With many of us saddled in student loan debt well into our late thirties, our retirement cannot wait for us to be debt free. This 2016 rewrite of a 2007 article teaches you how to get started with savings while repaying your loans.
The best way to climb the mountain of college costs is gradually, but if you need to make some last minute leaps, our government has a few tax-related strategies.
ABLE accounts offer people with disabilities a new opportunity to save and invest for the future.
“If you have been asked to serve as a board member or trustee for a non-profit organization, feeling honored is a natural response but a terrible reason for saying yes to the job. Your role as committee member, board member, or trustee will likely designate you as a fiduciary, a role with specific legal responsibilities.”
When endowment funds fall victim to poor management, the results are as bad as they are far reaching. This 2016 article reviews the six most common pitfalls of endowments and how to avoid them.
If you own some mutual funds, chances are you are paying a hefty marketing price.
Prudent investment practice is as much about knowing what not to do as it is about knowing what to do.
Two rules of endowment investing: 1) Keep an equity bias and 2) diversify.
Endowment spending rates can prove a catalyst for fulfilling or killing the life of the organization itself.
Even if a committee has contracted with “prudent experts,” the Committee never delegates its fiduciary responsibility.
Despite the fact that millions serve in a fiduciary role, many are wholly unaware of their legal responsibilities.
While your student loans may be a daunting sum, it is still possible to build wealth even while paying off student debt.
If you don’t have retirement savings in Roth IRAs, it’s time you considered their benefits. Assets in traditional IRAs can be rolled into Roth IRAs without a withdrawal penalty.
It is a common assumption that your last will and testament determines who gets your stuff when you die. What you may not know is the vast majority of your assets may be transferred to others regardless of the instructions in your will.
A good estate plan is every bit as useful during your lifetime as it is at your death. No matter your age or how much (or how little) money you have, there are three essential estate planning documents you should have.
It can be tricky to figure out who your “next of kin” is, so here’s a handy flowchart to help you figure out who gets everything you leave behind if you don’t have a will.
Long-term government bonds outperformed stocks over the past 20 years ending 2011, but the next 20 years may be a very different story.
Most Americans fail to plan adequately for retirement. As a result, they often miss out on opportunities to enjoy the second half of life.
Knowing which assets to give away to your beneficiaries can save your estate and your beneficiaries big tax bills, even if you have a small net worth. If you plan on making a gift to charity from your estate, you can be even more tax savvy with your giving.
One of the most common estate planning mistakes is a plan that is implemented incorrectly. Your estate plan is only worth the paper it is printed on unless you follow through on titling your assets correctly and updating your beneficiary designations.
If you own real estate in different states, you may be leaving a mess of nightmarish proportions for your executor (the person who oversees and distributes your assets when you die). Here’s how to reduce the headache.
It may surprise you that proceeds from retirement accounts and insurance policies are not divided according to the terms in your will. Instead, these assets pass directly to the beneficiaries you named on the account.
No matter your age, in addition to a will, you need two additional documents.
The worst thing you can do is to do nothing at all and assume everything will pan out in the end. No matter how much (or how little) money you have, you need at least a simple will.
Much of the recent conversation about ETFs has to do with the hidden risks of “synthetic ETFs,” risks which are not present in their mundane relatives known as “physical ETFs.”
Growing investor despair that somehow we have entered into a new era in which individual investors can no longer make money in the markets is an overreaction to the headlines.
The law allows taxpayers age 70 1/2 or older to donate up to $100,000 from their IRA directly to a charity. The amount of the charitable contribution is excluded from taxable income.
More than 200 charities have been designated Neighborhood Assistance Programs (NAPs).
In some cases you will have to pay the $135 deductible plus 20 percent of the remaining costs.
Use a 529 college savings account to save for college.
Only contributions made to charity before January 1, 2008 can be characterized as qualified charitable distributions.
Waiting for the higher payout is like buying longevity insurance.
Unlike the trusts which helped John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan keep their wealth in the family, this new breed of dynasty trust is not just for the mega-wealthy.
When you give to charity, you make an investment. By doing a little homework, you can be sure your gift makes the best possible return on investment. While giving is its own reward, giving wisely seems to double that reward.
Donor Advised Funds offer the charitably inclined new flexibility for managing gifts to charity. By funding an account, donors receive an immediate tax deduction for their contribution and gain the flexibility to direct payouts to charity on their own timetable.
Without a financial plan, your investments are controlling your dreams, not the other way around. You need a blueprint for your financial dreams to come true. That blueprint in sound financial planning is called an Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
In order to make full use of these tax-saving tips, be sure to visit your tax professional before year’s end. Once January 1st rolls around, there’s little else you can do but pay up.
Solo 401(k)s permit you to contribute to the plan both as the “employer” and as the “employee.”
You can either pay now or pay more later.
Historically income taxes have not been this low since 1931.
More businesses migrate across state borders than national borders.
Virginians can take a $2,000 state tax deduction simply by flowing their money through a 529 account for a day.
Although the lender almost always wins, a reverse mortgage does offer a Band-Aid solution to pending cash flow problems.
Consider moving your official place of residence to your vacation house, live in it 760 days out of five years, and then take the exclusion.
Canada is the one major country that is not included in the EAFE (Europe, Australia, and Far East) foreign index. Not only are they good neighbors but a good investment.
One out of every ten patients consume 69 percent of health care costs. The other nine would benefit from an HSA.
Community college for the first two years is the best deal to avoid the mountains of student debt and still graduate from a top-rate school.
Like the iron rods in sailing ships, bonds keep your portfolio upright in stormy weather.
Beware of bogus credit companies claiming to offer free credit reports in order to gather your personal information.
Even if you don’t need coverage you can avoid future penalties for as little as $1.87 per month.