Author Archives: Megan Russell

The class will be held March 10 through March 31, 2022 each Thursday from noon to 1:30 PM on Zoom.

Why do people do Roth conversions? Should I? This timeless article and video answers all your questions.

This 2020 article reminds us that if you ever sad about the size of your IRA balance, it might be a good time to convert to Roth.

An initial equal weight strategy of these 26 companies implemented on January 1, 2021 and held without further buys or sells through December 31, 2021 had a +8.64% advantage over the foreign healthcare benchmark.

Many people think that Roth IRA contributions can only be from earned income. Those people are only half right.

In this podcast, I discuss my recent article “Account Funding Priorities for 2022” and describe a savings waterfall for 2022. The idea is when new money flows your way, which one of these buckets is it going to land in?

On the podcast, I share my experiences from my own parenting and how we can set ourselves and our children up for financial success.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending December 31, 2021, Developed Freedom Investing had a -0.12% disadvantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a +1.27% advantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a +0.21% advantage.

The tax code is confusing. Are inherited IRAs taxed at estate rates? As income? At all? This article answers.

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.

Look at new items with a side eye and think, “Do I really want you here?”

On Friday, November 5, 2021, Megan Russell was interviewed by Michael Morton of Financial Planning for Entrepreneurs podcast to discuss Freedom Investing.

To avoid getting issued an IRMAA, you can proactively tell the SSA of any changes your income has seen in the past two years using a “Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount – Life-Changing Event” form.

As the proud mother of a now five-year-old daughter, I thought I’d record some of my and my firstborn’s favorite things from this past year as helpful ideas for gifts from grandparents.

Hopefully, some of these ideas inspire you to reuse various treasures you didn’t know you had.

Which account you should fund depends on your circumstances. However, there are some general guidelines you can follow to make your decision.

Even though it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, contribution limits are indexed to inflation.

If you have this fringe employer or former employer benefit, I hope you are able to take advantage of making small Roth IRA contributions throughout your retirement.

“I’m 19 years old. How do I inherit a 401(k) from my aunt?”

Can I leave money directly to those 529 plans in my estate plan?

If you are already shopping for health insurance for 2022, consider getting an on-exchange health insurance plan. You may be surprised at how much subsidies you can receive.

If you are currently shopping for health insurance for 2022, consider getting an on-exchange health insurance plan. You may be surprised at how much subsidies you can receive.

These complex formulas help decide when highly appreciated investments should be sold and the proceeds put in a different investment philosophy.

Once your Donor Advised Fund has been opened, Schwab Charitable has a very straightforward process for donating appreciated stock to charity.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending September 30, 2021, Developed Freedom Investing had a +0.70% advantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a +1.64% advantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a +0.71% advantage.

There are several distribution rules that make Roth IRAs great savings tools for early retirees.

My grandfather turns 95 this year. He is one of my role models and favorite people. What a joy to celebrate him.

Stopping to think through questions like these will likely help you make smarter decisions with your spending.

We are very pleased to announce that Elias McQuade is our newest CFA® charterholder at Marotta Wealth Management!

The 25 lines of the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet are so simplified, they end up being difficult to follow what exactly they do. So, for those of you who are curious, here’s what they do.

There are five ways that both you and the government could make charitable giving more significant.

I recently received the following paraphrased questions from a prospective client and here were my replies.

The selection of what products we purchase or avoid for clients is based solely on what we believe gives our clients the best chance to meet their goals.

For better or for worse, you simply get to pick a name.

If your miss your initial enrollment eligibility window, then your premiums are hit with a late enrollment penalty.

At this time, Schwab has an extensive but limited list of forms which are eligible for electronic signature. As a part of our Paperwork Preparation bonus service, you can request that we send you paperwork using Schwab’s eSignature system when available.

Like many new features on Schwab’s website, they must be used responsibly to not create problems.

If you jointly decide and execute your charitable giving, then it makes sense to have both partners listed as account holders on the Donor Advised Fund. However, if you have separate charitable intentions and budgets, you can easily set up two different donor advised funds, one for each spouse to use and direct.

Although emotions do mature with age, many of the things that upset toddlers upset adults too, we just hide it better.

Doing some conversion is usually much better than doing no conversion at all. We offer these four simple but effective strategies to calculate a good-enough conversion target for this year.

For domestic tasks like babysitting there are often two options: independent contractor or household employee. Taking the time to educate yourself on the difference may be worth your while.

Now, thanks to this change, anyone with charitable intentions can open and benefit from a Donor Advised Fund.

Whether you are on the Tax Computation Worksheet or in the Tax Table it helps to understand how your tax is calculated.

In the eyes of the IRS, Roth conversions are a type of rollover and their part in your Roth IRA’s contribution basis is called a rollover contribution.

Just as a fake smile can make real happiness, fake happiness can create real enjoyment.

This was part of an intentional anti-ad campaign that my mother instituted to inoculate her children against the power of Madison Avenue.

I think of these four lessons when I refill my soap dispenser.

I would recommend that you strive to pay your children $0 in non-cash compensation. Let them purchase their own rewards.

If you are married, instead of only opening and funding one HSA, you may benefit from splitting the contribution limit and funding both.

One method of crowd sourcing expectations about inflation is to look at the current differences between the maturity rates of a 5-Year Treasury Bond and a 5-Year Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond.