Blog

Kobe Bryant’s Death Reminds Wives to Prepare

Widows have special considerations when planning their financial future The world lost one of its greatest and most accomplished basketball players on Sunday, January 26, 2020. Early in the morning, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year old daughter, along with seven others, died when the helicopter they were in crashed amidst foggy … Read more

Weekly Market Update

LPL Research on CNBC. LPL Financial Senior Market Strategist Ryan Detrick was on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday with Becky Quick. You can watch the full interview here. S&P 500 futures point to strong open. Following a dramatic decline Monday, China’s major indexes rebounded overnight, acting as a catalyst for a global rally. The MSCI Asia Pacific rose 1.1%, with the Euro … Read more

The Social Security Retirement Earnings Test

Take This Quiz: The Social Security Retirement Earnings Test Can you work and receive Social Security retirement benefits at the same time? Yes, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) will apply an earnings test. Part or all of your monthly benefit may be withheld if you earn too much. To help avoid surprises, take this … Read more

Key Retirement & Tax Numbers 2020

Key Retirement and Tax Numbers for 2020 Every year, the Internal Revenue Service announces cost-of-living adjustments that affect contribution limits for retirement plans and various tax deduction, exclusion, exemption, and threshold amounts. Here are a few of the key adjustments for 2020. Employer retirement plans Employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), and most 457 plans … Read more

Categories Tax

Socially Responsible Investing – Aligning Values

Socially Responsible Investing: Aligning Your Money with Your Values Sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing (also called socially responsible investing) has been around for a long time, but growing interest has moved it into the mainstream. U.S. SRI assets reached $12 trillion in 2018, 38% more than in 2016. SRI investments now account for about … Read more

What Will You Do Differently This Year?

According to a recent survey, 76% of Americans reported having at least one financial regret. Over half of this group said it had to do with savings: 27% didn’t start saving for retirement soon enough, 19% didn’t contribute enough to an emergency fund, and 10% wish they had saved more for college.1 The saving conundrum … Read more

10 RMD Blunders You Don’t Want to Make

Top 10 RMD (Required Minimum Distributions) Mistakes 10. Rolling over an RMD. RMDs are not eligible to be rolled over. This happens most frequently when company plan assets are rolled over to an IRA. If the RMD is not taken first, you now have an excess contribution in the IRA that needs to be corrected. … Read more

After the Death of a Loved One

Losing a loved one can be a difficult experience. Despite the emotional trauma involved, you may also be responsible for handling a variety of financial, legal, and administrative tasks. You may find yourself unsure of where to begin and what to do.  However, do not be hasty when settling your loved one’s estate. Important decisions … Read more

Tax Consequences of Gifting Money

The Gift Tax Exemption Explained. The IRS collects taxes on estates valued at $11.4 million or more per individual. Gift taxes exist to ensure that estates can’t evade taxes by giving money away to reduce or eliminate the estate tax bill. You can, however, use annual and lifetime gift tax exemptions to legally reduce your … Read more

Categories Tax

Using Your IRA to Give from the Heart

Qualified Charitable Distributions: Using Your IRA to Gift. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act roughly doubled the standard deduction ($12,200 for single filers and $24,400 for married taxpayers filing jointly in 2019) and indexed it for inflation through 2025. As a result, far fewer taxpayers will itemize deductions on their tax returns, and some people … Read more

Categories Tax