Empowering You to Live Your Best Financial Life
Our expertise in financial, investment, and retirement planning will guide your path to financial fulfillment.
Get Liability Protection on Your Entire Net Worth
Liability protection covers you in case of lawsuit. We live in a lawsuit-happy country. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. It is up to the defendant to put forward the case that they did nothing wrong.
Get All of Your Property and Casualty Insurance from One Carrier
I know what you’re thinking. Property and Casualty Insurance is boring! Well, sure, if it’s done right it’s supposed to be boring. Think about a time where you might have excitement in your life, and it involves insurance.
Plan to Leave Highly Appreciated Assets to Your Heirs
Today we are talking about legacy gifting. You may think you are too young to think about this, but I think you’re never too young to begin structuring your investments for the right long-term outcome.
Consider Taxes When Making Withdrawals
I know that might sound odd as we tend to save throughout our working life and even sometimes well into our retirement years. But there will be times you need to withdraw your savings and it’s important to consider the tax implications.
Use a Professional Tax Preparer
I’m guessing that you don’t love to do your own taxes, but even if you do that’s no reason to take the risk that comes with preparing your own taxes. I’ve seen some very smart people who make a lot of money cost themselves literally tens of thousands of dollars because they were trying to save an $800 bill from a CPA.
Work Your HSA
This tip is not for everyone, but if you are happy using a high deductible health plan, then you have access to a Health Savings Account or HSA. Further, if you have excess savings and you have cash piling up in your savings account, you should be using this accumulation strategy with your HSA.
When to Consider a 1031 Exchange
A 1031 exchange allows you to exchange a piece of real estate for another piece of real estate without paying capital gains taxes. Consider a 1031 exchange ONLY when continuing to hold property in your portfolio makes the most sense BEFORE considering taxes.
Manage Your Gifts in a Taxwise Manner
We don’t usually think of managing gifts for tax purposes, but as you begin thinking about how you want to share your wealth it becomes very important. There are two types of gifts I’m thinking about here, charity and the gifts to your heirs.
Maximize the Use of Your Retirement Plans
I know retirement plans can be confusing, but they are very powerful tools for saving in a tax optimized way. You really have to dig into the specifics to understand the best tax strategy for yourself, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
Take Advantage of Lower Capital Gains Tax Rates
We all know we get taxed many different ways, and it’s important to understand them all at least to some degree. I want to focus on the capital gains tax and how we can use these rates to our advantage.
Consider Using a Donor Advised Fund
If you regularly give to charity and have income that fluctuates, I’m going to show you something that is going to save you money. As I’m sure you know, your charitable contributions are deductible from your income for tax purposes.
Consider Making Roth Conversions Regularly
Last week we talked about the three types of accounts we can use for our Long-Term Portfolio and I said it’s important to have balances in all three types. The Already-Taxed or Roth account is the most difficult to contribute to so I want to talk this week about how we can get money into a Roth by making conversions.