FINANCIaL
FIELd NOTES
Secure Act 2.0 – Everything You Need To Know
On December 23rd, the massive $1.7 trillion spending bill was passed, and it included a retirement bill known as SECURE Act 2.0. At first glance, the SECURE Act 2.0 looks to have an equal or greater impact on current and future retirees. Let’s dive into the highlights…
Most-Read Blog Posts From 2022
As the year comes to a close, I wanted to reshare a few of my most-read blog posts from this past year in case you missed them. Thank you all for your engagement over this year – see you in the new year!
End-of-Year Tax Prep Checklist
With the year coming to a close, below are 23 year-end planning tax items that I review for my clients.
Reviewed maxing out 401(k) or employer-sponsored plan.
Reviewed next year's 401(k) contribution limits and adjust withholdings in January.
Contributed to IRA or…
Tax Planning to Maximize Your Legacy
Most individuals have planned through their estate documents to leave all their assets to their spouse and then split them amongst their children or other family members.
And while this is certainly common practice, it does not always align with their personal values for charitable giving. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see someone give 5-10% of their income every year to charity and then give 0% of their estate after they die…
The Hidden Taxes In Tax-Free States
Moving to an income tax-free state in retirement may not lead to the tremendous savings retirees expect. The question to ask yourself when considering a new location is “How is this government funding itself?”
Oftentimes, the answer in states like Texas is property taxes. For example, in several counties in Texas, the property tax rate is over 2%, whereas it might be .5% to 1% in states with income taxes…
Using Direct Indexing to Maximize Charitable Giving
Direct Indexing is an investment strategy where the investor purchases the individual stocks of an index instead of the underlying index fund itself. You may be wondering why someone would go through the hassle of owning so many stocks when the cost of index funds is so low, and they can be purchased very easily. I tend to agree that in most situations, direct indexing is not the solution.
However, there are some situations where they can provide a tremendous benefit. One of those is for investors with non-retirement investments who donate to charity…