Whether you have $100 or $1,000,000, you want to see your investment grow. Ideally, you would like to see that money grow a lot without the investment risk. Unfortunately, the risk/return tradeoff concept in investing tells us that greater returns come with greater risk. There is no magic formula that will allow you to guarantee…
The popularity of investing in index funds has been gaining interest in recent years. Index mutual funds are not a new concept – they have been available for over four decades, and exchange-traded funds (“ETF”) for more than ten years. What has changed is the number of investors putting money into these funds, which has…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which passed in December 2017, made fundamental changes to the U.S. tax code, and 2018 returns were the first time most taxpayers could see the practical impact of these changes. In an April 2019 Gallup poll, 43% of Americans said they were unsure how the new tax law…
One of the longest-standing debates in investing is over the relative merits of active portfolio management versus passive management. With an actively managed portfolio, a manager tries to beat the performance of a given benchmark index by using his or her judgment in selecting individual securities and deciding when to buy and sell them. A…
It’s nice to own stocks, bonds, and other investments. Nice, that is, until it’s time to fill out your federal income tax return. At that point, you may be left scratching your head. Just how do you report your investments and how are they taxed? What are considered tax efficient investments and what aren’t? Is…
The federal income tax filing deadline for most individuals is Monday, April 15, 2019. Residents of Maine and Massachusetts have until Wednesday, April 17, to file their 2018 tax return because April 15 is Patriots’ Day and April 16 is Emancipation Day. Need more time? If you’re not able to file your federal income tax…
In the life of most working individuals, there’s a turning point, where you move from living paycheck to paycheck to finding a bit of extra money left in your account at the end of each month. What you do with those extra dollars can make or break your future. Recently, a client of ours asked…
The following has been provided by Broadridge Investor Communications Solutions, Inc. Even though tax filing season is well under way, there’s still time to make a regular IRA contribution for 2018. You have until your tax return due date (not including extensions) to contribute up to $5,500 for 2018 ($6,500 if you were age 50…
As CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, we are intimately familiar with the term ‘fiduciary.’ It means to put the best interests of others (in our case, our clients) above all else. It’s hard to imagine a job with more fiduciary responsibility than that of a military serviceperson. Veterans, you are called to put the best interests…
With the holiday season upon us and the end of the year approaching, we pause to give thanks for our blessings and the people in our lives. It is also a time when charitable giving often comes to mind. The tax benefits associated with charitable giving could potentially enhance your ability to give and should…