For the first time in US history, consumer spending at restaurants and bars is more than spending at grocery stores. According to the US Census Bureau and Haver Statistics, in March $50.1 billion was spent in grocery stores vs. $50.4 billion in restaurants and bars. Zagat’s 2015 Dining Trend Survey says that the national average…
Do you ever think, “if only I made $X amount per year I wouldn’t worry about money.” Or maybe, “if I had $1million in the bank, I wouldn’t worry about money.” Guess what? It’s not true! According to a MartizCX Wealth Online Survey of over 1,000 investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets, even…
This last method of spending down different accounts is probably the most popular. Method #3 I’ll call the Pro-Rata System. Simply put, you take a proportionate percentage out of each type of account every year. For example, say you have 50% of assets in tax-deferred accounts, 25% in taxable accounts, and 25% in Roth accounts,…
Last week, we talked about spending down retirement money starting with already-taxed assets, then tax-deferred accounts, and ending with Roth IRAs. This week, we look at spend down Method #2: Tax-deferred (Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s) first, taxable (non-retirement) accounts second, Roth IRAs last. Pros: Spreads the taxes owed on tax-deferred accounts out over a longer period…
A question that I am asked to address in many financial plans for pre-retirees is, “in what order should I take out my assets?” In other words, does it make sense to tap tax-deferred plans first or last? When should I start taking Roth money out? How about my taxable (non-retirement account) investments? First, the…
Finding a financial planner is a scary process. Kind of like finding a hairdresser, but the hairdresser decision is MUCH more important. You have similar questions in the relationship. Will I be listened to? Is this person competent and experienced? Will the result leave me confident or depressed? Will he/she try to upsell me products…
Have you ever wanted to meet with someone to get advice on your finances, but didn’t feel comfortable hiring a financial planner? Or, do you just have a few questions, but don’t need a big financial plan? Good news! There are financial planners out in the community doing pro-bono (free) work. The Financial Planning Association…
As I sit here writing my monthly blogs, my doorbell rings. It’s my next door neighbor (who I have not met before – the house is a rental with lots of turnover) coming to inform me that my son and his friend have driven a golf ball through her window. Ugh! This will be expensive.…
In the May, 2015 print edition of Money Magazine, there is an article called 101 Ways to Build Wealth. These list-type of articles come around often and say many of the same things, but a few interesting ones I found were these: “Tip #15: Don’t Tend to Your 401(k) After a Rough Day at Work.…
There is much controversy about whether or not to make extra payments on your mortgage in order to pay it off early. As usual, I don’t have any hard and fast rules, but there are questions I’d like addressed before making this decision. First, is this the forever house or the 5-year house? If you…
