According to the Federal Reserve, about four in ten American adults were "doing okay" financially around the end of 2023. About one in three said they were "living comfortably." The rest, however, were either only "getting by" (19%) or having a hard time getting by (9%).
Read MoreThe decision on the timing of when to claim Social Security benefits should be based on a number of factors including one’s ability to cover existing living expenses without the benefit, life expectancy, and spousal considerations.
Read MoreWith so many publicly traded companies located here in Minnesota (United Health, Target, Best Buy, Medtronic, US Bank, General Mills) it’s not surprising that we often have questions about the NUA rule. Anyone who has worked with one of these companies over a significant period of time may be looking at a large concentrated stock positions with a potentially huge tax burden in the near future. The NUA rule may help alleviate some of that burden but you have to do it the right way.
Read MoreMinnesota has a lot of large publicly traded employers. United Health, Target, Best Buy, Medtronic, US Bank, General Mills, are some of the biggest. Typically, these companies will use other forms of compensation to attract and retain employees. Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are one of the most common.
Read MoreWhether you just got fired, are planning to leave your employer to pursue another opportunity, or ready to retire, you need to make sure you understand what happens with your employee stock options as this could have a huge impact on your tax situation and your retirement plans.
Read More“Save as much as you can for retirement.”
That’s the message that has been drilled into the mind of every American worker for decades. There’s something to be said for that, of course. Financial security is important to all of us.
Read MoreHaving too much appreciated stock in your portfolio may look like a great problem to have. It validates your good sense for having chosen those investments in the first place. It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling when you open the quarterly account statements. Why is that a problem, exactly?
Read Moret’s tax time, you’ve just completed your taxes and are now just noticing the enormous tax bill you’ve paid over the past year. You start thinking, did you make a mistake? Is there something you can do this year to lower your upcoming tax bill?
Read MoreWe associate retirement with constraints. However, it can be turned into a beautiful constraint by focusing on unique opportunities at the intersection of retirement and taxes.
See Part 1 of this mini-series.
Read MoreIncomplete plans can be disastrous. A man named Carl McCunn learned this painful lesson amid the chilling landscape of Alaska. The wildlife photographer arranged for a bush pilot to fly him to an isolated region hundreds of miles north of Fairbanks. He carried enough provisions for his five-month excursion.
Read MoreWe have another excellent blog post from the Financial Advisor Blog Sharing Group. As a reminder, this includes like-minded financial advisors from around the country. All the participating financial advisors are Fee-Only meaning the advice is objective and free from conflicts of interest. This article is from Dave Fernandez of Wealth Engineering. His article is all about RMDs.
Read MoreTarget Date Retirement Funds (also called LifeCycle Funds) have gained in popularity because of their ultra simple retirement strategy - just buy one fund and let the fund managers handle the rest.
Read MoreEstate planning should be a part of every financial plan, which means that your financial team should always have an estate attorney in addition to your fee only financial planner.
Read MoreI read an article from the Star Tribune (our local Minnesota newspaper) earlier today entitled Aging America: For some blue-collar Americans, retirement is nothing more than elusive dream.
The story follows that sad tail of Tom Edwards, a 53 year old logger, who thinks he will never be able to retire.
Read MoreThinkAdvisor highlights the five best and five worst states from a Kiplinger study on the tax environment for retirees. And guess what...we are number 2 on the worst list. Although this is probably not a surprise for most Minnesotan's it is still not fun to see.
Read MoreSomethings are better seen then read. I found this infographic over at DailyInfoGraphic.com by Michaela Lacy. It shows what I have mentioned in this blog multiple times, which is that active management cannot consistently beat the market, and below are some good statistics that support this argument.
Read More
