Monthly Newsletters

Any Time is Tax-Loss Harvesting Time

Published by Kevin Oleszewski As the end of the year approaches, we start to think more and more about our tax picture. What boxes can we check to reduce our taxable income? Tax-loss harvesting is one such approach. A tax-efficient way to rebalance your portfolio, tax-loss harvesting can help you offset earnings and get back to your target allocation. Tax-loss harvesting is traditionally thought of as an end-of-year event, because it can help you minimize your tax bill.

Monthly Newsletters

Areas of Focus for End-of-Year Tax Planning

Many people have the idea that tax planning is only about paying less money right now, and that’s not the case. Tax planning is about paying less money over time. There are many avenues to do that. As we’re nearing the end of 2021, it’s prime time to get your finances in order for the upcoming tax season, and hopefully this article can help you figure out how to pay less money over time. In this article, we’ll focus on a few areas for your end-of-year tax planning: tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing, charitable giving, retirement plan contributions and Roth conversions.

Monthly Newsletters

Tools for the Charitably Minded: Donor-Advised Funds and Charitable Remainder Trusts

Each person’s relationship with charitable giving has an origin story. Maybe it was when your grandmother would cook dinner for people in your community who were less fortunate. Or you were required by parental contract to give up a certain percentage of your allowance to the church collection basket.

Monthly Newsletters

Who is IRMAA and Why Is She Getting My Money?

There’s a scene in the TV show Friends where Rachel gets her very first paycheck as a waitress at Central Perk. “Who is FICA and why is he getting all my money?” she poses to the gang. Some people age 65 and older might have a similar sentiment when they get their Social Security check and see a chunk missing that’s gone to IRMAA.

Monthly Newsletters

Got an HSA? Learn How to Maximize It

Are you healthy? Or are you anticipating some hefty medical bills coming up? Or do you want to save money in a tax-advantaged way for future medical expenses? If so, a health savings account (HSA) might be a good choice. An HSA is a tax-favored savings and investment account that’s used for qualified health care expenses and tethered to high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).

Monthly Newsletters

What to Expect When You’re Expecting Social Security to Run Out of Money

When a problem is 14 or 15 years away, there’s not great urgency to fix it. But when that problem comes within a decade, that’s a different story. You’ve likely read that the Social Security trust fund is going to run out of money by 2034, but with the looming Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund Report coming out soon, it might be more like 2030.

Monthly Newsletters

3 Succession Planning Strategies for Business Owners Who Want to Protect Their Legacy

If you’re a business owner, you have far more than money invested in your work. You may be the first to open the door in the morning and walk in on a floor that you’ve mopped yourself.

Monthly Newsletters

How Financial Scams Work, and How to Keep Yourself Safe No Matter Your Level of Wealth

Editor’s Note: This article was updated in June 2021. In the late 1920s, an enterprising Bostonian started selling subdivisions in the sunny ‘burbs of Florida. Promising orange trees in the backyard and rolling waves out the front door, he sold plots – sometimes 23 an acre! – near bustling towns like Nettie. Unfortunately, the entrepreneur’s name was Charles Ponzi, and Nettie, like his other locales, was a work of lucrative fiction.

Monthly Newsletters

How to Use an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust in Your Estate Plan

Savvy investors keep one eye on Wall Street and one eye on Washington. One of the main topics of Capitol Hill conversations is estate taxes, specifically annual and lifetime exemption amounts. Estate taxes often take aim specifically at the high net worth crowd, who have more to pass on.

Monthly Newsletters

Managing Your Wealth with Life Insurance through Life Stages

Life insurance can be confusing. It’s a protection tool for your family, but can also be an investment tool. Your beneficiaries get the payout when you die, but you can draw funds from it while you’re still alive.