In a few short months a massive group of students will graduate and enter the workforce for the first time. Unlike years past, this is actually a good time to be entering the job market. Unemployment has dropped to historically low levels…to the point we are close to what is considered full employment. This means […]
Small businesses with 20 or fewer employees make up approximately 90% of all businesses in the United States. Unfortunately, most of these businesses will never survive the next generation due to a lack of business succession planning on the part of existing ownership. As a financial planner, and one that meets with business owners on […]
A Short History Lesson There’s an age-old saying, “Don’t fight the Fed”. What this means is that the smart money pays attention and takes cues from the Federal Reserve Board’s actions, particularly as it relates to changes in interest rates. The Fed Funds Rate is the interest rate set by the Federal Reserve for bank […]
For 2017, the average tax refund is expected to be $2,763. For a lot of people, this is the most amount of money they’ll have at one time during the whole year. Unfortunately, most folks squander the money and a month after receiving it, they couldn’t tell you what they did with their refund. Thoughtful […]
I love the fact that the Trump Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) puts money in almost every working American’s paycheck. We’re already beginning to see some of the effects with many corporations giving bonuses, expanding operations and creating jobs. Locally, ServisFirst Bank increased their dividend by 120% due, in part, to tax savings because […]
Most people could benefit from financial advice but, in many cases, they simply don’t know where to go to get sound advice and they don’t want to find themselves in the middle of a sales pitch. Look no further than the 2018 Alabama Money Expo presented by the Regions Institute for Financial Education on Saturday, […]
If you want to achieve financial freedom by retirement age or earlier, you’re going to have to invest a lot of money. To invest successfully, you’ll either need to spend the time to learn how to invest or hand over at least a portion of the responsibility to a professional investment advisor. Choosing an advisor […]
What follows is the continuation of success habits that will become part of a book I’m writing, “100 Rules of Success”. RULE: Special Rule for Retirees (Part 1)- Create an Impenetrable Safety Net. We’ve already discussed the importance of having cash reserves enough to cover unexpected occurrences (Rule: Avoid the Cardinal Sin of Investing), but […]
What follows is the continuation of success habits that will become part of a book I’m writing, “100 Rules of Success”. RULE: Build the Perfect (Trifecta) Retiree Financial Statement. When you reach retirement, if you had the perfect financial statement, what would it look like? This is a topic most people never consider. People tend […]
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the most wide-sweeping tax reform of the past twenty years…The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. Virtually every taxpayer will be affected so I interviewed one of my partners, Michael Wagner, CPA, CFP® about a couple of strategies you can implement to take advantage of the new […]