Adulthood Isn’t for Kids: Remembering the “Spiderman” Rule for Finances
It’s a movie scene that has become a meme: Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, not realizing that his nephew is struggling with making the transition into superhero-hood, is worried about some unexplained changes in Peter’s behavior. He looks into the young man’s eyes and says, “With great power there must also come great responsibility.” The proverb […]
Do You Need a Trust? The Answer Might Surprise You
It is likely that many who read the title to this article almost immediately had thoughts like these: “Why would I need a trust? I don’t have that much money!” Or, “I’ve got a will in place, and my estate isn’t that complex. Besides, establishing a trust is probably too expensive.” The fact is, however, […]
Understanding Your Digital Estate (Yes, You Have One)
It’s easy to imagine someone reading the title of this article and thinking, “I wouldn’t touch cryptocurrency with a 10-foot pole; I certainly don’t have a digital estate!” Not to burst your bubble, but there is about a 99.999% chance that your impression is incorrect. For example: Do you use email? “Sure, doesn’t everyone?” you […]
Is Your Financial Advisor a Fiduciary? Should You Care?
For a moment, think back to the last time you or a loved one had a medical problem serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. What was the one thing you most wanted from your time with your physician? Of course, you wanted to know how to get well, and in all likelihood, […]
Why Retire? Your Answers Really Matter
Many of us are familiar with—or at least have heard about—author Simon Sinek and his maxim, which he also used as the main title of his bestselling book : “Start with Why.” The reason Sinek’s book and the idea behind it are attracting so much attention is that many of us intuitively understand that success […]
Three Financial Resolutions for Multigenerational Family Wealth-Building
It is a sad, but true fact that the vast majority of family fortunes do not survive past the third generation. In fact, a particular 20-year study of 3,000 wealthy families discovered that 70% of the families had lost their wealth by the second generation, and 90% had lost it by the third generation. This […]
Use It or Lose It? Your Lifetime Gift and Estate Tax Exemption and the 2025 Sunset
We wrote recently about taking advantage of various strategies to make maximum use of the current, larger exemptions for estate and gift taxes before their potential reduction in size at the end of 2025. It bears repeating: In 2023, a married couple with an estate worth up to $25.84 million would be able to pass […]
How a 401(k) Plan Can Put You on the Path to a Secure Retirement
According to recent figures from the Economic Innovation Group, 69 million Americans, or about 56% of the national work force, lack access to a retirement plan through their employers. Perhaps even more seriously, a third of Americans have little or no retirement savings whatsoever. One irony in these statistics is represented by the fact that […]
Your Investment Philosophy and Your Strategies for Success
Have you ever thought about the difference between a dream and a goal? While both are important, one difference could be that the first involves wishes, hopes, and idealistic visualizations, and the second one involves plans, actions, and decisions that lead to a desired outcome. Certainly, a dream can result in a goal, but it […]
Gifting Strategies You Can Use Now
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 basically doubled the size that an estate must be to incur estate taxes, from $5.6 million to $11.18 million for individuals (in 2017). Currently, after adjustments for inflation, an individual has a lifetime estate and gift tax exemption of $12.92 million, and a married couple can […]
