Category: Financial Planning
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Avoid C corporations with high tax rates
U.S. corporate income tax rates are the highest in the world. Most incorporated businesses pay 35% before their owners ever see a dollar of return on investment. The morale of the story for small business owners: consider using a regular corporate form (called a “C corporation”) for other planning business purposes but tax strategy is usually…
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Predicting your winter heating bill
Winter heating is a significant cost for many homes and businesses. In fact, the $600+ per month cost last winter jumped into the #1 largest cost item of running my small shop last year. So naturally I was curious about heating cost for this coming winter. If you heat your home with heating oil then this will…
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50-something and not saving for retirement? There are plenty of us
A Wells Fargo report printed in the LA Times says 41% of people in their 50s are not saving for retirement in any 401(k), IRA or similar vehicle. At age 54, I’m squarely in the middle of this demographic and served as an example of the results. Over the last two years I’ve had to…
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Investment custodian vs. broker/dealer (revisited)
Years ago I wrote a short Q&A format newspaper column, reproduced here, on the topic of an investment broker/dealer vs. custodian. The topic continues to receive attention today and I presume that the underlying consumer question focuses on safety of investment holdings. Recent inquiries caused me to wonder whether there is an easier and perhaps more…
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Non-permitted contingent fees and commissions for CPAs
Over the past month two of my web sites have received a growing numbers of visitors from Google and Bing search queries requesting examples of non-permitted contingent fees for CPAs. It appears that they come from multiple sources but I can not explain the sudden public interest. The reason, I suppose, is that I’ve written about two…
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NAPFA definition of fee-only excludes insurance company owner
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisers (NAPFA) confirmed in am email received Friday that I would not be eligible for membership as a fee-only adviser because I maintain ownership of Freedom Benefits web sites that receives fees from insurance exchange operators, brokers or other third party firrms. Even though my accounting/advisory practice is completely separate…
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Am I a fee-only financial adviser?
This question “Am I a fee-only financial adviser?” is self-imposed. Even though I’ve received literally tens of thousands of consumer finance questions over the past 30 years, never has this question been raised by anyone. I could also raise the next logical question at this point of whether perhaps the public just does not care but that…
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Preparing for increased investment volatility
There is wide-spread agreement now among financial advisers that we will see an increase in volatility in the U.S. stock market followed by an increase in global market volatility. Notwithstanding the fact that widespread agreement does not make it more likely to happen, it makes sense to consider the impact of the expected consequences. When the…
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Six changing financial needs of mature affluent clients
The needs of mature (50+) affluent clients are changing and so I’ve notice that the expectations that they have of their financial adviser are also evolving. 1) There are more divorces over age 50 involving larger pool of assets and liabilities increases the need for skilled divorce planning. 2) The need to further incorporate health care planning into overall financial…
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Tax planning: keep priorities in focus to ensure success
“When a CPA simply files your tax return and doesn’t provide strategic tax planning or advice, you may not be getting your money’s worth.” – Forbes I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, far too often our priorities get buried in the pace of business today. Financial planning is muddled, tax planning opportunities are missed, and tax return…