Divorce Planning, Newly Independent Women
Joseph Goldy, CFP®, CDFA®
Understanding the CDFA® Designation: Your ...

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.

Understanding the CDFA® Designation: Your Financial Ally During Divorce
Pharmaceutical Professionals, Stock Options, Financial Planning
AnnaMarie Mock, CFP®
Science Meets Finance: How The Scientific ...

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. 

Science Meets Finance: How The Scientific Method is Applied in Financial Planning | Ep. 6
Financial Planning, Financial Tips, Net Worth
Stephanie Burke
Understanding Your Money Script

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.

Understanding Your Money Script
Financial Planning, Financial Tips
Edward Leach
The Dependent Care FSA – An Overlooked Benefit ...

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).

The Dependent Care FSA – An Overlooked Benefit During Open Enrollment Season
Financial Planning, Financial Tips, Healthcare, Investments, Life Planning, Savings
Edward Leach
3 Reasons Every High Net-Worth Family Should ...

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.

3 Reasons Every High Net-Worth Family Should Fund a Health Savings Account

Financial Planning

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Loss Aversion: Financial Behavior to Avoid

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Loss Aversion: Financial Behavior to Avoid

I recently celebrated my 45th birthday. Admittedly, celebrating anything while social distancing is considerably less fun, but it was still a great time to reflect on life in general and how the first 45 years have gone so far. Of course, being in finance, thoughts also turned to all of the various market events I have witnessed in that period. The tech bubble bursting in 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and now a pandemic. It seems that once-in-a-lifetime black swan events have happened four times and counting in my career as a financial professional.

Financial Information is Not the Same as Financial Knowledge

Financial Information is Not the Same as Financial Knowledge

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.

Wisdom – The Foundation of a Belief System

Wisdom – The Foundation of a Belief System

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. 

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New to A 401(k) Plan?

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New to A 401(k) Plan?

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.

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SECURE Act

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SECURE Act

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.

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Understanding Your W-4 Tax Form

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Understanding Your W-4 Tax Form

Benjamin Franklin wisely observed that “nothing can be said to be certain, except for death and taxes”. Centuries later, this still rings true. Most earned income will be subject to taxes and tax withholding as determined by Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. Form W-4 is an IRS form you, as an employee, complete directing your employer on the amount of pay to withhold from every paycheck for federal taxes. Accurately completing your W-4 is beneficial to you because it can prevent overpayment of your taxes, putting more money in your pocket. It can, also, avoid underpayment of your taxes, which ensures that there will be no unexpected tax bill or penalty due.

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You Should Have a Medical ID on Your Phone

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You Should Have a Medical ID on Your Phone

Imagine you are in an accident or have a medical emergency. That can certainly be a scary situation. But what if you could not speak or were unconscious? How would the first responders or medical professionals know whether you have any ongoing medical conditions, food or drug allergies, what medications you are currently taking, or what blood type you are?

Remember to Review and Update Your Estate Plan

Remember to Review and Update Your Estate Plan

In a previous article titled “The Estate Planning Essentials”, I identified the documents needed for a comprehensive estate plan. Although this can be a morbid topic most want to avoid thinking about, reviewing the documents not only ensures your financial legacy is passed in accordance with your wishes as smoothly as possible but guides your agent to ensure your medical and financial wishes are addressed. So, how often should you review your estate planning documents?

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Tips to Save More Money: All Those Little Things Add Up

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Tips to Save More Money: All Those Little Things Add Up

There are many self-proclaimed financial experts who like to stand up on their soap boxes and disparage ordinary people for how they spend their hard-earned money. The most commonly referred to “waste of money” is your morning coffee. There is even a website that will calculate how much you would accumulate if you didn’t buy your morning coffee and instead invested it. Suze Orman and Kevin O’Leary are two financial experts who refuse to pay for a cup of coffee because they think it’s like throwing money away.

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Understanding Employer Health Insurance Plan Options

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Understanding Employer Health Insurance Plan Options

Open enrollment is a short period of time, usually occurring once per year, when you can add or drop your health insurance, or make changes to other coverages. Open enrollment ranges from a couple weeks to a couple months prior to year-end usually in November to December.  This allows employers to provide a comprehensive overview of benefits offered, which allows you to make well informed changes to your benefit elections. Benefits may vary from very limited to comprehensive lists that range from medical insurance, life insurance, and other ancillary benefits like legal services and pet insurance.

The Estate Planning Essentials

The Estate Planning Essentials

As a financial planner, I like to be as prepared as possible for the unknowns in life. This allows me to have peace-of-mind knowing that major issues have already been addressed. As life evolves, no one can be certain about the future, but one aspect you can control is your legacy through a comprehensive estate plan. A comprehensive estate plan can be comprised of a variety of documents, but the base estate plan should include a last will and testament, durable power of attorney, and medical power of attorney and directive. These documents guide your appointed agent(s) to ensure your medical and financial wishes are taken care of and your financial legacy passes in accordance with the guidelines laid out as smoothly as possible. Having an estate plan in place prior to a life changing event, cognitive issues, or death can help ensure that the decisions made by the individual are honored.

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Is Inflation Good or Bad?

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Is Inflation Good or Bad?

Inflation has been a popular topic of late.

In his press conference to announce the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates following its July meeting, Fed Chair Powell cited “muted inflation pressures” as justification for action.

However, retaliatory tariffs between the U.S. and China have raised concerns this could spark inflationary pressures as consumers are forced to pay higher prices.

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Student Income Won’t Hurt Their Financial Aid

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Student Income Won’t Hurt Their Financial Aid

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) collects demographic, income, and asset information from student applicants and their families. This information is used to calculate a student’s eligibility to receive any financial aid for college expenses based on the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is calculated according to a formula that is established by the federal government and is a measure of a family’s financial strength. Schools consider the EFC as one of several factors to determine the amount, if any, a student may be awarded for that school year. Simply put, students are eligible to receive need-based student aid if the sum of their EFC and other estimated financial assistance is less than the total cost of attendance.

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Are Your Kids Protected?: Health Insurance for Children Attending College

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Are Your Kids Protected?: Health Insurance for Children Attending College

With the fall semester fast approaching, there are many last-minute decisions and preparations being made for the next wave of freshman students. However, one decision that may have fallen to the wayside is health insurance for the incoming student. An important question to ask is “will my child be covered under my medical insurance once they go off to college?”

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Don’t Fall for These Common Financial Scams

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Don’t Fall for These Common Financial Scams

Everyone, young and old alike, can be a target for fraud. In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission collected 1.4 million fraud reports. People reported losing a whopping $1.48 billion to fraud in 2018, which is an increase of 38% from 2017.  Of people that included their age in reports, those aged 20-29 reported the loss of money in 43% of reports compared to 15% for those aged 70-79. However, the loss amount reported was nearly twice as high for ages 70-79.

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Changes to the AMT as a Result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017

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Changes to the AMT as a Result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017

The changes made to the tax code by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 are now being felt full fledge, and despite early fears, some filers have been pleasantly surprised by their tax returns for 2018. Historically, one of the more loathsome tax rules over the years was the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) which disproportionately impacted earners in the Northeast and West Coast where wages and cost of living are higher.  In 2018, the rules around AMT have changed increasing the amount of income you must earn to be impacted by the tax.

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Tax Planning: There’s More Than Meets the Eye

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Tax Planning: There’s More Than Meets the Eye

Nobody likes paying taxes. Even though taxes are necessary to keep our schools open, communities safe, roads clean, and governments running, it’s not a fulfilling experience to see a percentage of your hard-earned income or investment gains vanish into thin air. With that being said, there’s no way of escaping taxes (without risking legal repercussions, of course), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do throughout the year to reduce the amount of taxes you ultimately end up paying.

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