Anyone who has gone through a divorce knows how emotionally challenging and financially complex it can be. While attorneys handle the legal aspects, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® focuses specifically on the financial implications of divorce. This specialized designation equips professionals with the expertise to guide clients through the intricate financial aspects of divorce proceedings, ensuring better outcomes for their financial future.
Anna Marie Mock, a fee-only certified financial planner at Highland Financial Advisors, discusses the dynamic interplay between art and science in financial planning. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci's philosophy that "everything connects to everything else," she emphasizes that financial planning is an art involving subjective goal-setting and a science-driven by objective analysis tools. In this video, Anna explains how the scientific method can be applied to financial planning, using equity compensation as a concrete example.
What are your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about money? What about your partner, and do they differ from your own? Sometimes, the conflict we experience around money in our personal lives can be attributed to incongruent money scripts with those with whom we share finances. Let’s dive into the term money script and how understanding it can help us achieve our financial goals.
In talking with clients about the benefits their employer provides during the open enrollment season, one often overlooked benefit if clients have dependents is the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not only a savvy investment option but also offer numerous benefits, especially for high-net-worth families. An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account designed for individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses. While the utility of HSAs is universal, they hold advantages for high-net-worth families and have steadily grown in popularity since their inception.
If knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association, how do we get the knowledge that leads to such intimacy? The Greek word for this is epignosis – the full knowledge. Knowledge that you can trust in times of crisis and increased uncertainty.
If wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and sound judgment, how do we acquire wisdom with our money? I have witnessed extremely bright, successful people second-guess themselves and make irrational choices with their money. I have also observed other intelligent people possess certain wisdom on how things work, and they can separate their investment capital from the news of the day and feel very confident in their choices.
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T.S. Eliot, The Rock, 1932
What does Eliot’s critique of modernity, which holds that we are losing something valuable in our lives as we pursue technical progress, have anything to do with investing and personal financial planning?
The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 to set a standard for identification cards. As of December 2013, the Department of Homeland Security implemented an enforcement plan schedule that was modified in 2018 by President Trump. The Act sets a minimum-security standard for licenses and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting identification cards that do not meet the criteria.
Whether or not you have an interest in sports, you have likely heard about the helicopter crash involving Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the seven other people on board who lost their lives. As reported, eight seconds after losing communication with the helicopter, it plummeted at a rate of descent increasing to over 4,000 feet per minute, traveling about 185 mph on impact. The families on the aircraft were all on their way to a children's travel basketball game.
The President signed The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Act (SECURE Act) into law on December 20, 2019, and many of the changes became effective on January 1, 2020. In an earlier article, “SECURE Act”, we discussed the basics of what the SECURE Act intended to accomplish.
In 2006, the Pension Protection Act (PPA) was passed which introduced tax incentives for companies to adopt automatic enrollment and deferral increases. Since 2006, many plan sponsors have implemented automatic enrollment which was designed to positively influence employees’ behavior to improve their retirement savings.
According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2019 Planning & Progress Study, 17% of baby boomers have less than $5,000 saved for retirement and 20% have less in personal savings. With an increase in longevity and decreased purchasing power, more individuals have to supplement Social Security income with personal savings during retirement. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 55% of the adult population participated in an employer retirement plan in 2018, and Vanguard reported that the median 401(k) balances for individuals age 65 or older are $58,000.
