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.
Federal student loans are efficient forms of debt because the interest is tax-deductible, and the interest rates are relatively low compared to other forms of debt like credit cards. In addition, student loans are designed as an investment in yourself and provide the ability to earn more through your human capital in the future.
In the past, we have discussed the benefit of a Health Savings Account or HSA. As a refresher, HSAs are designed for an individual or family to save pre-tax money up to the annual limits for either short-term medical expenses or long-term retirement planning.
With the election results in Georgia, President Biden will have a majority in both the House and Senate. Half the country may be excited about this, and about half the country may be in a panic. As an investment advisory firm, we want you to understand the facts and make decisions in your best interest. Far too often, we see people make short-term decisions based on a perception of something rather than a prudent judgment based on facts.
With the start of the new year, those who have auto leases coming due will be contemplating which new set of wheels to drive off the lot. While enjoying a new vehicle is the fun part, knowing whether you got a good deal on your lease is often less so. However, just by arming yourself with some basic knowledge of how automobile leasing works, you can significantly improve your odds of not signing an unfavorable contract.
Estate planning can be a morbid topic, and most want to avoid thinking about it. However, reviewing your estate documents not only ensures your financial legacy is passed in accordance with your legacy plan as smoothly as possible but guides your agent to address your medical and financial wishes. But what about leaving more than just a financial legacy?
Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes, said, "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Doyle's observation was over eighty years before the development of 24-hour cable news and the internet.
For someone saving toward retirement, one of the most fundamental questions is, “How much of my preretirement income will need to be replaced once I am no longer working?”. Determining an accurate answer to this question is essential because it is directly linked to another critical question, which is, “How much should I be saving?”. Using a one size fits all approach to answering these questions could be detrimental to your financial plan since everyone’s situation is unique.
The current coin shortage is an unlikely victim of the Covid-19 pandemic. More and more people are making fewer cash purchases, reducing the number of coins in circulation. Using digital forms of currency over cash is not a new development as cashless transactions and e-commerce have increased over recent years. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco reported that between 2017 to 2018, shoppers used cash for 26% of their payments, which was down from 30% the year prior.
According to a recent article by the Associated Press, 2020 is shaping up to be one of the best IPO markets in over two decades. While traditional initial public offerings continue to be the primary avenue companies use to raise money and have their shares listed on a major exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, the process is not without drawbacks. Other alternatives to bring companies to market have been tested over the years, such as Dutch auctions (Google, 2004), Direct Public Offerings and Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs.
When people think of significant scientific breakthroughs that have affected our present world, the top of the list may include Albert Einstein for his theory of relativity that led to the atomic age. Watson and Crick, who visualized and modeled DNA's double helix structure, which led to the genome age, may also be close to the top. But very few people would include Claude Shannon, the father of the information age.
One question I often hear is: With the market being so unpredictable, how can we properly plan for the long-term? A global pandemic, upcoming elections, trade tariffs, record unemployment, GDP in freefall, there is no shortage of reasons why the market could be declining this year. Yet, the stock market is not falling, it continues to push higher, led by the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Over the last year, out of the 11 sectors of the economy, only consumer staples and energy lagged the S&P 500.
With over $5 trillion in 401(k) plans across the United States as of 2019, this qualified retirement plan's continued popularity is without question. Although the amount of 401(k) money invested in company stock has declined in recent years, according to the Investment Company Institute, investors still have about 6% of plan assets concentrated in their employer's stock.
In the last two weeks, big news items were the announcements from Apple and Tesla that they will be splitting their stock on August 31st. Apple will split its stock 4 to 1, meaning you will receive four shares for every share you own as of August 24th. The split will be Apple's fifth stock split in forty years. Tesla will split their stock 5 to 1 by issuing an additional four shares in a dividend for every share you own as of August 21st.
Should long term investors focus on the upcoming presidential election from an investment standpoint? Over the coming months, there will be no shortage of opinions on market movements as election day approaches. This media-driven rhetoric can influence people’s perceptions between the administration in power and its influence on the markets.
Living through the current pandemic has taught me to appreciate many things that I previously took for granted. Traveling on a plane, walking down busy city streets, or simply sharing a good meal at a restaurant with friends comes to mind. The global health crisis has also reaffirmed an appreciation for an emergency fund from a financial planning aspect.
A revocable trust is an extension of the grantor or you as the individual owner. Revocable trusts direct how assets will be managed by appointed trustees during the grantor's lifetime and transferred to beneficiaries after the grantor's passing. Because of the structure, the grantor can modify, remove, or add any instructions to the trust during their lifetime.
In my previous two articles, we looked at how loss aversion and overconfidence both can have a negative impact on an investor’s returns. As with other potentially damaging behaviors investors demonstrate, they often go undetected until someone points out what is happening. That is what makes investor psychology and behavior so fascinating to study.
A FICO Score is a credit score created by Fair Isaac Corporation used by lenders to assess a borrower’s credit risk and is used in 90% of all lending decisions. FICO updates their models every five years to better predict risk and consumer behavior. FICO is releasing two versions of their scoring models this year, FICO 10 and 10T. FICO 10T stands for trended data and is designed to be a snapshot and predictive of the consumer’s credit journey.
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.
