As we embark on a new year, there's no better time to take control of your financial future by thoroughly reviewing your cash flow. If having a vision and establishing goals is the touchstone for a financial plan, this essential financial practice sets the foundation for achieving your goals and ensuring long-term financial stability.
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.
As world economies continue to grow and evolve, it is becoming increasingly evident that China is playing a larger role in that growth. Some projections have China's GDP reaching $64 trillion by 2030, up from $14 trillion in 2019. By almost any measure, the Chinese economy is experiencing expansion that will likely continue in the decade to come. Still, it also has unique headwinds that it will need to overcome as well.
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are a form of stock-based compensation that can potentially provide a windfall but may come with a sizable tax bill. RSUs have two important dates, the Grant Date and Vesting Date(s). The Grant Date is when you are awarded the RSUs. The Vesting Date(s) is when you are transferred ownership of the shares and recognize the market value as ordinary income on your tax return.
With the news this week of Elon Musk investing $1.5 billion into bitcoin, along with Mastercard and Bank of New York announcing they will be supporting cryptocurrency on their networks, digital currencies have been getting a lot of attention. For those new to the altcoin world, it helps to understand the basics.
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.
Medical open enrollment allows individuals to start, stop, or modify their health insurance during a specified time, which applies to employer-provided plans, Medicare, and plans through the marketplace, i.e., heatlhcare.gov. Open enrollment timeframes can vary between medical insurance types. For example, open enrollment for Medicare is October 15th to December 7th, while the national marketplace enrollment is typically from November 1st to December 15th. Open enrollment for employer-provided plans is determined by the company's plan year, but all employees should be notified in advance for the coming year.
In the United States, a subsidiary of Nationwide wrote the first pet insurance policy in 1982 on the dog that played Lassie, the star of the American television series of the same name. Since then, there has been a debate on the value of pet insurance and whether it makes financial sense to obtain over your pet's life. The short answer is it depends.
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.
