video in new window. 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 […]
The Inverted Yield Curve of April 2022
Key Takeaways: The 2-year/10-year yield curve inverted for the first time since 2019. This type of inversion has preceded the last eight recessions. Proper portfolio allocation can help insulate investors from the negative outcomes of recessions. Three years ago today, on April 4, 2019, I wrote about the Inverted Yield Curve […]
