We often select new article topics from Contact Form requests we receive. You can always try asking your questions of us and see if we respond.
Anything which is not contributing toward your financial independence should be considered part of your lifestyle spending.
If a portion of your charitable gift is nondeductible, then no portion of the gift can be counted as a Qualified Charitable Distribution. But there is one accepted loophole for QCDs.
It is easy for an inverted yield curve to spook investors.
Kudos to you for noticing the value of Roth conversions! We have three ways we can help.
We often get the question from plan participants, “What should I invest in?” Here are our recommendations in order.
Dimensional’s analysis found that top funds do not repeat.
Asset classes are best defined by looking at the correlation of their returns. These four 2015 articles take a close examination at the three appreciation asset classes.
“I will be turning 70 1/2 and wanted to start making contributions to charity from an IRA and taking the QCD at that time. Would this bill require me to wait two more tax years, until I am 72, to do this?”
Some performance is cause for concern. Other times, you need not worry. Here are 5 times you should not worry and 4 cases when you should.
“Has the focus on expense ratios caused the public to lose focus of more critical financial measures, such as performance?” Actually, expense ratios and 12b-1 fees should get even more attention than they are getting. Here’s why.
Among the most complicated and frustrating IRA rules are required minimum distributions (RMDs). This case is a classic example.
“I’m moving to a state which does not recognize Tenants by the Entirety. What do I need to do?”
When it comes to legal, if your attorney is allowed to make the edit, you are allowed to make the edit.
This person has no IRA balance, but is about to get one with an IRA Rollover. So the question is one of timing: can they do the IRA Rollover after the nondeductible contribution has already been converted so that their cream and coffee never mix?
The real return of the stock market going forward is often debated.
You are allowed to deduct “up to 20 percent of their combined qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends,” and this deduction is unlimited. So it begs the question: Is there a way I can deduct my normal real estate income?
“Buy on the dips” is a good strategy only because of the first word.
For all of these reasons, our recommended investment strategy does not focus on dividend-paying stocks.
There is a tangled web of rules and options. For any given family situation and set of desires, there is a best answer when it comes to meeting your wishes, minimizing the tax owed, and optimizing your estate plan.
Student loan forgiveness is normally taxable and reported to the IRS on a 1099-C, but there are big exceptions.
People think about marriage differently. These views and more shape the way that people want per stirpes and per capita to work.
Any investment manager can use the Institutional Intelligent Portfolio technology to implement extremely different investment philosophies.
The short answer is absolutely yes you do. Here’s why.
Stock buyback programs are a method of returning profits to shareholders without causing a taxable event.
The average holding period for a stock is not simply the inverse of liquidity.
Since only a small portion of stock is traded each day, a large majority of shareholders prioritize the long term appreciation of the value of the company.
Excellence and low cost can go together.
The regulation is an attempt to protect participants who don’t understand the rules set up by the government.
In general, you can use 529 funds to pay for your student’s off-campus housing costs.
Although these questions may help some people discern which professional to sign up with, I like our ten questions better as they cut to the heart of the matter. That being said, the more you know about an advisor the better.
We are a statistical outlier: We are young; we are female.
A blended portfolio can perform better even as some of its components under perform due to the rebalancing bonus.
We believe following our eight principles to safeguard your money provides a better safeguard than checking for past violations.
You deserve advice from a firm where you don’t have to second guess where their loyalties lie.
It is relatively easy for fee-only fiduciaries to answer the question “How much do you charge?” The only fee they collect is the fee that the client directly pays them.
A reader asks, “As her descendant and agent following the rules as written, it is my understanding that I could gift myself $14,000 each year. But can I really?”
At Marotta Wealth Management, we believe that a team collaborating on your behalf provides you with better service.
We believe that the basic principles of financial planning are the same no matter how many zeros you add.
If this is the approach you want for your financial planning, give us a call to get started today!
We offer comprehensive wealth management services.
We require each Investment Committee member to have, at a minimum, the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) or Chartered Financial Analyst ® (CFA) designation.
Marotta Wealth Management (originally Marotta Asset Management) was founded in 2000 by David John Marotta.
What’s the difference between Schwab’s “Ending Value” line and their “Ending Value with Accrued Income” line on my monthly statements?
Sadly, the IRS is very clear about this; contributions must be cash.
As the parent, it can be hard to know what to do with a cash gift for a baby.
A question from our readers, “Should I choose to have dividends reinvested or should I receive them in cash and then reinvest them myself?”
Let’s use some of the publicly available information about HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) to see what factors the stock shares.
In 2015, Congress passed the PATCH Act that included a provision which allowed computer purchases to be a qualified education expense for 529 plans. But what of computer repairs?
To avoid the 10% penalty, do I have to satisfy the 5-year holding period for my Roth conversions if I’m over age 59 1/2? The IRS is not very clear when it comes to when you need to pay penalties on Roth IRA withdrawals, but I think I know the answer.
When you use a bond laddering strategy with funds, rebalancing to your asset allocation naturally buys and sells bond funds as appropriate.