The financial planning and investment landscape changes at a dizzying speed – and often with conflicting messages. Read our team of experts’ advice on saving, spending, investing, retirement, taxes, giving and more to help you enjoy a full life.
The financial planning and investment landscape changes at a dizzying speed – and often with conflicting messages. Read our team of experts’ advice on saving, spending, investing, retirement, taxes, giving and more to help you enjoy a full life.
September 11, 2018
Many factors influence the decision of where to retire. Family, familiarity of surroundings, climate and cost of living are among the many factors that affect one’s choice of where to spend retirement years. What about state taxes? They are often overlooked and just “accepted” as an expense. However, for those with a keen eye for […]
September 4, 2018
You hear the ads all the time: “the IRS will hunt you down!” But will they? The chance your tax return is audited by the IRS certainly exists, but it’s very slim. However, this has not stopped scammers from trying to trick you while pretending to be the IRS. Criminals can impersonate an IRS agent […]
August 28, 2018
It’s a topic we take for granted, but it is rather important to the cash management of any household or family. How much cash do you keep on hand for emergencies? No one plans to replace their furnace and get in a car accident in the same week. So be prepared, and don’t let a […]
August 21, 2018
Nothing invites stress into a household quite like the beginning of a new school year. When you add an additional household into the mix, that stress has the potential to increase. Whether you have an amicable divorce, or a complete breakdown in communication with your ex-spouse, there is hope for a smooth transition into the […]
August 14, 2018
The 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that went into effect this year includes many tax law changes, most of which are set to expire at the end of 2025. Among them are important changes to Estate Tax laws with the most dramatic being a doubling of each person’s federal estate tax […]
August 7, 2018
Do you have a summer reading list? A few summers ago, I was inspired by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg attempts to read two books a month while Bill Gates aims to read about fifty books a year. I set off to read five books in the summer of 2016 and on Labor […]
July 31, 2018
In the professional world of finance, everyone is seeking a perfect exit opportunity for their investment. Depending on the specific role, that exit may look slightly different. For private equity professionals and investment bankers, it can be selling an operating company. For asset managers, it can be selling an investment after their thesis came to […]
July 24, 2018
This is the fourth installment in a series of blog posts on “The Big Five of Retirement Planning” which are the five factors that will most profoundly impact how successful your retirement plan will be. Today, we will focus on factor #4 – How hard your money works for you. Saving for retirement is not […]
July 17, 2018
Buy-sell agreements govern the purchase and sale of business ownership interests when death, disability or other significant events happen. However, such agreements generally lack in three critical areas. Three areas that cause most concern are valuation, deadlock and retirement. Most often, owners put together buy-sell agreements that address the easy triggering events, death and disability, […]
July 10, 2018
You’ve made the choice to buy a house, where do you start? Spoiler alert – not Zillow. Get help. You’re going to need it. Buying your first home is exciting and terrifying. Getting the help you need from the right professionals will tilt the scales significantly to the former. You’ll need to fill three key […]
June 26, 2018
I was recently speaking with a friend of mine, and she mentioned a straightforward way to deal with family and friends that ask for personal loans: Don’t lend it unless you want to lose it. Seems a little harsh, right? No, it’s good advice. In fact, at BDF, we often counsel clients on the merits […]
June 19, 2018
A key issue keeping divorcing individuals up at night is often: “What will I do for health insurance?” It can seem like a daunting question, but knowledge is power. Using employer sponsored group coverage is typically the easiest and lowest cost solution. At home spouses sometimes decide to seek employment post-divorce in large part so […]