New Financial Planning Software
February 5, 2019  | By Kevin Smith

Financial planning just got better with the addition of RightCapital, a fresh new cloud-based program for organizing financial information and visualizing financial concepts. We have been using eMoney for almost 10 years, waiting for a competitor to develop a better…Read More

2018 Year-End Trading
January 15, 2019  | By Kevin Smith

The stock market brought us gifts just in time for Christmas. The chart above show the % declines from all-time highs over the past five years for the S&P 500. Christmas Eve just happened to be the most significant pull…Read More

Saving taxes in a bad stock market
December 21, 2018  | By Kevin Smith

There are two great things about bad stock markets: 1) opportunities to buy at attractive prices, and 2) opportunities to harvest tax losses. We have been hard at work over the last couple of weeks finding ways to save our…Read More

2017 Simple Year-End Tax Savings Ideas
November 14, 2017  | By Kevin Smith

(may not apply to you, always consider your cash flow and cash reserve first, and always consult your CPA for details) Increase your pre-tax 401k contributions from your final paychecks of 2017. You are allowed up to $18,000 for the year ($24,000 if…Read More

Charity + Tax Deduction: a charitable fund
November 8, 2016  | By Kevin Smith

This may be relevant if you are interested in some combination of the following… You want to be involved in charitable giving. You are seeking tax deductions. You want to take your time to determine the proper array of charities…Read More

3 BIG Financial Considerations to Having Children
June 23, 2016  | By Kevin Smith

By:  Jonathan McQuade, CFP® Okay, okay.  Deciding to have children is not often based on the idea of a positive economic outcome for parents.  As the father of two young children, my colleagues like to remind me of the average…Read More

Taxes, Retirement, and Timing Social Security
August 31, 2015  | By Kevin Smith

The advantages of tax deferral are often emphasized when it comes to saving for retirement. So it might seem like a good idea to hold off on taking taxable distributions from retirement plans for as long as possible. (Note: Required…Read More

Key Numbers for 2015
February 11, 2015  | By Kevin Smith

Every year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announces cost-of-living adjustments that affect contribution limits for retirement plans, thresholds for deductions and credits, and standard deduction and personal exemption amounts. Here are a few of the key adjustments for 2015. Retirement…Read More

Importance of Timing a Roth IRA Conversion
December 12, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

Conventional wisdom holds that if you convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you should never pay the conversion taxes from IRA assets. The reason is that you’ll be depleting IRA assets that might otherwise be available to grow…Read More

Year-End Charitable Giving
December 10, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

With the holiday season upon us, and the end of one year and the start of another approaching, we pause to give thanks for our blessings and the people in our lives. It is also a time when charitable giving…Read More