Month: June 2019

Can an IRA Be a College Savings Vehicle?

Jun 28, 2019

College Graduates
You might be surprised at its potential

An IRA is a retirement savings account, right? Indeed. IRA stands for Individual Retirement Arrangement. Even with that definition, however, there is no prohibition on using an IRA to save for other purposes, such as funding a college education.

Why would anyone choose an IRA as a college savings vehicle? At first glance it may seem strange, since there are other types of investment accounts specifically dedicated to that objective. On closer inspection, though, IRAs (especially Roth IRAs) present some features that may be quite attractive to the parent or grandparent who wants to build education savings.

Parents are urged to save for their children’s college education as soon as possible, but what if their children end up spending little or no time in college? (more…)



Helping Your Parents Manage Financial Tasks

Jun 26, 2019

Worldwide, the number of people aged 60 and older is growing.By 2050, this demographic will be more than twice as large as it was in 2015.¹

Some of these seniors could face a financial test.Will they be able to look after their investments or financial matters at age 80 or 90 with the same level of scrutiny they exercised earlier in life?

Your parents may be facing such a challenge.If you sense that they are not quite up to it, then a conversation about financial issues could be in order.

If you need to have this kind of talk with your parents, it is best to proceed gently, while acknowledging some potential risks that may heighten if the status quo persists. (more…)



2019 Mid Year Outlook

Jun 25, 2019

thumbnail of 2019 Midyear Outlook



Making a Charitable Gift from Your IRA

Jun 21, 2019

Is your annual IRA withdrawal a bother? If you are an affluent retiree, that might be the case. The income is always nice, but the taxes that come with it? Not so much.

If only you could satisfy your yearly IRA withdrawal requirement minus the attached taxes. Guess what: there might be a way.

If you gift traditional IRA assets to charity, you could see some big tax savings. The Internal Revenue Service calls this a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), and you may want to explore its potential. Some criteria must be met: (more…)

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Tax Moves to Consider in Summer

Jun 14, 2019

Making changes earlier rather than later.

If you own a business, earn a good deal of investment income, are recently married or divorced, or have a Flexible Savings Account (FSA), you may want to think about making some tax moves now rather than in December or April.

(more…)

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Bad Spending Habits That Can Be Corrected

Jun 12, 2019

Americans have a great deal of disposable income relative to many other nations, yet our free spending can take us further and further away from the potential for financial freedom. Some people fall into crippling spending habits and injure their finances as a consequence.

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