Financial planning is simply doing what it takes to give you the means to do what you want. The poorer you are the more you need financial planning. You don’t have any margin for mistakes.
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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.
Value of a Roth Segregation Conversion Strategy
While most investment advisors do one total conversion or partial conversion here or there, we have a dedicated Roth segregation strategy, which adds real value to our clients accounts.
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When You Should Not Do a Backdoor Roth
Like how diner coffee gets more bitter as the waitress tops off your cup with more coffee from the pot, so too the growth on your nondeductible assets increases your tax owed by decreasing the percent post-tax assets in your cup.
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Why Trusts Are So Confusing
Trusts are like Calvinball except that the government is trying to play referee. It is quickly confusing.
Read More...Age Restriction on Qualified Charitable Distributions Limits Inherited IRA Gifting
Unfortunately the age restriction makes the charitably-inclined young, who are more likely to be in the 0% capital gains bracket, unable to make QCDs.
Read More...Our Customized Roth Conversion Recommendations
I have learned there are so many more wise plans than just “top of the bracket” conversions.
Read More...An Overview of Robo-Investing
A few years ago, there was a great rise of so-called robo-advisers, computer programming that enabled setting a simple asset allocation on the security level and then automatic rebalancing to those targets for each security.
Read More...How Your Tax Is Calculated: Understanding the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Worksheet
The 27 lines, because they are so simplified, end up being difficult to follow what exactly they do. So, for those of you who are curious, here’s what they do.
Read More...Q&A: Can you be my executor?
Sadly, we have to say no. Even though we won’t be your executor, we are still here to help your executor, trustee, and loved ones through the estate maintenance and settlement process.
Read More...6 Ways To Prevent Your Estate Plan From Ruining Your Roth IRA
Many executors, trustees, or even estate plans make careless mistakes which end up in Roth IRAs being distributed too quickly. Here’s a list of ways to prevent your estate plan from ruining your Roth.
Read More...How to Calculate Your RMD: a Uniform, Inherited, and Joint Divisor Calculator
There are different tables and formulas used to calculate your RMD divisor based on your particular circumstances. Here is a calculator for the three most common.
Read More...How You Take Your Inherited IRA RMD Is the Exception to the Rule
Inherited RMD rules demonstrates the power and importance of beneficiary designations and why it is so important to set them.
Read More...RMD Mistake: Missing a Spousal Rollover
When a spouse inherits retirement account assets, they have the right to do what is called a “Spousal Rollover” or “Spousal Transfer.” It is almost always the right option.
Read More...RMD Mistake: Not Using the Joint Divisor
If you are a mixed-decade couple, take advantage of the Joint divisor by making your spouse your primary and sole beneficiary for your IRA and use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table to find your RMD.
Read More...Marotta’s 2017 Gone-Fishing Portfolios
A gone fishing portfolio is a portfolio of just a few stocks which should weather the ups and downs of the market fairly well while only rebalancing twice a year. Here are three hand-crafted gone-fishing portfolios for 2017.
Read More...RMD Mistake: Failing to Take Your RMD
The key to getting the waiver though is showing that “you are taking reasonable steps to remedy the shortfall.”
Read More...RMD Mistake: Depositing to Your Checking Account
Although legally fine, this strategy often causes you to accidentally increase your spending every year and decrease your savings. Don’t let the IRS rules about IRA withdrawals tempt you into spending money you had planned to save.
Read More...RMD Mistake: Taking Out Too Much Just Because
Some people don’t stop at distributing just the required minimum. They think, “Well, while I’m at it, I may as well pull out a little bit more so we can fully cover the kitchen remodel…”
Read More...Q&A: What’s My Roth Conversion Limit?
The legal answer to this question is: there is no limit. The practical answer is: it depends on a number of things.
Read More...When Partial-Year HSA Contribution Limits Don’t Apply
Under the “last-month rule,” you can contribute the full amount even after a partial year assuming you meet the “testing period.”
Read More...5 Reasons to Have Some Cash Equivalents
There are at least five reasons to hold cash. Without a good reason to hold cash, you may be holding too much.
Read More...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.
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