Finding the Right Fiduciary Financial Planner to Suit All Your Financial Needs
Not sure how to choose a financial advisor? It’s a big decision! Our guide on how to find a good CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner can help you ask the right questions and select someone able to help you reach your personal financial goals and find financial freedom. Do You Need a Financial Advisor? Depending upon where […]
Using a Donor Advised Fund to Reduce Taxable Income
WHAT’S A DONOR ADVISED FUND? A donor advised fund (DAF) is a relatively new tool that helps both taxpayers and charities reduce taxes now while providing planned donation strategies to continue in the future. Much like a deductible IRA, assets contributed to these donor accounts produce tax savings based on specific IRS guidelines. For taxpayers […]
Tax Planning for Rollovers
Why you might not want to rollover that old 401k Many people overlook tax planning when rolling over old employer retirement plans when switching jobs For high earners, it may be better not to rollover these assets into personal IRAs Special attention needs to be paid to “Rollover” IRAs and “Traditional” IRAs; the correct use […]
How the South Carolina 529 Plan Works
As financial planners, we meet with many parents concerned about how they will pay for their child’s college education. These parents often ask about the Future Scholar program, the 529 college savings plan for residents of South Carolina. We created our educational savings guide below to explain how a 529 program works, the benefits of […]
Backdoor Roth IRA Contributions Explained
How High Earners Can Diversify the Taxability of Their Retirement Assets Our fee only financial advisors often recommend executing a backdoor Roth IRA contribution strategy for high earning clients who max out their tax-deferred and/or after-tax employer sponsored plans and are seeking additional tax favorable approaches to save and grow assets. These clients often accumulate […]
The Perfect Time to Invest
There’s an old story in the investment industry that may be true or may be just a parable–but it certainly is appropriate to remember when the stock market is panicking. The story goes, a very smart advisor would tell each of the investors who opened an account with her the following: “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, […]
What’s in the COVID Relief Package for You?
This is being written as the bill is still in progress. Edits may be required as more information becomes available. Please check back for updates and be sure to consult a financial professional before implementing any of the strategies suggested in this post. The Senate has passed an emergency relief bill that is expected to […]
Coronavirus COVID-19: What it Could Mean for the Stock Market
I don’t want to add flames to the fire regarding the new coronavirus– COVID-19, however, the time to have a lifeboat drill is prior to the ship sinking. Investors should contemplate what this virus can do to the markets and world economies while they are still thinking rationally, rather than waiting until widespread panic clouds their […]
Solutions to the SECURE Act Stretch IRA Problem
What’s the Problem? IRAs that will be inherited by anyone except a spouse, minor children, beneficiaries with disabilities, and anyone who is ten years or less younger than the IRA owner, are now to be completely distributed over 10 years, rather than the lifetime of the heir. Why is this a Problem? With a shortened […]
Year End Tax Planning
With the end of the year approaching, now is the time to look for opportunities to save on income taxes. Here are some items you should look for: Determine whether bunching deductions into 2019 or 2020 will enable you to itemize. Maximize the $15,000 per donee annual gift tax exclusion if estate taxes are a concern […]
