When you receive money from a lawsuit or settlement, it’s important to consider your tax liability before you start spending it. The IRS rules make distinctions between different types of awards when determining what you must claim as income and what you can leave out.
How to claim your Social Security benefits can be a critical and complex decision. Making this choice without understanding the factors that can influence the amount you will ultimately be able to collect in Social Security benefits can cost you tens of thousands of dollars in retirement. Before you make a choice about claiming benefits, it is wise to speak with a retirement planning professional to be sure you are making the most advantageous choice.
Boelman Shaw Tax & Financial Planning offers a specialized blend of expertise in multiple aspects of financial planning. We provide our Des Moines area clients with well-rounded advice to create an optimized financial plan that provides for the needs of individuals and their families. We advise families just starting their financial journey with their first steps toward securing their child’s college tuition and individuals nearing retirement who worry that they have not saved enough. Wherever you are on your financial path, we can help.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 70% of people will need long-term care at some point in their lives. Despite this fact, the vast majority of Americans have not planned for this very likely expense. Many are under the misconception that their health insurance or Medicare will cover it. In fact, Medicare only covers a narrow range of costs. While it will pay for medically necessary skilled care, the choice of setting is limited, and it will not pay for assistance with daily tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, and personal care. Medicare provides no funding for assisted living facilities. Private health insurance generally does not cover long-term care costs. Providing long-term care has become a critically important, but still widely overlooked, aspect of financial planning.
Social responsibility is a rising phenomenon in the financial planning and investment world. Its roots can be traced to 18th-century religious movements, such as the Quakers, who would in no way participate in the slave trade, and the Methodists, whose founder chided followers to avoid doing harm by avoiding industries such as tanning and chemical production. In the 1920s, socially responsible investing (SRI) tended to be more about avoiding “sin” stocks, such as tobacco and alcohol. Today, however, SRI is becoming a common way for people with a wide range of values to express themselves in the marketplace.
From bursting the real estate bubble, skyrocketing income gap, the stock market plunge, AND massive student loan debt...generation X has had a lot of economic hurdles to overcome.
Once your child begins working and earning income, setting up a Roth IRA can be both an excellent way to teach your child about money management and a tax-effective means of growing a fund for the child’s future needs.
If you own a small business, chances are that it is tying up the majority of your wealth at the expense of your personal financial security. That is what a recent survey by CNBC and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) found. The poll sampled 178 financial advisors across the U.S. who provide services to small business clients aged 35-70 and found that on average, 70% of small business owners’ wealth is invested in their companies. Many of the advisors expressed that this creates a high degree of financial risk for these business owners and their families.
If you are new to investing, an index mutual fund is a logical place to begin. Index funds have comparatively low costs and carry less risk than actively managed funds. They obviate the need to pick outperforming stocks since the fund’s purpose is simply to mirror its index through diverse investments. Index funds also make it easy to maintain the asset allocation that is most appropriate for your needs. Warren Buffet touted the virtues of the index fund in his 2014 letter to shareholders: “The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners – neither he nor his "helpers" can do that – but should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in the aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal.”
Deciding to open an IRA is an important step in your retirement planning. Before you are ready to deposit funds, however, you have some additional decisions to make:
1. Which type of IRA will you open?
2. How much will you invest?
3. How will you invest?
4. What type of IRA provider will you choose?