Personal Financial Planning

It’s officially spring here, we already had the first tornado of the season.  Just some minor damage on the outskirts of town, but it makes a person think about getting important papers organized and grab-able in an emergency.

Ask just about anyone about their financial planning and what they would have done differently, and they’ll answer “I wish I would have started saving sooner”.  As parents we’re in a position of being able to keep our kids from having that same regret. 

Making IRA contributions is more complicated than it used to be; there are traditional, non-deductible and Roth IRAs, and each has different income thresholds for eligibility along with rules about whether you or your spouse have retirement plans at work.  However, if you don’t qualify to make a contribution directly, with a couple of extra steps, you can make what is called a &ldquo

This year has sparked a lot of conversation about insurance.  COVID brought the prospect of death to the forefront for some, and many had a temporary loss of income which gave them a glimpse of what life might look like without a paycheck. These are good motivators for checking both your life and disability insurance policies to make sure you have the right coverage. 

With the increase of the Standard Deduction, many clients found that they weren’t itemizing anymore, and discovered they were missing out on the tax benefits of making charitable contributions.  Charitable Stacking is a way to fix that.  

A common question I hear is “when can I stop working?”  Not that the client necessarily wants to stop working, they just want to know that they can stop.  That would be my definition of financial independence; knowing that your investments or other income is enough to support your lifestyle, independent of your work. 

We’re doing a lot of year-end tax checks with clients; it’s a regular November/December activity, but a tax check is even more important this year.  It’s been an unusual year - some clients have more taxable income than usual (unemployment, PPP, HHS/Cares Grants) and others have lower-than-usual income (missed paychecks, skipped Required Minimum Distributions).  We&r

People are generally holding more cash than usual right now, having reacted to COVID’s effect on the market and the economy, uncertainty about the election, and the feeling that there’s safety and security in cash.  

There is ongoing academic research regarding how much money it takes to be happy, or at least satisfied, with one’s financial life.  While the numbers vary, at a certain point, studies show that increases in annual income no longer seem to bring greater happiness.

Financially, it has been an unusual and stressful year.  We are doing a series of “check up” articles to look at different areas of your finances to see what has changed, and what you might need to check up on to be sure your financial plan is still on track.  The focus of this post is cash flow;  many clients’ cash flow was affected significantly this year