Here’s a summary of the main planning opportunities with the Covid Stimulus Bill – American Recovery Act which recently passed the Senate and went back to the House to finalize. Bulletpoint summary: $1,400 stimulus payment for taxpayers and dependents, on income up to 75-80k for single filers and 150-160k for joint filers. This is based…
In this video, I walk through Biden’s proposed tax changes and some planning opportunities if each of them became law. It’s important to note the likelihood of passage of any of these proposals is small at the current moment given that control of the Senate is still up for a runoff in Georgia, and that…
Here’s a short video showing how the presidential party impacts (or not) the stock market over the long term. Since we are – or should be – long term investors, we should not be concerned about which party holds the White House from an investment perspective! Over the last 100 years and 15 presidencies, there…
I recenly received several mailers from TD Ameritrade where I hold my investment accounts and also where I custody client assets. Both documents were in response to recent legislation or regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In this video, I walk through those two statements and talk to how it impacts my clients. On…
When you’re planning for FIRE, should you include income from Social Security in your projections? Well, today I aim to answer that question by talking about what I consider to be the worst case scenario: the Social Security Administration makes a unilateral cut to the benefit payouts. I talk about how much that would be…
Today I discuss the top tips I have for those pursuing FI or FIRE. Think more about the income your portfolio or investments will produce, and this way you’re not as focused on such a high FI number, especially if you have rental properties, side hustle or other business interest. Anticipate earning income in retirement.…
Today I discuss some of the biggest surprises for my clients when we’re planning for financial independence, whether or not they’re planning to retire early. One of the biggest and squishiest questions I ask is for my clients to get very specific about what retirement or life at FI will look like. By trying to…
Today I talk about the two main investment vehicles to use to invest your portfolio: Exchange Traded Funds and Mutual Funds. I talk about the differences between the two, including the tax implications, expense ratios and trading costs. In there, there’s certainly pros and cons for each, so I also discuss what I recommend for…
Today I talk about some of the hurdles faced by the Financial Independence community. I discuss Health Insurance – arguably the biggest concern faced by early retirees. To plan for this, we can look at different health insurance options and discuss the costs and how those costs would impact your plan. Also, I talk about…
Today I discuss how asset allocation differs for those in the FIRE community. The big takeaways are: you’re planning for a longer time horizon so you may need to be more aggressive with your investments, weighing out the upside of an allocation versus the downside risk, how real estate could play a role in your…
Today, I describe the differences in financial planning for those in the financial independence movement. I did not record this video from heaven, but I did include some prophetic tips! Highlights include the following: A high savings rate could mean you need to consider asset location in addition to allocation. Consider that bonds and bond…
Today I discuss important factors to consider when trying to determine the appropriate asset allocation – between stocks and bonds. In the video, I reference two articles I wrote, linked below. The first article speaks to keeping what you earn by investing more conservatively. The second speaks to the multiple steps I take to determine…