If you have a 401(k) chances are you own something from American Funds – a 33 fund lineup managed by Capital Research and Management (“CRM”). They may not be a household name like Fidelity or Vanguard but make no mistake – they’re a behemoth at about $1.25 trillion under management. Historically CRM has been happy [...]
The folks are Morningstar released their updated rankings of the best §529 college savings plans. As with all analysis the garbage in/out theory applies so a fair amount of healthy skepticism is recommended. After all the "best" §529 plan for one family's situation is not always the "best" for another's. Although §529 programs are by [...]
Life is hectic. How many times has, “I’m just really busy” been the answer you’ve received when asking a friend how they’re doing? We handle the time crunch with shortcuts. We like our apps, AAA diamonds, three out of four star movie reviews, Yelp and the like. But there are times when shortcuts are due [...]
The following was sent to us by friend and colleague Rick Dreyfuss – a former executive at The Hershey Company active in public pension reform who now serves as a business consultant and actuary. The Pension Dance As a national firm with headquarters in Pennsylvania we like to stay current with local politics. Doing so [...]
Estate planning has always been a tricky exercise. On one hand is the objective – who inherits what, when, in what form and what’s the tax impact. On the other hand is the subjective – mostly family dynamics such as prior marriages, desire to benefit kids/grandkids (and, likely, treat them ‘fairly’), disliked relatives, deep-seated resentment, [...]
The time to plan for charitable contributions that will qualify for an income tax deduction is before making them. Here’s a nice primer on what goes into proper contribution/deduction planning.
The “good hands” people at Allstate offer yet another reminder that cute TV commercials, slogans, mascots and ethnically ambiguous pitchmen are an effective means to distract the public from the real reason insurance is procured – and the real reason why “off the rack” companies like GEICO, Progressive, State Farm and Allstate should be avoided.
In a September 6th speech at the AFL-CIO convention U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, called for an increase in the estate tax. In 2014 up to $5.34 million of an individual’s estate may be exempt from federal estate tax with a 40% tax rate applied to any excess over this amount. If Senator [...]
Last week the IRS released guidance indicating distributions of after-tax dollars contributed to retirement plans could be converted free of taxes to a Roth IRA effective January 1, 2015. Additional information may be found here.
On Monday Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced a series of measures the Obama administration will be taking to discourage U.S. companies from using mergers with foreign companies to reduce their corporate taxes. The measures like so many taken by the Obama administration show just how little a grasp it has on how free enterprise works. [...]