Asset Location: Organize Your Portfolio Like Your Kitchen

My family’s kitchen will not be profiled on HGTV as a model of organization.  We face the practical limitations of 25-year old builder-grade cabinets and constrained space.  We also face the reality confronted by many parents of young children.  That is, the focus of children emptying a clean dishwasher is on getting it done quickly [...]

4 Things You’ll Wish You Did Before the Bull Market Becomes a Bear Market

Well-known investor Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital has often said, “You can’t predict, but you can prepare.”  While markets are cyclical, oscillating between bull and bear markets, you can never know with certainty when the market is going to turn, how quickly it may do so, how far it might fall, or when it will [...]

Medicare Open Enrollment: Important Considerations and Mistakes to Avoid

With the annual Medicare Open Enrollment upon us (October 15th – December 7th), we thought it would be helpful to highlight some key areas that you should focus on during this time to make the most of this valuable benefit. Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage – You can change between the two (from Original Medicare [...]

Children as Dependents, Kiddie Tax, and College Tax Planning Strategies – Updated

A number of years ago, we authored this article explaining why higher income parents may be well served to gift appreciated investments to their children and then have the children use the proceeds to pay for college. The article further explained how taxpayers who faced alternative minimum tax (AMT) received no tax benefit from [...]

Long-Term Disability Insurance – Group vs. Individual Coverage

From an economic perspective, insurance is useful to protect against low frequency, high severity events.  Quite simply, we are well served to insure infrequent events that would be financially devastating like the loss of a home to fire or an untimely death.  This ultimately begs the question of why people purchase insurance to protect against [...]

Low Rates and High Valuations Have You Down? Don’t Worry…Plan Right!

Since the advent of the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, catalyzed by successive rounds of quantitative easing and ever more stimulative monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, we have found ourselves in an environment of extremely low interest rates.  In this environment, fixed-income investors and savers seeking stable income streams have been punished, receiving ever [...]

Inflation and Interest Rates: Series I Bonds

Inflation is the sustained, upward movement of prices in an economy.  It is not defined by the price changes of a single item, rather it measures the general trend of prices paid for a wide range of goods and services, reflected by an index like the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  Generally speaking, prices for things [...]

IRA Rollover or Leave Assets in a 401k?

In a country founded on the idea of individual freedom, Americans value the idea of choice.  We inherently believe that maximizing individual freedom increases our individual welfare or happiness and that the best way to maximize individual freedom is to maximize choice.  A bar with 120 beers on tap is perceived better than a bar [...]

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