FINANCIaL
FIELd NOTES
Maximizing Your Charitable Deductions with a Donor Advised Fund
A few years ago, Congress passed legislation that changed the standard deduction, and with it, the way many people gave to charities.
Charitable contributions are an itemized deduction, as opposed to the standard deduction. So, if you don’t have enough itemized deductions to increase it over the standard deduction, there is essentially no tax benefit for your donation. This is where a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) comes in….
Why Sequence Of Return Matters So Much
Let’s pretend we have two retirees, Jim and Marty McFly. They both look the same financially. They are retiring in the year 2000 with $1,000,000, all invested in the S&P 500, and plan to begin withdrawing $40,000/year. The only difference is that Marty McFly has the ability to travel to 2020 and go do retirement in reverse…
Why I'll Never Find The Next Amazon
It sounds great in theory.
Step 1 - Find the next Amazon while it’s still a small and unknown company.
Step 2 - Hold it forever.
Step 3 - Make a bazillion dollars and retire on my own private island.
Let's go ahead and say I did the impossible and got Step 1 right. I say impossible because even Jeff Bezos wasn't sure it would become what it did.
Why You Need A Living Will
In the final part of our series of key estate planning documents, we will discuss why everyone needs a living will, also sometimes called an advanced medical directive. This document dictates what type of medical treatment you would like in various situations and appoints someone to make medical decisions that you are unable to make.
Why You Need a Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is used to appoint someone to make financial decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to do so for yourself. Our finances are often the part of our life that we hold close and are reluctant to let go of. Perhaps that’s the reason that deciding on a who will make those decisions is so difficult. But as with all estate planning, some sort of decision is better than no decision.
Your Beneficiary Form > Your Will
We’ve discussed the important of a will in determining who gets your assets when you die. However, your 401(k)* or IRA, along with other assets like life insurance and annuities, often have a Beneficiary Form.
This form will take precedence over what your will says - hence the subject line. Because of that, often the beneficiary form is the most crucial document - and with that comes the opportunity for costly mistakes…