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We aren’t worried either way. By default, we recommend that shareholders skip voting in this election.

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

Credit card debt is terrible, but credit card companies make it easy to incur credit card debt.

There are four main ways you can contribute to a 529 account through American Funds.

You are permitted one 60-day rollover per 12-month period and if you are successful it would not be a taxable event, but I would advise against using this feature.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending September 30, 2025, Developed Freedom Investing had a -3.02% disadvantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a -0.55% disadvantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a -1.79% disadvantage.

These notices are best viewed as reminders that your account is being managed with care and compliance in mind.

Projected escrow shortfall letters are very common, and typically happen once per year.

For most people, here is how to think through the 5-year rules of Roth distributions.

Our gone-fishing portfolios stay the same for 2025.

This gone-fishing portfolio is our default portfolio which can be used at any custodian.

We recommend this gone-fishing portfolio for investors with brand loyalty to Vanguard.

Without rebalancing, the all-stock Marotta 2024 Gone-Fishing Portfolio had a 1-year return of 11.21% and the all-stock Marotta Vanguard 2024 Gone-Fishing Portfolio had a 1-year return of 10.72%.

By adopting these practices, you ensure that both you and your advisory team can work efficiently, securely, and in alignment with regulatory requirements.

George R. Marotta, a financial advisor, Hoover Institution research fellow, public servant, and World War II veteran, died on July 26, 2025, at the age of 98 in Palo Alto, California.

There is no scorecard, no grade, and no winner when it comes to wealth. This is a pass-fail challenge that we each do on our own and succeed in our own way.

Many children being cared for under court decree do count as family members for the purpose of a 529 plan rollover because they have an “eligible foster child” relationship.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending June 30, 2025, Developed Freedom Investing had a -0.91% disadvantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a -3.66% disadvantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a -1.69% disadvantage.

If you are opening a donor advised fund for the first time, take a moment to think about your goals.

“One financial manager recommended that I invest 100% of my assets into stocks while another recommended investing in bonds as well – what do you recommend?”

“We will have a better society when government becomes the last resort—instead of the first—in solving our problems.”

Earning, spending, saving, and investing — a mastery of these four matters creates a financially healthy life.

Imagine that you are covering all of your child’s basic care, but they have a savings stash. Would you let your child give all their savings away to charity?

While the funds owned by your Donor-Advised Fund are no longer yours, there is some estate planning that can be done with your account.

There are two methods of dialing an extension from the beginning of the call.

Married (or once married) taxpayers have several Social Security benefit options.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending March 31, 2025, Developed Freedom Investing had a +1.27% advantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a -9.45% disadvantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a -2.01% disadvantage.

Here is a reference chart with 2025 income tax rates, capital gains rates, and more.

Even though there is some political and tax uncertainty this year, our funding priorities remain nearly identical to last year on purpose.

We have a saying around here: It is always a good time to have a balanced portfolio.

At the end of the year, you want to have something to show for all of your hard work.

Thankfully, the IRS does not care what specific day you were born on, only which year.

Depending on how you initiated the lump sum rollover, you may be in luck.

We write frequently about the value of having a fee-only fiduciary as your financial planner. In this article, I compiled others’ voices on this same issue.

Even Fidelity says that their Secure Message Center is hidden and they should have a tutorial to find it.

If you want to take our word for it, you can schedule your monthly RMD for the 8th. If you are curious as to the calendar math that suggests this date, read on.

The fact that a strategy can routinely underperform by -6% while still having an average out performance of +2% is a perfect representation of the inherent volatility of the markets.

In 1-year returns ending December 31, 2024, Emerging Markets outperformed Emerging Markets ex-China by 10.1%

We have a large distribution of clients at all portfolio sizes and, surprisingly, have all life stages nearly equally represented.

These are all reasons why it is best to ignore strange text messages entirely.

The immediate post-election trades in the markets appear to include a number of speculative trades based on expectations of what might do well now that Trump has won the presidency.

This 2008 article is an uplifting, timeless sermon.

In 2024, there are 18 states that have some form of death taxes.

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

Within a matter of days my HSA and all of its investments were transferred from my Schwab account to a new Fidelity account with no charges.

By adding a little complexity and blending a portfolio of VTI and VXUS, you create the opportunity for three layers of benefits.

Step one to the Social Security Analysis is obtaining the necessary information.

Once you have a smart phone, you can prevent the ringer from ringing unless the person calling you is listed in your phone. This article explains how to silence unknown callers on an Android phone.

This quarter, we saw that in 1-year returns ending September 30, 2024, Developed Freedom Investing had a -0.29% disadvantage, Emerging Market Freedom Investing had a -4.36% disadvantage, and Overall Freedom Investing had a -1.53% disadvantage.

The steps to declare your tax withholding elections are fairly simple to accomplish online.