Report: 2019 Year End Tax Planning
YEAR-END PREPARATIONS The countdown begins. Once the clock rolls us into 2020, tax season gets underway. The old calendar year, 2019, will have officially been put to rest. Deductions from your paychecks and other income sources will begin counting for the New Year. Once it’s 2020, we can celebrate and look to even better days ahead. But we dare not …
2019 Fall Newsletter: Kansas City
ELEVATED INSIDER If I were a betting man, I’d wager that you’re wondering how we got to Fall already. “How is time passing so quickly?” No kidding. Well, here we are. It’s this time-marches-on sentiment that underpins what we do here. Time matters a lot in the work we do with you; retirees need money available to pay the bills …
Back to the Basics: Total Value
So much attention gets paid to the growth (or decline) of the stock market that I fear we can become hypnotized by it and fall prey to sloppy fundamentals from time to time. How do I know this? Because many of the people we work with admit to receiving each investment statement and simply doing the ol’ “Is it up …
Report: Planning for Your Retirement
Planning for Your Retirement Develop Your Income and Spending Plan Retirement! Most Americans get excited about the day they no longer have to go to work to earn an income. No more bosses, no more meetings to attend, no more schedules to keep, no more stress that even the best of jobs can create. Retirement can be the beginning of …
2019 Summer Newsletter: Kansas City
ELEVATED INSIDER It’s a running joke in our office that I can’t resist an opportunity to talk about how much I love summer. Therefore, I won’t tell you how much I love summer. I just won’t do it here. That said, here we are. As I sit down to gather my thoughts I’m reminded of a few obvious realities: life …
Briefcase Study: The Tax Torpedo
In a recent meeting with a family we serve, the conversation – as it often does – turned to Social Security. The question was, once again, whether it was best to begin receiving Social Security benefits at age 62 or wait until age 66 and 6 months, their Full Retirement Age (FRA) with Social Security. I was reminded how important …
Love Is A Verb: Caring For Others By Helping Them Plan
A friend’s grandmother, Mary, recently passed away at the age of 99. A kind, service-oriented woman who packed two lifetimes into her one, she exemplified what it means to have lived a good life. It’s clear that she served others, and living to 99 required that she also be served. If there’s any doubt that love is action, you should …
Report: Proactive Retirement Planning
The New Secure Act & Proactive Retirement Planning The House of Representatives passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act on May 23. The next step is to pass through the Senate and be signed by the President. With strong bipartisan support and the Senate already considering changes for retirement plans, industry expert Bob Keebler (CPA, MST of …
Healthcare May Be Broken, But Your Retirement Plan Doesn’t Need To Be
Live on less than you earn, pay less interest on debts than you receive on your assets, mind your taxes, and you’ll be fine. It sounds so simple, and it is. Similarly, eat fewer calories than you burn, exercise regularly, avoid running red lights in your car, and you’ll be fine. It sounds so simple, and yet it’s not. Why? …
Briefcase Study: Those Pesky Remaining Debts
Before retirement, most people would like to pay off any remaining debts, so they can feel good going into that next phase of life all tidied-up. That makes a lot of sense, both financially and psychologically. In a recent meeting, we not only discussed this but put a plan together that was well received by the family, so we thought …
