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No Tax on Social Security? – Not So Fast
During the last presidential election, one of the campaign promises that President Trump made was to eliminate taxes on Social Security. Under the current tax code, Social Security recipients pay tax on up to 85% of their Social Security benefits (depending on their level of income). For single taxpayers having a modified adjusted gross income…
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Inflation Spike Helps Retirement Plan Funding
The inflation spike caused by COVID and the associated economic stimulus packages from the government, plus the war in Ukraine, has created major pain in the pocketbook for most Americans. However, there are a few positive developments springing from higher inflation. Many of them are related to saving for retirement and estate planning as the…
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Trustees and Executors: 4 Valuable Tips You Need to Know
You have been named as a trustee or executor/conservator of a loved one’s estate due to their death or possibly some incapacity like dementia. What do you do now? Serving as a “fiduciary” for someone’s person or finances is a very large job and carries with it a lot of responsibility, and also potential…
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There’s a Bear Coming Towards Us – But is it a Grizzly Bear or a Teddy Bear?
As we have discussed in previous blog posts, we have been in an historically long bull market. The current market recovery started roughly March of 2009, and other than a very short COVID induced drop in 2020, had continued until this year. Given that the average bull market lasts somewhere around 48-60 months, this one…
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Creating Tax Diversification Using the “Tax Triangle”
Diversification is an important component of the financial planning process. Most often we think of it in terms of portfolio diversification, using different asset classes like stocks, bonds, cash and real estate to hopefully reduce risk of loss and help meet our financial goals. However, diversifying your investments by tax treatment or “tax diversification” is…
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Anchor Bay Capital Now Offers Affordable Estate Planning Through a Partnership with EncorEstate Plans
The COVID pandemic has taught us that nothing is certain and we need to help our clients plan for every eventuality. This often means encouraging each of our clients to have an estate plan in place. I recently worked on the administration of a trust and estate for someone who died unexpectedly. The individual had…
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Series I Bonds – A Positive Development From the Inflation Spike
Last month we wrote an article about the current inflation spike and the pain it is inflicting on your monthly spending. The higher cost of living can be attributed to a combination of supply chain issues causing demand to exceed supply for goods, and a shortage of workers due to COVID and demographic trends. Inflation…
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Mutual Funds are the VHS of the Investment World
When I started my career in financial planning way back in 1986, mutual funds were the best way to provide clients a well-diversified investment portfolio. The creation of mutual funds allowed clients of more modest wealth the opportunity to invest in a broad basket of stocks and bonds with professional management, which really opened investing…
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Rising Inflation – A Fad or a Trend?
When it comes to the recent surge in inflation, you don’t need to read about it in the news or hear about it on the TV. You are feeling the pain in your pocketbook every time you fill up your car or buy groceries. Just about everything has had rapid and dramatic price increases over…
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Safe Guarding Your Nest Egg With an Elder Care Plan
November is long-term care awareness month, so this is a great time to bring up the topic with your parents or other loved ones. The idea that a loved one may not be able to care for themselves is a difficult thing to discuss and something that many families decide to ignore. But the reality…
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