Check your beneficiary designations now, before disaster strikes. With the current super-generous federal estate tax exemption of $11.4 million, estate planning may be completely off your radar. After all, with that huge exemption, you may think there’s no way your estate would owe any federal estate tax if you happen to die—expectedly or unexpectedly. Is …
As you likely know, the Roth IRA is a terrific way to grow your wealth with a minimum tax downside because you pay the taxes up front, and then with the proper holding period, pay no taxes after that. Eligible individuals can now contribute a total of $6,000 ($7,000 catch-up for ages 50 and up) …
“Price is what you pay; Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffett Rules of thumb are cheap and easy. Up front, they cost you nothing. In the long run, they could cost you significant losses, bad purchases, too much spent or too little saved. We started the series stating a rule of thumb is …
Fixed for Dentists: Top 8 Financial Rules of Thumb Read More »
“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Mohammad Ali Rule of Thumb: You should pay off high-interest rate credit cards first. Finally! A rule of thumb I could get behind for basically anyone who has a credit card! Well almost. We love debt when …
Broken Financial Rule of Thumb: Pay off credit card debt first, right? Read More »
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell Broken rule of thumb: You should save at least 10% of your take-home income for retirement. This rule sounds like the most reasonable and broadly applicable rule when you take it at face value. 10% sounds like a …
“A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.” – Niccolo Machiavelli Broken rule of thumb: Have at least 5x your income in life insurance. I’ve seen this rule of thumb vary significantly. One company lists 5-7x your annual income, another states life …
Read any number of self-help books, articles, or videos and they have you convinced that you can control your destiny. A beautiful picture, catchy sayings and motivational quotes and you are now ready to go to work earlier, be more organized, eat better, exercise more and boom, a “new” you. But can you control yourself …
Control Your Destiny: How to Maximize Professional Relationships For Your Best Future Read More »
“A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.” – Jeff Cooper On with breaking our most common financial rules of thumb. In financial planning, the emergency savings rule of thumb often gets the most broadly applied and that’s not a good thing. Here’s the rule. You should …
“It is in the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind, I would want, neither fine clothes, fine houses or fine furniture.” – Benjamin Franklin Continuing on the theme of breaking down the 8 top financial rules of thumb. Next is “a house should cost less than 2.5 x your income.” You finished …
When I graduated the Kansas State University Finance program, I was ready to help educate everyone I could on the way investments work, from the Efficient Market Hypothesis and Modern Portfolio Theory to statistics such as Standard Deviation, Sharpe Ratio, and Alpha. I figured my role as a financial advisor would be discussing these complex …
Behavioral Finance: Overcoming Emotional Investing Read More »
