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Hi there,  I hope you're having a great week. In case you missed it, here is the live training we did last Sunday on "How to calculate your first RMD and lower your taxes."  You can click on the image above or here to watch. Even if you're not 70.5 years old yet and required to take your required minimum distributions from your retirement accounts, I still think you will find the training highly beneficial.  Here are some of the topics we cover:  -How to use the IRA minimum distribution table to calculate your first RMD (Getting this wrong could be a 50% tax penalty ..read more

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3 COMMON SOCIAL SECURITY MISTAKES (AVOIDABLE)-Transcript   [00:00:01] Good morning guys just out taking the dog for a walk. Just thinking today about what I can give you to help you out. And I think the first thing is oh shoot there's a train coming. Let's get a shot of this train here. OK that was cool. So, I've been getting a lot of questions lately about about Social Security and when to take it. So a couple of big mistakes people make when taking Social Security. One is to take it as soon as they qualify you know take it to 62 can be a really bad idea. It could cost you hundreds of th ..read more

Many people who have been contributing to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for years have watched their account balances grow through tax-deferred accumulation. However, did you know the Tax Code mandates that contributions to traditional IRAs are no longer permitted after reaching age 70½ and required minimum distributions (RMDs) must commence no later than April 1 of the year after the year in which you reach age 70½? Let’s take a look at the following example. Suppose Bob’s 70th birthday was July 15, 2017 and he attained age 70½ on January 15, 2018. Bob will have until April 1, 2019 (t ..read more

  Introduction to Tax Strategy Nobody likes to pay more taxes than necessary. As you know, tax laws change often and next year may contain some of the largest changes to tax law in a long time. Therefore, lowering your tax bill involves careful planning. In fact, there’s hardly an aspect of your financial situation—savings, education, real estate, investments, retirement funding, and estate planning—that isn’t influenced by changing tax law. In recent years, historic tax reform has provided significant savings for individuals, families, and investors. However, many of these opportunities ..read more

Yesterday was my birthday but it was also another important day in history. The birthday of the Roth IRA. Roth accounts were born 20 years ago and are one of the best tools in financial planning if used properly.  Some of the benefits are obvious but others are not. You may know that Roth money is contributed after tax and grows tax free forever. But did you know that Roth accounts don’t have required minimum distributions like their traditional counterparts do? Another huge benefit is that when you take distributions they are not counted as earned income which means your tax bill is not ..read more

 * I recently answered these questions for a young friend in the military and thought others may find the information useful.   ”Do you have any tips on saving for a house while paying for an apartment? Or is it better to go straight to a house? I feel like I’m throwing money away renting.” Answer: This will be a bit long but I want to give you a solid answer because many people are in the same place.   First I don’t think rent is throwing money away depending on your situation. If I remember correctly you’re not in CA anymore but here, 100k of household income can still qu ..read more

This is a big time in student loan land. This week the official application for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is out! You can find the application here. “I have big student loans I want to be forgiven, what does this mean for me?” Well, if you entered the PSLF program right when it opened up in October 2007, and have been on a qualifying repayment plan (PAYE, REPAYE, IBR, ICR) there’s a chance you could be making your 120th qualifying payment soon and are ready to submit for the forgiveness of the remaining balance. However, for most people, this is not likely. Most people have entere ..read more

What is Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and why does it matter? Socially responsible investing, also known as ‘responsible’ investing, is important to people that want to invest according to their values. In the past, investors either had to pay much higher fees or simply look past companies in their portfolio that may participate in non-socially responsible activities. In general, socially responsible investors encourage companies to include social good in their practices like environmental stewardship, diversity, human rights and consumer protection. These investors also prefer to avoid ..read more