"I'm worried about the markets. To reduce the risk in my portfolio, should I be invested in gold?" As financial advisors, this is a common question we are asked about our investment strategy. People like the idea of investing in gold because it's something that they know and understand. Gold is something you can feel, touch, and hold as opposed to owning company stocks which can seem complicated and intangible.
Star Wars. What an incredible franchise. Its movies have captivated audiences for decades, including financial advisors. Believe it or not, we do find some time between staring at spreadsheets and reading up on the latest change to the tax code to catch up on the important pieces of pop-culture. We can all enjoy these movies, but as financial advisors, we see things through a different lens, and Star Wars is no exception. Without further ado, we would like to present to you four financial lessons we can learn from Star Wars.
As more and more pensions have phased out, individuals have become increasingly reliant on other retirement savings vehicles, like a 401(k) or an IRA. We hear a lot about people not saving enough for retirement, but for those that do, it's likely they will end up passing their unspent savings to younger generations. This can leave the individual inheriting these accounts in tax situations they haven't come across before. While there are many options for transfers and distributions you have to make sure that you avoid making any mistakes that could lead to costly tax consequences.
No one likes talking about death. But as Ben Franklin said, the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Although we may not enjoy talking about it, this is an incredibly crucial part of anyone's financial plan. But where do you start? After you have some sort of idea of what your wishes will be, it is crucial that you find a qualified estate planning attorney to set those wishes into action.
When it comes to financial planning, taxes are always a top concern. They can become even more tricky when someone lives in one state but works in another. Do you need to file a state return? What income gets reported where? If you're one of the many who live in NH but work in MA, make sure to report your income correctly so you're not overpaying this year.
Many people work for large corporations who offer stock plans as part of their employee compensation packages. While getting company stock (hopefully at a discount!) can be nice, when tax time rolls around, the extra documents received leaves many with quite the headache. Although each stock plan will be different, we wanted to explain one of the more common confusions with stock plans and their tax forms.