Category: Wealth Management/Financial Planning

Many Middle-Class Millionaires already know this – ’Tis the season for taxable dividends and capital gains to show up in your mutual fund account—and on your tax return. Many publicly-traded companies pay out some portion of their excess earnings to their shareholders, and the aggregate of these dividends are distributed to, and through, the mutual … Continue reading “Dividends and Harvesting Losses”

What can you do to help your heirs? The probate process can be expensive for some estates. Settling an estate through probate can cost you both time and money. It could take up to a year for the estate to be settled, plus attorney’s fees, appraiser’s fees, and court costs may eat up as much … Continue reading “Managing Probate When Setting Up Your Estate”

Near-record levels. The Internal Revenue Service has released new limits for the coming year. After months of high inflation and financial uncertainty, some of these cost-of-living-based adjustments have reached near-record levels. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). IRA contribution limits are up $500 in 2023 to $6,500. Catch-up contributions for those over age 50 remain at $1,000, … Continue reading “New Retirement Contribution Limits for 2023”

Here are some things you might consider before saying goodbye to 2022. What has changed for you in 2022? This year has been as complicated as learning a new dance for many Middle-Class Millionaires. Did you start a new job or leave a job behind? That’s one step. Did you remarry? There’s another step. Did … Continue reading “End-of-the-Year Money Moves”

Thinking about donating? Think of these choices. The year is winding down, and many Middle-Class Millionaires may be thinking of giving. In fact, you may want to explore the different ways in which you can donate to a charity or non-profit organization, apart from just making a cash gift. Consider some of the alternatives.   Donor-advised … Continue reading “Cash Alternatives for Charitable Giving”

Things you can do for your future as the year unfolds. What financial, business, or life priorities do you need to address for the coming year? Now is an excellent time to think about the investing, saving, or budgeting methods you could employ toward specific objectives, from building your retirement fund to managing your taxes. … Continue reading “Annual Financial To-Do List”

Baby boomers entering their “second acts” should think about these matters. Retirement is undeniably a major life and financial transition. Even so, Middle-Class Millionaires® can run the risk of growing nonchalant about some of the financial challenges that retirement poses, for not all are immediately obvious. In looking forward to their “second acts,” boomers may … Continue reading “5 Retirement Concerns Too Often Overlooked”

Congress recently passed an enormous piece of legislation that touches just about every aspect of American lives. The full extent of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is too large to completely cover, but we want to provide some important highlights. The most visible elements of the bill are likely to be the 15% minimum … Continue reading “Highlights of the Inflation Reduction Act”

Where do those accounts and policies end up?  Some accounts have no designated beneficiary. Rarely, the same thing occurs with insurance policies. This is usually an oversight. In exceptional circumstances, it is a choice. What happens to these accounts and policies when the original owner dies?  The investment or insurance firm gets the first chance … Continue reading “What Happens When There Are No Beneficiaries”

How might it affect you? “It turns out my job was not to find great investments but to help create great investors,” writes Carl Richards, author of “The Behavior Gap.” From increasing our budget mindfulness to taking a steadier approach to investing, Richards has drawn attention to how our unexamined behaviors and emotions can be … Continue reading “The Behavior Gap and Your Financial Health”