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April 8, 2024 in Charitable Giving, Estate Planning, Family Money, Financial Life Planning, Money & Finance, Tax Management
At the end of 2025, portions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are set to expire. Many changes will come with the sunsetting of many rules, including the possibility that federal estate and gift tax exemption levels will revert to pre-TCJA levels. What’s changing?1 Currently, you are subject to federal estate tax only if your individual estate is worth more than $13,610,000 for individuals or $27,220,000 for married couples. These...

April 5, 2024 in Family Money, Financial Life Planning, Money & Finance, Money Management
As a parent, you are well aware of your responsibility in helping your children grow up happy and healthy. Once they enter their teen years, the pressure can build to impart more of your wisdom. One area you shouldn’t overlook is how to handle money. Helping your children develop basic financial skills is critical to preparing them for the decisions they may eventually make as they age. Laying a solid foundation...

November 28, 2023 in College Planning, Estate Planning, Family Money
Your Child is Turning 18: Handling Healthcare, Academics, and Finances Together As your child blows out the candles on their 18th birthday, you may still see your baby girl or boy. But in the eyes of the law your child is considered a legal adult in most states. This means they can vote, buy a lottery ticket, or get a tattoo without your permission. Even if you’ve prepared them for what...

November 7, 2023 in Family Money, Mindful living, Our Physical & Mental Well-being, Technology
Plenty of user-friendly technologies are on the market today for our older relatives and their caretakers. Here's a list of currently available devices curated by helloEd that may help them.1) Visual Clock & Reminder Visual clocks help with keeping track of the time, day, and date for people who have trouble keeping track of time and reading clock faces. Losing one's sense of time can lead to confusion, anxiety, challenging behavior,...

August 9, 2023 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Attention Parents and Grandparents of College-Bound Students: FAFSA Gets an Overhaul Changes are coming to the complicated form that students must submit to qualify for college financial aid, known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Department of Education is calling it the “most ambitious and significant redesign of the federal student aid application in decades” and adds that it “includes unprecedented changes to how students and families apply...

August 9, 2023 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Money Tips for Parents Sending Children Off to College You’ve done a great job teaching your children vital life lessons and instilling values that will last a lifetime. As summer ends and a new school year begins, one thing that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially for college-bound children, is the money talk. Having open and honest discussions about finances can help shape your child’s long-term relationship with money, which might set them...

March 26, 2019 in Evidence-Based Investing, Family Money, Investing, Mindful living
Diversification is a strategy designed to help you avoid unnecessary mistakes 1.  The Easiest Decade for DIY Investors (The Belle Curve, 3/17/2019) "Do you remember all the hoopla about “The Lost Decade” for US stocks? Over a ten-year period the S&P 500 had a negative return. That is a very long time to be down in stocks. But what rarely gets mentioned is that investing in different types of stocks provided positive...

August 28, 2018 in Family Money, Real Estate, SAGE Reads
First-time home buyers having a rough go of it 1.Starter-Home Affordability Hits a Decade Low (Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg, 8/27/2018) “Starter homes are now more costly to purchase than at any time since 2008, when the last boom came to a crashing halt. In the second quarter, first-time buyers needed almost 23 percent of their income to afford a typical entry-level home, up from 21 percent a year earlier, according to an analysis...

June 20, 2018 in Family Money, Real Estate
Your path to buying a home In How to Buy a House, Michelle Higgins of the New York Times outlines your path to homeownership, step-by-step. Steps include: Rent vs. Buy, How Much House Can I Afford, Check Your Credit Score, Get Pre-approved for a Mortgage, Line up Cash, Figure Out Where You Want to Live, Making An Offer, and Closing. Don’t forget to celebrate when all is done! Additional Reading: From...

April 25, 2018 in Family Money, Retirement Planning, Tax Management
How do you save for “retirement” if you don’t participate in a 401(k) plan? Katie Lobosco with CNN Money writes “The good news is that there are other accounts you can open yourself that offer similar benefits. For some self-employed people, the benefits can be even better than a traditional 401(k) plan's.” Roth IRA’s are great for kids with earned income Kimberly Lankford with Kiplinger’s Personal Finance notes “Contributing to a...