The Half Million Dollar Baby
Password Protection Strategies
We all know that the more complicated a password is, the better. They should include a mixture of numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters. But are these precautions enough to keep your digital information safe? Twitter, Yahoo, and LinkedIn have all fallen prey to online attackers who have stolen entire databases full […]
Budget Check Up: Tax Time Is the Right Time
Every year, about 140 million households file their federal tax returns. For many, the process involves digging through shoe boxes or manila folders full of receipts; gathering mortgage, retirement, and investment account statements; and relying on computer software to take advantage of every tax break the code permits.1 It seems a shame not to make the […]
Four Steps to Valuing an Estate
Determining the value of an estate is a fundamental first step in estate management and a critical requirement for settling a decedent’s estate.1 How to Assess the Value of an Estate Select the date of calculation. Because values move up and down, you need to set a specific date for a valuation. For a living […]
Four Reasons Millennials Need an Estate Strategy
You’re young, have little in savings, and might not have anyone relying on you, financially. So, why do you need to think about estate management?1 Here are four great reasons: Estate Strategies: They’re Not Just for the Elderly You need a will. You may ask yourself why a will is important if you don’t have […]
Understanding Marginal Income Tax Brackets
By any measure, the tax code is huge. It is over 2,000 pages long, and even longer with footnotes.1 And almost weekly, the Internal Revenue Service publishes a 20- to 50-page bulletin about various aspects of the tax code.2 Fortunately, it’s not necessary to wade through these massive libraries to get a basic understanding of […]
Required Reading: The Economic Report of the President
In January, the White House released its 508-page book, “Economic Report of the President (2023).” If you haven’t yet made time to peruse this weighty tome, don’t beat yourself up. Most people don’t take the time to read the report—still others don’t even know it exists.1 What is the “Economic Report of the President,” and […]
Caring for Aging Parents
Thanks to healthier lifestyles and advances in modern medicine, the worldwide population over age 65 is growing. In the past decade, the population of Americans aged 65 and older has grown 38% and is expected to reach 94.7 million in 2060. As our nation ages, many Americans are turning their attention to caring for aging […]
Women and Financial Strategies
Women who share money management duties with their partner tend to take on a lion’s share of the responsibility for the household finances. Yet only 18% of women feel very confident in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.1,2 Although more women are providing for their families, when it comes to preparing for […]
Best-Performing Asset Classes
According to Yale University’s Crash Confidence Index, only about 24% of investors are confident the stock market will not crash sometime during the next six months.1 If fear leads investors to avoid the entire investment class, they may limit their potential returns. For example, for most of the 10-year period between 2012 and 2022, stocks […]