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Federal Gift Tax in 2025: Save More, Stress Less
The Art of Gifting: Navigating Federal Gift Tax Rules with FlairAs a financial advisor, I’m here to guide you through the labyrinth of federal gift tax rules with a touch of wit and a lot of clarity. Gifting can be a powerful tool for...
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Social Security Fairness Act: Quiet Rule, Loud Impact
Nearly all of us know an educator who has dedicated their life to shaping the future - often with little recognition or reward. For decades, many of these public servants have faced an unfair financial penalty under Social Security...
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No Taxation Without Representation
No Taxation Without Representation Before taxes were a line on your paycheck, they were a reason to revolt-let’s rewind. As we find ourselves one year closer to our nation’s 250th birthday, I am reminded of a familiar grade school...
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The Different Stages of Financial Freedom
If you're living paycheck-to-paycheck or stuck in a job you don't love just to pay the bills, it can be easy to feel as though you're financially trapped. But financial freedom doesn't need to be elusive—with some focused and...
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School's In! Money Management Tips for Parents, Back-to-School Edition
Education has become increasingly expensive for parents, especially for those hoping to help their children stave off the burden of massive student debt. This may include having to contend with soaring inflation, spikes in cost of...
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Turning Fortune into Financial Freedom: A Beneficiary’s Guide to Handling an Inheritance
Inheriting comes with many emotions, from sadness to confusion to perhaps even joy or relief. An inheritance can take various forms, such as cash, properties, stocks, bonds, property, or other assets. The person leaving the inheritance...
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Beachside Investing: Navigating the Financial Seas
If you're someone who loves nothing more than spending a relaxing day at the beach, you likely hope your retirement plans will let you spend much more time there. By applying ‘beach day’ lessons toward your investment strategies,...
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Finances and Fireworks: 5 Strategies to Help Preserve and Celebrate Your Financial Freedom Your fin
Your finances are probably one of the last places you want to experience fireworks—unless they are celebratory. With new year's resolutions firmly in the rearview mirror, the summer months allow you to revisit your financial goals and...
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The Simple Life: 3 Tips for Simplifying Your Financial Life
If you sometimes feel like your financial life has too many moving parts, you may be looking for ways to get back to the basics—without letting anything slip through the cracks. Fortunately, simplifying your finances does not have to...
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The Quest for Perfection: Baseball and Investing
A Major League pitcher’s perfect game and an investor’s perfect portfolio Achieving perfection in any field is a remarkable feat, requiring a combination of skill, talent, focus, and a touch of luck. In the world of Major League...
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Tips for Talking to Your Kids About Your Finances
Communicating openly can help everyone prepare and plan for the future Many parents may find it uncomfortable, or even believe it is unnecessary, to inform their children about personal finance matters. Yet, communicating openly with...
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3 Golf Tips to Keep Your Retirement Plan on Course
In golf, as in finances, there are a few rules of thumb that may improve your game: keep a level head, avoid traps, practice before trying something new and stay the course. Applying lessons from the golf course to your financial life...
Read MoreWhy You Should Avoid Paying Entire Cost of College From 529
I know. You started your 529 account soon after your child’s birth, and family members have contributed to it for the kids’ birthdays and special occasions. That money has been specifically earmarked for your kids’ education, and now...
Read MoreMaximizing Childcare Tax Benefits
Who loves paying for childcare?!?! Bueller? Bueller? It figures. No one. For many, it is a necessary fact of life, though. So, we might as well get the biggest bang for our tax buck as possible. The child and dependent care credit and...
Read MoreThe Tax Benefits of Employing Your Child
Ahhh, summer jobs! Seen as a rite of passage, summer jobs can instill many values: punctuality, work ethic, teamwork, leadership. Summer jobs can even lead to all year around jobs, and when done so through a family business, the...
Read MoreWhy Pass Through Business Owners Should Reconsider Their Retirement Accounts Strategy
Six thousand dollars. This is the maximum that individuals under age 50 can contribute to an individual retirement account. This is also the most that one would be able to deduct if eligible. That’s right. Deductibility is not a...
Read MoreTax-Efficient Retirement Withdrawals
Traditionally, financial advisors and retirement experts have recommended to withdraw from non-qualified taxable account first followed by tax deferred accounts such as 401(k) accounts and Traditional IRAs and lastly ROTH IRAs. This...
Read MoreMaximizing Tax Benefits by Coordinating Spousal Retirement Contributions
This is a question we hear often. A lot of the times it doesn’t really matter for tax reasons. On the other hand, there are some nontax reasons why which spouse contributes to retirement matters, but this post will only focus on the...
Read MoreWash Sales
While turmoil in financial markets is unnerving to say the least, there is usually a silver lining somewhere. Yes, it Is disheartening when portfolios are down, but the silver lining some active investors choose to take advantage of is...
Read MoreIs a Bypass Trust Still Necessary?
The use of a bypass trust has been a staple in the estate planner’s toolbox for decades. For a good reason, too. While many of those reasons are still valid, some have changed. For example, bypass trusts were used to have a decedent’s...
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