You are here:
The SECURE Act: What individuals and business owners need to know

Blog

The SECURE Act: What individuals and business owners need to know

By in Financial Tips, General Education
6 years ago
6 years ago 0 0 1332

Business owners, especially smaller employers, now have more incentives and options to offer retirement savings plan.  Individuals have additional opportunities to grow their retirement savings.  Signed in to law by the President on December 20, 2019, The SECURE Act (‘Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement”) brings the most significant pension reform in more than a decade.  The goal of the legislation is to promote retirement savings and affects both individual investors…

2020 IRS contribution limit updates means you can save more in your retirement plan

By in Financial Tips
6 years ago
6 years ago 0 0 2047

You can now save more in your retirement plan! See below for 2020 IRS contribution limit updates, and click the link for IRA account and other updates. 401(k), 403(b), 457 Plan deferral Limit: 2019: $19,000, 2020: $19,500,“Catch-up” Contribution >age 50: 2019: $6,000, 2020: $6,500Defined Contribution Total Dollar Limit: 2019: $56,000, 2020: $57,000Highly Compensated Employee definition: 2019: $125,000, 2020: $130,000Click here for full IRS announcement of 2020 limits Some lower-income folks…

Start this conversation with your aging parents now

By in Financial Tips, General Education
6 years ago
6 years ago 0 0 1356

  The time to discuss issues related to your parent’s aging is before you need to. Some senior care professionals promote the idea of the “40-70 rule”, advising that you begin conversations with your parents about their plans and desires once you reach age 40 or they are age 70. While this may seem early since most 70-year-olds are still quite independent and may still be working, you want to…

A few ideas to help plan for college savings & financial aid

By in Financial Tips, General Education
7 years ago
7 years ago 0 0 1359

If you have children that plan to attend college, you have opportunities to make it easier to pay for college. And, if you happen to be a small business owner, one of the most favorable treatments for business owners is your ability to increase the amount of financial aid for which your child may qualify by lowering your “expected family contribution” (EFC).  The EFC is the baseline for calculating federal…

Make yourself and future generations of retirement savers into “super savers”

By in Financial Tips, Investor Behavior
7 years ago
7 years ago 0 0 2083

April was Financial Literacy Month, which led to a flurry of articles about the retirement crisis in the U.S. One piece noted that the “average” retirement savings amount, paltry though it is, is often an overstated figure because it is the average (i.e. mean) rather than the mid-point (i.e. median) and therefore overstates the “average” savings level. It indicated that although the “average American” has about $200,000 in retirement savings, the median…

When boring is good

By in Financial Tips, General Education, Investor Behavior
7 years ago
7 years ago 0 0 1445

When the stock markets have long periods of positive returns, as they have had for most of the past decade, it can be easy to forget how a bear market feels to an investor.  The last quarter of 2018 provided a vivid reminder. Large market swings and precipitous drops can unnerve even the most experienced investors, despite knowing that these swings are to be expected and are part of the…

Lessons from a flat tire – how to handle stock market volatility

By in Financial Tips, Investor Behavior, News
7 years ago
7 years ago 0 0 2117

Is recent market volatility making you nervous? Perspective could help you stay calm and on track. Your financial journey is a lot like a car trip. On your route from point A to point B, while driving wisely, it is normal to experience stoplights, curvy roads, bad weather, or other elements that slow you down. A few times in your life, you might hit a pothole or nail that causes…

Current market volatility is an investor test, not a market test

By in Financial Tips, Investor Behavior
8 years ago
8 years ago 0 0 2075

After years of unusually low market volatility that hypnotized a large swath of investors into believing yet again that markets only rise, the market drops of the last 2 days are a healthy reminder that stock market fluctuations should be viewed as a normal part of investing. Don’t forget, as is the case with food, good nutrition isn’t always tasty, but is beneficial in the long run. Eat your Brussels sprouts! As disciplined institutional investor Warren Buffet wisely said a while back, “The stock market is a device to transfer wealth from the impatient to the patient.” So, the real question is… do you want to be in the panic (impatient) group? Or the profit (patient) group?