Tax Reform Is Here, But Make Sure You Catch These Items…
February 20, 2018
With 2018 finally here, the new tax law is in full swing. While much of the mainstream discussion was around the tax rates and certain deductions, there were other items included in this bill that should be considered when thinking about your 2018 tax situation. Here are a few of the key provisions that weren’t […]
3 Lessons Learned From Failed New Year’s Resolutions
February 13, 2018
Every January 1st approximately four out of ten people make New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, a third of resolutions are broken by February 1st. In discussing this trend with an insurance agency owner over lunch this past December, he confided with me that he and his team did not have sales goals and he was using […]
Risk Makes a Comeback
February 7, 2018
Monday brought volatility back to the forefront of everyone’s minds in a jaw-dropping 1,000 point pullback. This was the biggest point pullback ever. That type of headline will get anyone’s attention. However, it is also a pullback that started from a Dow at the highest level ever. As the level gets higher, the point pullbacks […]
This is Your Brain on Love
January 30, 2018
I am about to celebrate the first year of marriage to my beautiful wife. In just a short year, we got married, traveled throughout southeast Asia on our honeymoon, purchased a home, and had a lot of fun along the way. Naturally, we also started to combine our finances and think of ourselves as a […]
“Analyze This” – BDF Annual Client Event Recap
January 25, 2018
On January 18, BDF held its Annual Client Event in Itasca with over 300 clients and guests in attendance. Chad Carlson, Director of Investment Research, and Mark Balasa, Chief Investment Officer, were the keynote speakers. 2017 Market Review Chad reviewed 2017, which was a phenomenal year for both stock and bond returns – far exceeding […]
4 Critical Estate Planning Considerations – Keeping Your Plan Current
January 16, 2018
Estate planning documents receive very little attention after they are drafted. Why? People find the process emotional and burdensome and that is motivation enough to put off updates until next year – or several years from now! Family and law changes often make estate plans fall far short of intended goals. Here are four critical […]
Tax Reform and Munis: Much Ado About Nothing?
January 11, 2018
Despite the potential to broadly overhaul the tax treatment of a large swath of the muni bond market, the final legislation actually left most of the municipal bond market untouched. Muni bonds tax-exempt status was never really in jeopardy, but smaller segments of the broader market were targeted for potential overhaul. Private activity bonds (bonds […]
The “Golden” Medicare Years – Enrollment Considerations
January 9, 2018
As a follow up to our blog, The “Golden” Medicare Years, part 2 discusses considerations as it relates to enrollment deadlines. There are two key situations explained below – turning age 65 and either having or not having access to group health insurance. Once you have accumulated 40 quarters of eligible work credit, you will […]
What the $$$$ is Bitcoin?
December 28, 2017
It seems like almost hourly there is a new headline about Bitcoin. It’s been a truly remarkable year – starting the year at $900 and quickly surpassing price levels of over $17,000! But what is this technology? Below is a high-level summary of Bitcoin and the fundamentals of how it operates. What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin […]
Working Wealthy – A Wish List of Sorts
December 26, 2017
In the spirit of the holiday season, I thought I’d recap my favorite and most thoughtful Working Wealthy insights gathered from 2017. I’m fortunate in that each year I get to speak with hundreds of clients, prospects, colleagues and other professionals who often share interesting anecdotes and ideas about how to advance one’s financial independence. […]
Year-End Distributions – What You Need to Know
December 14, 2017
As Andy Williams said, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Nope – it’s not the holidays, not egg nog, not Santa…it’s year-end distributions! Throughout the year, we look for ways to avoid taxes on distributions, so the items we plan to discuss are either already done or in progress. But hopefully this should […]
Top 5 Year-End Tax Planning Tips
December 5, 2017
As 2017 comes to a close, now is the best time to think about and revisit your 2017 tax plan. Below are 5 year-end planning tips to make sure you are taking advantage of key tax savings opportunities before it’s too late. 1. Year-End Charitable Gifting Are their gifts you are planning to make in […]