Blog
What’s on our mind? You can read about it in our blog. Whether it’s ideas from the industry or emerging trends, you can read about it here. And once in a while, we may throw in a movie review or some other surprise. So keep checking in. We’re glad to have you reading along.
2023 Recap and 2024 Outlook: Key Events and What May Be in Store
As we get ready to turn the page on 2023 and welcome the new year with all its possibilities, we’d like to take some time to reflect on the year that was—the notable events, trends, and developments that defined our...
Read MoreTechnology Guide for Dementia Patients and Their Caregivers
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or any other form of dementia, this can be an extremely challenging time. While promising new treatments are developing and research continues, a cure remains elusive....
Read More10 Financial Missteps to Avoid During a Divorce
Divorce is one of the most stressful life events. Even the most amicable splits can be complicated and emotionally draining. We likely all know couples who have gone through divorce, and it can be a trying time for everyone involved....
Read MorePreparing for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Sunset at the End of 2025
While we haven’t yet said goodbye to 2023, it’s not too early to begin thinking about any tax changes that may be on the horizon. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 was designed to overhaul the federal tax code by...
Read More10 Ideas for a Virtual Holiday Party
Many of us have adapted to a world with remote team members and back-to-back Zoom calls with customers spread across the country, which certainly has its benefits. Nevertheless, one drawback is the difficulty of getting together in...
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The Impact of SECURE 2.0 in 2024 and Beyond
SECURE 2.0: Changes Going Into Effect in 2024 Passed in 2019, the SECURE Act was the most substantial retirement legislation in over a decade. It contained important changes designed to help investors save more and be better prepared...
Read MoreA Year-End Financial Checklist
Time to Think About Year-End Financial Strategies As we roll into fall and the fourth quarter, now is a good time to pause and reflect on proactive ways to set up your finances for 2024. Economically speaking, we are now in a much...
Read MoreAI's Role in Shaping Our Tomorrow: A Look Ahead
While artificial intelligence (AI) is making headlines today, the concept of "thinking machines" can be traced back to ancient philosophers and mathematicians. The phrase artificial intelligence was first used in the mid-20th century,...
Read MoreTop 10 Questions High Net Worth Individuals Ask About Social Security
Social Security, the program you may have spent a lifetime paying into, is designed to offer stability, supplemental income, and other valuable benefits that can play a role in your overall financial strategy after you retire. We've...
Read MoreUnderstanding the September Effect: What It Is and Why It Happens
If you ask the average investor which month is the most volatile for the stock market, they will probably say October. It's a reasonable answer, but it's incorrect. Despite October's reputation for market-defining events like the...
Read MoreDon't Get Hooked: A Guide to Recognizing and Avoiding Phishing
As financial professionals, we understand how vital it is to safeguard your personal and financial information. Unfortunately, in our increasingly digital world, cybersecurity risks, such as phishing attacks, have become a prevalent...
Read MoreMoney Tips for Parents Sending Children Off to College
You’ve done a great job teaching your children vital life lessons and instilling values that will last a lifetime. As summer ends and a new school year begins, one thing that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially for...
Read MoreAttention Parents and Grandparents of College-Bound Students: FAFSA Gets an Overhaul
Changes are coming to the complicated form that students must submit to qualify for college financial aid, known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).The Department of Education is calling it the “most...
Read MoreOur incredible Business Development Team
"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford Our incredible Business Development Team is always there to make sure we're set up for success so that we can focus on what...
Read MoreThe 6 Biggest Mistakes DIY Investors Make and How to Avoid Them
IntroductionOver the last several months, I have met with quite a few self-proclaimed do-it-yourself (DIY) investors who, after struggling with the markets in 2022, approached me asking for a second opinion. Interestingly, almost every...
Read MoreHow the SECURE 2.0 Act Changed 529 Plans
Changes to 529 plans in the SECURE 2.0 ActThe SECURE Act was initially passed by Congress at the end of 2019 and was intended to improve retirement savings opportunities. It was a big deal at the time and the most significant piece of...
Read MoreHealth Savings Accounts: Pros, Cons, and Retirement Considerations
What if your child needs braces? The cost may be as much as $6,000 for metal braces—more modern versions can run as much as $13,000. Your health insurance may cover only a portion of the cost. If you're well past the braces stage...
Read MoreSECURE 2.0 Helps Small Employers Help Their Employees
Approximately 78% of people who work for companies with fewer than 10 employees and about 65% of those who work for companies with 10 to 24 employees do not have access to a retirement plan at work.1 That's unfortunate, because workers...
Read MoreThere's Still Time to Fund an IRA for 2022
The tax filing deadline is fast approaching, which means time is running out to fund an IRA for 2022. If you had earned income last year, you may be able to contribute up to $6,000 for 2022 ($7,000 for those age 50 or older by December...
Read MoreFive Ways SECURE 2.0 Changes the Required Minimum Distribution Rules
The SECURE 2.0 legislation included in the $1.7 trillion appropriations bill passed late last year builds on changes established by the original Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE 1.0) enacted in 2019....
Read MoreIRS Releases Standard Mileage Rates for 2023
The IRS has released the optional standard mileage rates for computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical, and moving expense purposes for 2023.
Read MoreRetirement Investors Get Another Boost from Washington
SECURE 2.0 will usher in many changes for retirement plans and IRAs over the next several years. In our most recent blog, we've outlined what the legislation does.
Read MoreIs the Yield Curve Signaling a Recession?
Long-term bonds generally provide higher yields than short-term bonds, because investors demand higher returns to compensate for the risk of lending money over a longer period. Occasionally, however, this relationship...
Read MoreWhat Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
If you had a choice between buying a laptop on sale or waiting until the sale ended and prices went up, you’d buy it on sale, right? It can be hard for many people to approach investing from the same perspective. When the...
Read MoreStudent Loan Repayment Delayed Again to Future Date in 2023
The Biden administration has announced another extension for repayment of federal student loans to an unspecified date in 2023 due to legal challenges that have blocked implementation of the student loan debt relief program. The...
Read MoreCollege Cost Data for 2022-2023 School Year
Every year, the College Board releases new college cost data and trends in its annual report. The figures published are average cost figures based on a survey of approximately 4,000 colleges across the country.Over the past 20 years,...
Read MoreWhat Does a Strong Dollar Mean for the U.S. Economy?
In late September 2022, the U.S. dollar hit a 20-year high in an index that measures its value against six major currencies: the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona, and the Swiss franc. At...
Read MoreSave On Taxes with 4 Simple Year-End Tips
4 Year-End Tax Planning Tips to Use Now. Everybody wants to save on their taxes. If you think tax-saving strategies are too complicated, you could be missing out on tax savings. There are a few simple tax-saving strategies available to...
Read MoreRetirement Legislation Awaits Further Action
Retirement Legislation Awaits Further ActionLegislation that could benefit people with individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans is currently moving through Congress. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of...
Read MoreMedicare Open Enrollment Is Here: How Are Costs Changing for 2023?
Medicare's Open Enrollment Period — which runs from October 15 through December 7 — is your annual opportunity to switch your current Medicare health and prescription drug plans to ones that better suit your needs. Just in...
Read MoreFAFSA for 2023-2024 School Year is Open
October is the kickoff month for financial aid. That's when incoming and returning college students can start filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the next academic year. The FAFSA is a prerequisite for...
Read MorePrepare Now for Future Emergencies
September is National Preparedness Month, part of an effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to raise public awareness and inspire disaster readiness. Most communities could be impacted by some type of natural disaster...
Read MoreNew Cancellation for Federal Student Loans and Delayed Repayment to 2023
On August 24, 2022, just a few days before federal student loan repayment was set to resume, President Biden announced a plan for additional student loan debt relief.Federal student loan repayment was originally halted in March 2020 at...
Read MoreInflation Reduction Act: What You Should Know
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on August 16, 2022, includes health-care and energy-related provisions, a new corporate alternative minimum tax, and an excise tax on certain corporate stock buybacks. Additional funding is...
Read MoreIs the U.S. Economy in a Recession?
In an early July poll, 58% of Americans said they thought the U.S. economy was in a recession, up from 53% in June and 48% in May.1 Yet many economic indicators, notably employment, remain strong. The current situation is unusual, and...
Read MoreNow Might Be a Good Time for a Roth Conversion
One silver lining in the current bear market is that this could be a good time to convert assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Converted assets are subject to federal income tax in the year of conversion, which might be a...
Read MoreThe Health of Social Security: Some Good News and Some Bad News
With approximately 94% of American workers covered by Social Security and 65 million people currently receiving benefits, keeping Social Security healthy is a major concern.1 Social Security isn't in danger of going...
Read MoreTech Sector Turmoil and the Bear Market
During the intensely volatile first 100 trading days of 2022, the stocks of companies in the S&P 500 index delivered their worst performance since 1970.1 The S&P 500 continued to tumble, and the benchmark index descended into a bear...
Read MoreBuilding Your Wealth
Start Building Your Wealth Now, See Resultsin the FutureBuilding your wealth isn’t something that will happen overnight. It’s with time, dedication and creating healthy habits that you’ll be able to increase your nest...
Read MoreRising Rates Join Long List of Housing Dilemmas
Homebuyers braving the hot U.S. housing market have run headlong into a striking transition. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped from around 3.2% at the beginning of 2022 to 5.3% in mid-May, the highest level...
Read MoreExplore Tax-Loss Harvesting this April 15th
Are You Using Your Losses to Your Advantage? What is tax-loss harvesting? Tax-loss harvesting is a strategy that helps you reduce the taxes you owe on the capital gains from one investment with the capital losses from a different...
Read MoreTax Planning for the Self-Employed
Tax Planning for the Self-EmployedSelf-employment is the opportunity to be your own boss, to come and go as you please, and oh yes, to establish a lifelong bond with your accountant. If you're self-employed, you'll need to pay your own...
Read MoreWhat’s Your Tax Strategy
Tax Credits vs Tax Deductions Which is Better For You? No one wants to pay more taxes than they have to. In the past, you’ve probably relied on tax credits and deductions to help you pay fewer taxes, but which one is more...
Read MoreSave On Taxes With These Simple Year-End Tips
USE THESE YEAR-END TAX PLANNING TIPS Everybody wants to save on their taxes. If you think tax-saving strategies are too complicated, you could be missing out on tax savings. There are a few simple tax-saving strategies available to...
Read MoreCorporation liable for payroll taxes on wages IRS determined it should have paid to officers
Corporation liable for payroll taxes on wages IRS determined it should have paid to officers Hacker, TC Memo 2021-86 The Tax Court has held that two corporate officers were employees of a corporation they owned and that the...
Read MoreDon’t Wait to Update Your Beneficiaries
Protecting the people nearest and dearest to us is something we all want to do. It’s why we purchase health and life insurance, save diligently for retirement, and ensure important legal documents (like a will or trust) are in...
Read MoreFAQs - Economic Impact Payments
You've probably heard that IRS will be making millions of ''economic impact payments'' (also called ''recovery rebates'') soon to help people stay afloat during this time of economic uncertainty related to the COVID-19 crisis. These...
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