Just as important as tidying up your home is taking a closer look at your finances. We’re between the rush of the holidays and the excitement of summer break, so now is the perfect time to make sure your money is doing its job in those hard-to-reach places.
At FFP, we take a bulk of that work off of our clients, prepping and sending documents directly to them and their CPA. We take a very coordinated approach to this — we don’t want the client to have to be the middleman. It’s simple for me to jump on a conference call with a CPA and make sure everybody’s on the same page and we have an open line of communication.
Since the pandemic, more and more people have been sitting on higher cash reserves than they used to, and the current interest rate environment has provided a unique opportunity to grow that cash relatively safe and low risk. In this edition of Dave’s Inbox, I wanted to address a couple of questions I’ve gotten repeatedly.
As a wealth advisor, I have many conversations with young and more seasoned families (not old; age is just a number) who are interested in what I do but have one major misconception about investing: You need a lot of money to start.
As expected, the first few days of the year started with everyone selling off the stocks that did so well last year — large-cap tech. We did the exact same thing in our own investment accounts. The reason is simple — any gains from the start of January don’t have to have taxes paid on them until April 2025, and some of these stocks went up 50% or more in 2023.
It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it to the end of another year. Amidst the hustle of the holidays, I want to encourage you to stay diligent about your financial plan. Here is a little end-of-year to-do list that will help set you up for continued success in 2024.
With the new year comes New Year’s resolutions, and rather than telling you all about mine (you’re welcome), I thought I would set some resolutions for the American economy in 2024.
Unless you’re one of those “wrapped and done by December one” people, you probably have some names left uncrossed on this year’s Christmas list. If that’s the case, I want to take a minute to suggest that you give the most boring gift of all.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about why it is so ingrained in our human nature to worry. We’re a nervous species, fearing uncertainty, volatility, and anything that we can’t control. I’m in a business that exists primarily to take financial worry off the shoulders of our clients and manage it ourselves, but we live in a media environment that seeks to capitalize on fear without looking at the greater picture.
Please don’t ask me why, but the way providers talk about benefits can confuse many folks, especially younger employees who might be enrolling for their insurance for the first time. One recent study showed that more than half of employees choose plans that aren’t right for them, costing them money in premiums or underfunded costs.
So, what is all this tricky language, and what does it mean for you and your benefit selections? Let’s review a few of the most common terms you’ll encounter in selecting a package.
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