What Does $19.23 Mean?

March 2013

Does $19.23 sound like a lot?

It’s only March so there are plenty of months left in the tax year to think about how the new tax rates, deduction limits, and contribution amounts will affect you.  The new maximum for IRA contributions is $5,500 in 2013, up $500 from last year.  The new maximum for 401K and 403B contributions is $17,500, up $500 from last year.  The $500 amount might seem small in the process of saving for retirement, but on the  other hand increasing your contribution over 26 pay periods is only $19.23 every two weeks.

There’s nothing like getting your tax return completed and filed to get inspired about this year’s tax planning!

Making Decisions

September 24, 2012

September 2012 I am reading Jonah Lehrer’s 2009 book How We Decide and now it affects the way I think about most things.  A key idea in the book is that making a decision is impossible without an emotional component.  Lehrer describes the case of a man who lost his emotional feelings after having a brain tumor.  [...]

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Peace of Mind

August 29, 2012

August 2012 Peace of mind is hard to describe but you know it when you don’t have it.  Not knowing if you are on track for retirement, feeling dubious about financial security, not sure about how much cash you should keep in your bank account but if it’s not in the bank where should it [...]

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Let’s Do Tax Planning

August 7, 2012

Why do financial planning if it isn’t any good? Good financial planning includes effective tax planning.  As a wise woman once said, “It’s not what you make it’s what you keep.” Your annual tax planning checklist should include maximizing retirement contributions, eligibility for health savings accounts,  a Roth conversion evaluation, capital gains and loss strategies, and which [...]

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What Does It Mean for ME?

July 19, 2012

July 19, 2012 If you’re reading a blog post written by a financial planner, you’ve probably tried a few retirement calculators.  I would guess you have read articles or books about how to be a successful investor.  You’ve read the cookbook on how to become a multi-millionaire. The amount of financial information available is staggering.  [...]

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Am I Balanced?

July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012 Today I reviewed my household investment portfolio and in answer to the question “Am I Balanced?” the answer was yes.  I didn’t make any changes in my percentages between fixed income and equities.  I didn’t sell any mutual funds to buy exchange traded funds, or vice versa.  I didn’t add to the bond [...]

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Yes, You Need to Own Stocks

June 25, 2012

June 25, 2012 I do a lot of retirement cash flow models.  These help clients forecast their income in retirement and whether they have enough in savings. Usually, they do. Or, they do now.  Retirement income looks good for the next few years.  It may not, however, look good in 20 or 30 years.  It’s not because [...]

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Not for Breakfast, Not for Lunch

June 18, 2012

June 18, 2012 “Not for breakfast, not for lunch,” said a wife informing her husband of his new daily schedule in retirement.  She meant he was on his own for the first two meals of the day, even if he was going to be home all day and so was she.  Thus did the wife [...]

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What’s In Your Portfolio? Do You Know?

May 21, 2012

May 2012 Do you know what’s in your portfolio?  Is is risky?  Is it conservative?  Is it appropriate for your goals? A few days ago ending May 18 the U.S. stock market had its worst week since November 2011.  It was bad despite all the media attention about Facebook stock entering the markets. I recommend people [...]

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Are We Scared of Getting Old?

April 19, 2012

April 19, 2012 Are we scared of getting old?  Yes!  Getting old means coping with longevity risk. I recently heard that financial planners should project a life expectancy of 105 for clients, ten years longer than the typical 95 years old.  The extra ten years means a lot more people will run out of money [...]

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