There are at least five reasons to hold cash. Without a good reason to hold cash, you may be holding too much.
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About Megan Russell
Megan Russell+ is the Chief Operating Officer for Marotta Wealth Management. She studied Cognitive Science at the University of Virginia and now specializes in explaining the complexities of economics and finance. Megan loves formal logic, creative writing, and kittens.
Roth Recharacterization: May Change Your Required Minimum Distribution
A Roth recharacterization is a true undo; it is as though you never converted those assets in the eyes of the IRS. This includes recalculating your RMD had you not converted the assets.
Read More...Roth Conversion: Take Your Required Minimum Distribution Out First
A simple summary of how to meet your Required Minimum Distribution in the same year as you perform a Roth Conversion is the axiom: RMD dollars must come out first.
Read More...Narrowly Framed Questions Fail to Meet Life Goals
Purchasing investment products in isolation from the larger context of your specific situation is like pushing random buttons on a vending machine in order to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for your family.
Read More...Qualified HSA Funding Distribution
There is an obscure tax rule that allows a one-time Traditional IRA-to-HSA conversion called a Qualified HSA Funding Distribution (QHFD).
Read More...A Guide to Investing in REITs
REITs are one way to get some of the benefit of investing in real estate without as much of the risk.
Read More...Digital Estate Plan: Facebook Legacy Contact
Facebook added the “Legacy Contact” feature that allows you to grant a Facebook Friend access to your Facebook page after you have passed away.
Read More...Can I Contribute to Both a SEP and a 401(k)?
SEP plans offer a powerful way to provide for your own retirement in the same way that 401ks do.
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Free Advanced Medical Directives from the Virginia State Bar
The Virginia State Bar has even made a few variations of a simplified Advanced Directive free to the public on their website.
Read More...How Cookie-Cutter Powers of Attorney Fail
This style of Power of Attorney certainly gets the job done, but there are a few ways that the cookie-cutter POA most frequently fails to meet people’s wishes.
Read More...How to Pay Off Student Loans While Building Wealth
While your student loans may be a daunting sum, it is still possible to build wealth even while paying off student debt.
Read More...What Is Settlement Date And Why Does It Matter?
Most investors think that whenever you buy or sell a security the money is immediately deducted or deposited into your account. This is not true.
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What is Margin?
We don’t normally recommend being on margin, but we recommend having the option in case it is needed.
Read More...Gifts, Taxes, and IRS Form 709
Most people are unaware that giving a gift can be a taxable event because they themselves have not yet experienced the tax.
Read More...Department of Labor’s New Fiduciary Ruling
Any legislation which can include FINRA’s commission-based advisors will dilute what it means to be a fiduciary.
Read More...Tax Loss Harvesting and Wash Sales
Wash sale rules need to be followed when realizing capital losses for taxes but can be burdensome to track and monitor.
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Streamline Your Finances with Schwab Checking
This Schwab checking account provides six impressive services not true for most local banks.
Read More...Why We Do Not Use Active Management
Index investing seeks to track the return of a portion of the market. The opposite is active management.
Read More...Nine Unfortunate Facts of Health Savings Accounts
An HSA is one of many accounts used in comprehensive wealth management for tax optimization and planning.
Read More...How Roth Conversions Are Reported to the IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is notorious for misunderstanding the recharacterizations of Roth conversions.
Read More...Asset Allocations for UVA Retirement Plans at Fidelity
The University of Virginia plan includes funds sufficient to produce these excellent portfolios.
Read More...Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRAs
QCDs allow individuals age 70 1/2 or older to give directly to a charity from your IRA without counting the distribution as taxable income.
Read More...Marotta’s 2016 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio
Here is a review of Marotta’s 2015 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio and a description of our changes for 2016.
Read More...Marotta’s 2016 Gone-Fishing Portfolio
The gone-fishing portfolio provides suggested asset allocations for investors up to age 70 and up to $1 million.
Read More...Why Invest In Chile?
Adding a little bit of Chile to your portfolio can boost returns and reduce volatility.
Read More...Six Creative Beneficiary Designation Ideas
These are just some examples of the creative beneficiary designations, but the important part is to dream big about what your wishes are.
Read More...A Fund Selection Case Study
We’ve written about how to select securities but in this article we are going to apply those principles to the process of selecting a specific fund for a specific sector of the economy.
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Gifting Appreciated Stock To Family Members
For children with lower incomes, there is an opportunity to give them appreciated stock to shift the capital gains to a lower tax bracket.
Read More...What is the Kiddie Tax?
The kiddie tax was first added to the tax code in 1986 for children under age 14. Now, it can burden them until they are 23.
Read More...Financial Christmas Gift Ideas
Financial Christmas gifts don’t need to be a piggy bank. They can be more serious and more meaningful than that.
Read More...Utilizing Uncommon Beneficiary Designations
Will substitutes sacrifice some of the customization of trusts but avoid the accounting complexities.
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Understanding Your IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
After you reach the age of 70 1/2, the IRS requires you to begin taking minimum distributions from your traditional retirement accounts.
Read More...Safe Withdrawal Rate Adjustments
Assumptions about these adjustments to your net worth should be made carefully and conservatively.
Read More...How to Factor Social Security into Your Safe Withdrawal Rate
Carefully computing and adding your Social Security early retirement safe withdrawal rate can safely boost your early retirement standard of living without jeopardizing your future finances.
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Can I Write My Own Estate Plan?
The shortest answer is yes, you can. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Read More...How Frequently Should I Redo My Estate Plan?
Here are the most common reasons that your plan might need to be updated or revised and what to do about them.
Read More...How To Correct Excess Roth IRA Contributions
Regardless of the reason, if you have put too much money in your Roth IRA, the solution is the same.
Read More...What is a Backdoor Roth?
Even over the income threshold, you may still be able to add funds to your Roth IRA with what is called a backdoor Roth.
Read More...When Should You Stop Funding Your HSA?
You’ve opened your HSA and funded it for several years. When should you stop funding it?
Read More...How to Avoid a Down Payment on a Mortgage
If you prefer to keep your down payment money invested in the markets for longer, there are two alternatives.
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Which Retirement Account Should I Fund?
Which account you should fund depends on your circumstances, but here are some general guidelines you can follow to make your decision.
Read More...How Much Umbrella Insurance Do I Need?
Umbrella insurance covers you for liability that goes above and beyond your auto and homeowners insurance.
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