We are about one year removed from the failure of three United States banks with combined assets of $548 billion and combined deposits of $368 billion. You’ll remember Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the largest bank to fail since Washington Federal in 2008. According to the FDIC, 89% of the $175 billion in deposits held at […]
Out of the Mouths of Babes
A few weeks ago, I was invited to teach an introduction to personal finance class to a group of local 8th graders. Two of the concepts we covered were compounding and why you need to have a real return (return above inflation). During the class, we reviewed charts of investment returns since 1926 and the […]
Just When You Thought You Were Out of Debt
American households are drowning in consumer debt, with the Federal Reserve Bank reporting a new record of over $1.13 Trillion in Credit Card debt in 2024.[1] Total consumer debt, including the largest category, mortgage debt, is also standing at an all-time high of $17.5 Trillion.[2] In our new high interest rate environment, the interest payments […]
Retirement Tax Planning: The Three Tax Wallets
Note: While some information in this article is specific to BP employees, the points about the three tax wallets may be useful for anyone saving for retirement. To understand the myriad types of retirement accounts and their complex tax treatments requires a certain depth of knowledge and expertise in retirement tax planning, more than can […]
Year-End Charitable Giving Strategies
As the end of another year approaches, most altruist investors are considering their year-end charitable giving. When focusing on the goal of bestowing a meaningful gift to another person or charity, some careful planning can go a long way to ensure the maximum amount goes to the intended recipient. This planning should take place on […]
How Does a Government Shutdown Affect the Stock Market? Impact and Analysis
Another day, another crisis of leadership in our government. Fears of a looming government shutdown might have you wondering if it’s time to “shut down” your stock investments until this is all fully resolved. Currently, the government is only funded until November 17, 2023, igniting discussions about the financial implications of a shutdown. While the […]
Your Future Income Tax Brackets May Be Higher Than You Assume
Future assumed income tax brackets are a major consideration when making current decisions, such as the decision to convert a traditional retirement plan to a Roth plan and often, the assumptions we make are too low. When making assumptions about your future tax bracket, there are a few factors that often get overlooked. Below are […]
Convert! Oh, Ye of Little Faith: Roth Conversions are Underutilized
By James B. Twining, CFP® and Tor Benson, CFP® The decision to make a Roth conversion can be extremely impactful, warranting thorough, professional analysis with consideration of all pertinent factors. If current and future assumed tax rates are equal, a Roth conversion is often assumed to be neither beneficial nor detrimental. Appendix A illustrates a […]
Q1 2023 Newsletter
More new faces at Financial Plan and other happenings in this first quarter of 2023. Read the newsletter here.
The SECURE ACT 2.0: Three Good features
On December 29th, 2022, the SECURE 2.0 ACT was signed into law. It includes a few provisions that are beneficial for taxpayers. I have outlined three of them here: New IRA Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Age The act raises the age at which RMDs are required to age 73 (previously 72). For taxpayers who were […]