There are two basic types or retirement accounts. The first is the tax-deferred type. This is your traditional 401(k) or traditional IRA. Money that goes in is pre-tax or tax-deductible, the funds grow tax-deferred, and then you pay income taxes on the distributions in retirement (after age 591/2). The second...
Now I am Become GE, the Destroyer of Wealth There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last month about a gentleman by the name of Gary Zabroski. Mr. Zabroski was a lifer at GE, putting in 40 years at the company and retiring as a punch press operator in...
We human beings are a myopic bunch when it comes to investing. It’s not our fault; we’re wired to run to safety in times of trouble. Unfortunately it causes us to worry about the day-to-day movements of the market when they have virtually no impact on things over the long-term....
Recently, a client asked me what I thought about a video that was making its way around Facebook a few weeks ago demonstrating the power of investing early. I can’t find it anymore, but the basic premise was something along the lines of if you invested just $2,000 each year in...
Choosing what type of accounts to use to save for retirement and how to prioritize their funding can be confusing. Below is a basic decision tree to hopefully make the process a little easier. Self-employed people and certain others have situations that are more complex, but this is an appropriate guide for...
“I’m proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is — I could be just as proud for half the money” -Arthur Godfrey Tax evasion — the act of deliberately misrepresenting your income, overstating deductions, hiding money and investment gains offshore, and in general lying to...
Remember back when gas was $3.70, Jeremy Clarkson was still on Top Gear, and One Direction was a crappy five-member boy band instead of a crappy four-member boy band? 2014 seems so long ago for most of us, but for contributions to your IRA account that year is still alive....
Recently the financial advisory business has seen the launch of many “robo-advisors”; websites that leverage technology to provide portfolio management services to clients without anxiety-inducing human interaction. These sites, such as Wealthfront and Betterment, typically ask the user a few simple questions and spit out a recommended portfolio based on...
Please note that I am not qualified to give tax advice and none of the information below should be used without the guidance of a professional tax adviser who is familiar with all the relevant facts. It’s time for the often fruitless social convention of making New Year resolutions. Twelve months...
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