Let’s face it, in today’s world, managing your personal financial affairs can be complex. There are many decisions that need to be made on a weekly or even daily basis. For a large and growing segment of the population, who are trying to help (often unwilling) aging parents with their finances, this can be incredibly frustrating, stressful and burdensome.
With nationwide college costs continuing to rise, it has never been more important for parents to develop a savings strategy to help cover these costs.
For the last several weeks, the media spent a great deal of time covering the fiscal cliff and the upcoming changes in the tax code. At the eleventh hour, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 that seeks to solve some of the tax questions that have been hanging over our heads for the last several months.
An adequately planned and properly executed estate plan can ensure that your assets will pass directly to your intended heirs with the least amount of cost and hassle. Here are 7 essential elements when establishing a sound estate plan:
The following question was posed to over 1,000 U.S. adults in a recent Gallup poll:
How much control – your ability to influence or impact – do you feel you have over your efforts to build and maintain your retirement savings in the current environment?
Small business owners have a number of alternatives to choose from when it comes to establishing retirement plans for their business. Each plan type can vary in their contribution level and matching requirements, as well as their ongoing regulatory and administrative burden.
When it comes to financial planning, risk management – particularly insurance issues – are one of the most confusing areas that people address. What would be the financial impact on your family if there were a loss of income due to a physical or mental disability?
Improving financial markets have created a renewed interest in charitable gifting. One particular tool that can be very effective in helping you achieve your charitable objectives is a donor-advised fund.
How do you track the cost basis on investments held in your taxable portfolio? What portfolio accounting method does your broker, custodian or advisor report to you or your CPA? This is a decision that, for some investors, can save thousands of dollars in taxes and ultimately make a significant difference in a portfolio’s after-tax rate of return.
There are a number of indexes that attempt to measure the performance of the financial markets and serve as a gauge of economic activity. The following are descriptions of several of the most common indexes: (more…)