Author Archives: Megan Russell

Why create tax rules which expire so soon after they are made? The answers are as frustrating as the uncertainty the sunsets create.

How do our current tax brackets compare to historical ones? Are our taxes higher than the past? When was the most expensive time period for the U.S. income tax?

Malcolm Gladwell establishes two opposing types of problems: a strong-link problem and a weak-link problem. Which type of problem can charitable giving solve?

This is a summary of the six steps required to create a well-crafted investment plan.

This amendment raises the ABLE account age to 46 starting in 2026.

Seniors born between 1962 and 1965 will be the first to be able to take advantage of these plus-sized limits.

For those who run a retirement plan, the next step for implementing this change is to email your plan provider.

Hopefully over all this amendment encourages employer plans to offer Roth options, which will be good for taxpayers, even if this additional wealthy discrimination is unwelcome.

In a designated Roth account like a Roth 401(k), each early distribution is treated as coming part from contribution basis and part from earnings.

This update amends the Roth-side of employer retirement plans to behave more like Roth IRAs prior to death.

Here is a review of the performance of Freedom Investing in 2022.

The class will be held April 13 through May 4, 2023 each Thursday from noon to 1:00 PM on Zoom.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending December 31, 2022, Developed Freedom Investing had a +0.13% advantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a +0.45% advantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a +0.77% advantage.

Biotechnology’s low correlation, the very thing that makes you dislike it, is specifically what gives it a place in efficient portfolios.

Tax planning is very different than tax return preparation. The goal of tax preparation is to minimize your tax owed this year. The goal of tax planning is to maximize your after-tax net worth by minimizing your taxes owed over your lifetime.

Later required beginning dates are generally advantageous to seniors, although the complexity surrounding RMD rules is nothing to celebrate.

For those over age 59 1/2, you would need to withdraw all funds attributable to basis before your withdrawal would be sourced from Roth IRA earnings and the age of your Roth IRA would matter for taxation.

While you may think that the account owner needs to stay the same, you can easily change the account owner.

You can tell a lot from the expense ratio of an advisor’s preferred funds.

A reader asks: When you are issued an IRMAA, does the IRMAA stay for one year only or does it stay that way for life?

There are different tables and formulas used to calculate your RMD divisor based on your particular circumstances. This is a calculator for the three most common.

A savings waterfall is a tool to help investors prioritize savings goals and allocate funds appropriately.

We do our best work when we are a lifelong financial advisor to the client.

Sophisticated tax planning can be effective at any age. However, with great complexity comes great opportunity.

Social Security has a number of flaws, to which these static tax brackets can be added.

What does Schwab do when your Donor Advised Fund has insufficient funds for a recurring grant?

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.

With the help of Yahoo Finance and a one-cell formula, you barely need to do any work.

The IRS has very limited case law on what constitutes a substantially different fund. However, here is what we do in our own trading.

As the season of holiday shopping approaches, this 2018 article reminds us, “Before you throw your money at various companies, squirrel some savings away for your future self.”

You may be surprised by the amount of subsidies you can receive.

Twelve-month inflation for all items ending in September 2022 has been 8.2%, so it is not surprising that the 2022 contribution limits have seen more increases than normal.

In 2019, the SECURE Act changed how inherited RMD rules work. After many IRS notices, we now aren’t sure how the new rules work.

While it is counterintuitive, the lower the market falls, the safer it is to be invested.

The lower the market falls, the safer it is to be invested.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending September 30, 2022, Developed Freedom Investing had a -0.44% disadvantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a -0.34% disadvantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a +0.14% advantage.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending September 30, 2022 our U.S. Stock Strategy had a +4.11% advantage over VTI.

Adding more Stability to an asset allocation isn’t an easy issue. It takes science to know how much bonds you need. It takes artistry to gradually adjust your asset allocation over time. 

Employment contracts have their origins in very old master-servant laws. With no employment contract, you can better protect your child’s freedom and childhood.

My grandfather served in Japan during World War 2. He turns 96 this year.

We recently received the following questions from a prospective client. Here are our answers.

Inflation has at least four grievous effects on our economy. This 2014 article explains them.

You can find out if your child or other employee qualifies by reviewing your 401(k) plan document.

Staying fully invested is an important part of your financial plan. Yet still, there are at least five reasons to hold cash.

With life insurance salesmen, life insurance often becomes the hammer and any client concern a nail.

If you have cost basis information missing in a taxable account, it is important to work with your custodian on correcting the missing information.

In this two-part mini-series, we discuss the two sides of learning how to shop more effectively. This time, we discussed how to buy more value by being aware of where you are spending money.

Because so much of your net worth is in traditional IRA, how quickly you expect to withdraw from your retirement account assets will heavily influence how quickly or slowly the math would advise that you convert.

There are several reasons why you either might not be allowed to contribute the full amount or may accidentally over-contribute to an HSA.

Some investable assets in the name of the child can currently keep $2,300 of unearned income from the tax rate of the parents.