Little did I know when I posted my last blog in February that I would be weathering a financial COVID storm. As I began tax season, I did not know how life would turn upside down in the coming months. So much as has changed, including a tax season that never seemed to end.
Essential Financial Strategies is pleased to announce a new service–The Strategic College Plan. This service helps families figure out how to pay for college while minimizing the future burden of college student loans. Using a sophisticated knowledge base, Rorik Larson assists families to predict their Expected Family Contribution.
I have noticed over the years that clients that have financial peace of mind also have is to sufficient liquidity or cash on hand/emergency funds. Having these funds available helps me and others feel a greater sense of abundance. It helps cover the financial chaos of life and the ability to pay for life as it happens with much less financial stress. That is financial peace of mind.
It can be scary retiring after a near lifetime of working. Perhaps even scarier is realizing that you must live on what you have now in investments. The markets daily ups and down with the television, radio, and social media hype only enhance this fear. How are you to do your retirement investing? Put them under a mattress or bank CD’s earning very little interest? Here is a method that works for my clients.
Money and More (C) has been taking a break from Tax Season through the middle of the Summer. We will return later this month. Rorik
Your Taxes and the Government Shutdown The current federal government partial shutdown is affecting the IRS and your taxes. On January 7th the IRS announced that they will accept tax returns starting on January 28th. The IRS will issue refunds on schedule. There are other issues that might hold up returns. The IRS has recalled …
Charitable Giving under the Tax Law Changes The sweeping tax laws changes from year ago have a great effect on charitable giving. These are likely to be even more profound in 2019 as taxpayers better understand the law. The new law increases the amount a taxpayer can deduct from 50% of adjusted gross income (AGI) …
Retirement Pension and Social Security Sweet Spots Coordinating the timing of pensions and social security can create greater wealth during retirement. Often folks want to take their pensions and Social Security as soon as possible. Social Security which can be started as early age 62 is penalized for each month taken prior to the Full …
Maintenance While cleaning up and doing tent maintenance after a recent Orland Park Cub Scout camping trip, I thought about how important it is to perform maintenance on many items including my investment accounts. This part of financial planning is necessary yet a very unexciting chore. I perform such cleaning tasks as making sure beneficiaries …
Funding a Trust My financial planning training and estate planning lawyer suggested I create a living trust for my estate planning situation. I went through the process of creating and signing legal documents with my wonderful attorney, Amy Delaney. After that, the real work began. I needed to fund the trust. That means I worked …
Sunday ACP Conference My most important professional organization is the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP). ACP’s tax-focused model and financial planning philosophies align with my own. I, very much, look forward to the conference each year. It has been my pleasure to be part of the conference committee for this National level conference for the …
Financial Planning Weekly Thoughts for October 20, 2018 Read More »
9/30/18 Sunday Saving Money For long term gains in controlling spending and increasing my savings, I look at one area at a time. Working successfully on just one area leads to a snowball effect of change. For example, my son wants to cut back on after school activities to increase his weekly downtime. …
