The Complete Guide to IRA Contributions and Withdrawals
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Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are one of the most important account types, and understanding the difference between Roth and traditional contributions and withdrawals is foundational to tax planning.

In Roth Conversions, Reducing Your RMD is One of the Benefits
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Required minimum distributions are taxed as taxable income, the same as other types of traditional IRA withdrawals and Roth conversions.

Don’t Increase Your Bond Allocation In Bear Markets
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There is an artistry to a bond allocation, and while the historical analysis can only be suggestive, they do tell a strong narrative.

How to Uncap Your 529 Plan Virginia State Tax Deduction
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You can have an effectively uncapped state tax deduction if you have a high tolerance for paperwork.

Should I Change Financial Advisors Over Poor Performance?
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The fact that markets are down isn’t a good reason by itself to fire your advisor, but there are reasons to switch financial advisors related to performance.

Fee-Only Is the Most Important Quality in Your Financial Planner
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The reason can be explained through a simple analogy about an interior decorator.

What Counts As Income For Roth IRA Funding Purposes?
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Roth IRAs can only be funded with earned income. Here is a guide to what the IRS considers to be earned income.

What Interferes With a Backdoor Roth?
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Here are three common Roth transactions and how they interact with MAGI for Roth IRA purposes.

How to Use Medicare IRMAA Life-Changing Event Form SSA-44 To Save Money
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If the form is accepted, the Social Security Administration will generally not only change your current IRMAA, but they will also use your Projected MAGI for the next several years. Here’s why.

Q&A: Which Self-Employed Retirement Plan Should I Open?
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Here are some of the pros and cons of specific SEP IRA and individual 401(k) retirement account options available.

Real Return of Stocks and Bonds by Inflation Type
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If you are expecting high inflation, it may be stocks which offer the greatest security against the diminishing dollar.

How to Implement a New Investment Plan
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Next time you are wondering if you should invest now or “wait for a better time,” remember Schwab’s study and invest now in whatever way makes you invest now.

How Long Should I Plan On Living?
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Which is worse: Being destitute while still alive or dying happy and provided for with a little extra?

Steps to Reduce IRMAA Medicare Premiums
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Sophisticated tax planning can be effective at any age. However, with great complexity comes great opportunity.

Be the One Who Can Write That Check
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It is perfectly fine for you to underspend your assets. You don’t need my permission, but you have my blessing anyway.

Lessons for 2022 from My 1983 First Mortgage at 11.5%
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We haven’t seen high interest rates in many years, but high interest rates do not remove the potential benefits of having a mortgage.

The Art and Science of a Bond Allocation (529 Plan Example)
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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. 

More Self-Control Leads to Wiser Spending, Not Less Spending
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In this article, I am defending the use of self-control in your financial habits.

Q&A: Roth Conversion When Traditional IRA is 90% of Net Worth?
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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.

How to Survive High Inflation
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Inflation is like the rain. You must prepare in advance in order to stay dry.

Billing Retirement Accounts to Maximize After-Tax Net Worth
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One obscure way we bring value to clients is how we bill them.

How to Calculate Taxable Social Security (Form 1040, Line 6b)
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If you receive Social Security benefits, the portion of those benefits which will be taxable depends on your income. The taxable portion can be anywhere from 0% to a maximum of 85% of your benefits.

Happiness Is The Result Of A Life Lived With Purpose
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Regardless of what you do with the money earned, continuing to work is a worthwhile journey.

How to Spend: Align With Your Goals (Podcast)
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In this podcast, we discuss why spending is the core of your financial plan, how to align your spending with your goals, and how to use Core Values Budgeting to identify budgeting changes.

Seven Reasons to Avoid Bitcoin
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Bitcoin satisfies some of the characteristics of a currency, but there are at least seven areas of concern.

Bitcoin, Tulips, Beanie Babies, and Speculation
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I expect that eventually Bitcoin will either develop a real, useful value for investors or the bubble will burst.

How to Self-Insure for Long-Term Care Health Expenses (2022)
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Saving for long-term care, if done early enough, is not too expensive and helps to protect yourself from this potential financial shock.

How to Update Your Contact Information at Schwab
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You can easily update your contact information online through Schwab Alliance.

Best Credit Cards of 2022 for Those with Excellent Credit
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These credit cards won’t change your life, and they shouldn’t, but they can get back a very small portion of the money you spend each month.

Your Children Are Not Entitled To Your Retirement Savings
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Hard work can often only be learned by struggling. You can’t teach your children to live within their means if you always supplement their means.

Dying Young is Not A Retirement Plan
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Yes, many retirees may die with significant assets. However, this helps to ensure that they have sufficient assets to support their lifestyle should they make it to age 100.

The Costly Effect Of Saving In A Taxable Account
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The annual drag of taxable account taxation may seem like a small amount, but the effect over long periods of time such as 30 years is significant.

How To Use a Marotta Capital Gains Tax Hurdle Report
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These complex formulas help decide when highly appreciated investments should be sold and the proceeds put in a different investment philosophy.

Q&A: How Does Your Investment Strategy Work?
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I recently received the following paraphrased questions from a prospective client and here were my replies.

Four Simple But Effective Conversion Target Calculations
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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.

Don’t Pay The Price of Structured Products Despite Principal Protection
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Given the purposeful complexity and limitations to structured products we suggest you avoid them.

Systemic Barriers to Racial Diversity in Financial Planning
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All of these factors contribute to the low inclusion of people of color among those holding the CFP® certification.

Seven Elder Abuse Scams and How to Protect Yourself
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Here are the most common elder scams and how to prevent them.

New Parent Financial Checklist
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To help you get a good financial start as parents, here’s a financial checklist for new parents.

Two Ways to Fix Social Security Filing Mistakes
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If you are still in your 60s, the good news is your decision doesn’t have to be permanent. You actually have two ways in which you can change your benefit amount.

Overcome Your Biases and Invest Globally
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Home bias is the tendency of investors to invest a majority of their assets in companies domiciled in their home country. Recency bias is the tendency for humans to believe that what has happened recently will continue to happen in the future.

Should I Pay Off My Mortgage?
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Even if the world was ending, I still want to have a mortgage.

Video: The Value of Systematic Roth Conversions
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In this talk, David demonstrates how Roth conversions can be extremely valuable even if a client is always in the same tax bracket.

Zero Steps To Take Before Contacting a Financial Advisor
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Don’t delay getting your finances in order until you get your finances in order. Ask for help today and see what wisdom a financial advisor has to share.

How to Implement The Automatic Millionaire Technique at Schwab
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By decoupling your standard of living from the size of your income, you have taken the first step toward financial freedom.

Troubles With 401(k) Plans Run By Salespeople
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The worst cause of employer stress is the fact that there exist many financial salespeople who offer plans which benefit themselves at excessive cost to the employer and their employees.

Q&A: How Much K-12 Tuition Can I Reimburse from 529 Plan?
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By flowing money through a 529 account, a Virginia tax payer could receive a $575 discount on their private school tuition.

Pay Your State Tax By Donating to Charity
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If you have a tax credit eligible charity where you like their work better than the state government, then consider redirecting your state tax to fund the charity instead.

The Full Complexity of All Required Minimum Distribution Divisors Explained (2020 Update)
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The SECURE Act of 2019 changed several things, so here is an updated review of this complex subject.

The Most Tax-Efficient Method of Leaving Assets to Charity in Your Estate
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If you have a charity among your heirs, there is the possibility for tax savings.

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