Financial, Investment and Estate Planning Blog

When you participate in a 401(k) at work, in most cases, you can still invest in an IRA. By doing both, you can help boost your savings for the future and reduce your taxable income. There are, however, contribution limits, so talk with your financial professional about how you might want to divvy up money into each plan.  Give me a call today...

No one likes paying taxes, but most of us realize it's a necessary and important part of a functioning society. When we pay our taxes, we do our part.That said, there are ways to ensure you're not paying more than your fair share. A key component of that calculation is your adjusted gross income (AGI), the figure used to determine how much tax you ...

Nowadays, it's pretty difficult to define what a "traditional" family unit looks like – they literally come in all shapes and sizes. For decades, the number of single-parent households in the U.S. has been rising according to the United States Census Bureau. In fact, children living with a mother only is the second most common U.S. living arrangeme...

Budgeting is one of those activities that can pay dividends – literally! However, building and sticking to a budget can be daunting, particularly as you try to align categories with your real-life spending. Is Chipotle a want or a need? What about Starbucks (just kidding, it's absolutely a need).Whatever tools or methodologies you decide to use, al...

The new year is a perfect time to review progress toward your financial objectives – whether that's in person or over video conferencing. We want to hear about your interests and plans for the new year so that we may align your desires with financial strategies that are in sync with your goals. Here are three things we recommend you spend a moment ...

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes today, and scammers are getting more sophisticated. It's not unusual for a victim to be completely unaware of the problem until they try to use their credit and discover it's a mess. And it can happen even when you're careful about your personal information. Consider these everyday occurrences tha...

If you are anticipating an annual bonus this year, it's wise to come up with a thoughtful plan for the extra cash before it comes so you can get the most benefit from it. If you need more time to consider your options, deposit the money in a savings account. It will be harder to chip away at it if it's not connected to your debit card. Here are a f...

What does the Peace Corps, the US Senate, and the tax code have to do with education funding? They're all related to Senator William Coverdell! Senator Coverdell represented Georgia from 1993 to 2000 after serving as the director of the Peace Corps. In 1997, Senator Coverdell sponsored the legislation that created the educational savings account th...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has kept countless people working from home for months now. Many have been wondering whether they should consider claiming the home office deduction on taxes next year so we thought we'd pass along some information to help determine whether this may be an option for you. According to the attached resource from the IRS,...