Over the past 15 months, I have been in a LOT of family therapy. And the one thing I have learned is that when a person is feeling strong emotions (fear, anger, insecurity), the rational part of their brain (the pre-frontal cortex) literally is not working. It physically gets no energy and just shuts off.…
So, you’ve seen all the newsletters advising you not to panic and sell as the stock market loses 20% in a week. You may even hear investment folks encouraging you to buy stocks if you have any cash. But, as you watch your accounts drop each day, you can’t help feeling like buying more and…
An alert reader asked me to elaborate a bit on the SECURE Act in relation to the effect on inheriting IRAs. This has received a lot of press, so I guess a lot of people are worried about it. Is it possible all the press the SECURE Act has received is making people worry? Hmmmm.…
After being stuck in the Senate for over 6 months (thanks, as usual, Ted Cruz!), the Setting Every Citizen Up for Retirement Security, aka the SECURE act, was finally signed into law at the end of 2019. What does it mean for you? Here is a very quick summary with bonus snarky commentary:…
Just a quick reminder for those of you aged 70 ½ and over who are also charitably inclined: There is no better way to gift from a tax standpoint than directly out of your Traditional IRA. Why? Money that comes straight from your IRA to a 501©(3) charity never hits your income for taxes. This…
This is the last in my blog series spotlighting stuff I learned at the Investment News Women’s Advisor Summit. That’s right, I bullet point the interesting stuff so you don’t have to attend all-day conferences. You are welcome. Our first speaker of the day was Dr. Julie Gorte, Senior VP for Impact Investing at…
We are continuing on this month’s theme on stuff I learned at the Investment News Women’s Advisor Summit. Maybe these sound like, “well, duh!” to you. Or you may be thinking that as a personal finance professional I should know all this stuff anyway. The fact is, I don’t know everything, and I learn new…
Another year, another attempt to fix our retirement laws. As I write this, the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) is working its way through the Senate with bi-partisan support. By the time you see this blog (I write them a few weeks in advance), this could be law. Here are…
A question that comes up from clients of all ages is “how do I handle the dividends and interest from my investments?” What is a dividend, anyway? From the Google dictionary, a dividend is “a sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits or reserves.” …
If you’re thinking that the job you have is only going to be short-term and you’re wondering if you should contribute to your retirement account, check out the video below!
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