Right before Congress was set to hang it up for 2022, the SECURE 2.0 bill passed and was signed into law. With this new legislation (among other changes the IRS made for 2023), there are some new rules to be aware of that will impact many of you in the coming years!

Are you looking to simplify your financial life? Here are seven minimalist money habits that can help…

Building wealth is often portrayed as being a matter of luck – some people seem to have all the luck in the world when it comes to making money, while others struggle to get ahead no matter how hard they try. However, the truth is that building wealth is not about luck at all. It is about making smart financial decisions and taking consistent action to achieve your financial goals.

By doing these simple things with your finances, you can get a handle on managing your money and eliminating financial stress.

Right before Congress was set to hang it up for 2022, the SECURE 2.0 bill passed and was signed into law. With this new legislation (among other changes the IRS made for 2023), there are some new rules to be aware of that will impact many of you in the coming years!

It is not uncommon for investors to raise concerns when governmental control shifts from one party to another. It’s intuitive that the policies of these two different political parties have an effect on the economy and corporate profits. But you may wonder, what is the effect of political power on the performance of the stock market?

In my career as a financial advisor, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with near-retirees and retirees. As people think about retirement, one of the topics I get questions about most often is Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). In today’s blog, I’ll start by answering some of the most common questions about RMDs, as well as provide the best strategies to minimize their impact.

I’ve felt the FOMO, like anyone else who has watched the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rise precipitously time and again the last few years and heard the claims of the riches it provides. I’ve watched athletes and celebrities endorse it, like Matt Damon uttering, “fortune favors the brave” in a prime-time commercial ad spot. Yet, for all of the big gains, there have been just as many steep declines. For many, the allure of BTC and other cryptocurrencies is the prospect of sudden wealth, but in reality, that’s not everyone’s experience. Even for those who have, the odds are not in their favor. The suddenly wealthy are often “blindsided by their newfound burdens,” according to Stephen Goldbart, a psychologist who coined the term Sudden Wealth Syndrome (SWS). 

Despite my FOMO, I don’t believe BTC is an appropriate allocation for the vast majority of investors because there’s no reliable evidence yet that it helps them achieve their goals.

Here’s why.

If you’re a solo business owner, you’ve more than likely struggled with cash flow. If you have, you’re not alone. This Intuit study found that 61% of small businesses have problems with cash flow. Having a framework for managing income is essential to create margin and be successful. In today’s blog, I lay out 4 steps that any solo business owner can implement to be confident in maximizing variable income.

If you search “millennials and retirement” on Google, the first two articles that come up couldn’t have more conflicting headlines. CNN Business and CNBC both have recent articles about the status of retirement savings for Millennials. Interestingly enough, they present opposite findings. The first article’s headline reads:

In times of inflation or deflation, bear market or bull market, early in your career or late in retirement, owning stocks is the best way to ensure you can preserve your lifestyle. Why? Because historically, there’s no other asset that has outpaced inflation quite like stocks. In today’s blog, I explain 3 reasons to be a lifetime investor in stocks.

Investors are often told they should be taking advantage of Tax Loss Harvesting, especially when markets are down. This is because the tax benefits of TLH can be huge! However, when used at all, TLH is typically done at the end of the year. In today’s blog, I bring clarity to this strategy by answering 3 important questions: What is it? What’s the catch? What are the benefits? How do you implement it?

Even considering the outside possibility of health care reform in the U.S., health care expenses aren’t going away anytime soon. Additionally, the average person needs about two years of long term care in their lifetime. Ignoring inevitable medical costs and the potential of long term care can prove to be a major mistake in financial planning. 

An often underrated solution in planning for future medical expenses is a Health Savings Account (HSA). HSAs have something that no other account type can boast: a triple tax benefit (Tax deductible contributions, tax deferred growth, and tax free withdrawals¹). However, surprisingly few people maximize the features of an HSA. In this blog, I will lay out 4 ways to get the most out of your HSA.

“This time is different” is a common response to market downturns. To be fair, I understand the concerns about the short term economic outlook in the U.S. and around the world right now: Inflation, oil prices, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, lingering effects of COVID on the workforce, and ongoing supply chain issues to name a few.

Events like these naturally raise pessimism, but it bears repeating - economic output and broader stock market returns don’t always go hand in hand.

About a year ago, billionaire Mark Cuban and Peter Mallouk, Founder of Creative Planning (a Registered Investment Advisory firm that manages over $210B of assets headquartered in Overpark, KS), got into a debate on Twitter over whether it was better to own a few individual stocks or an index. They decided to put some real money behind their positions in order to settle the discussion, agreeing to put $1M into an account where the proceeds will be directed to the winner’s charity of choice after 10 years.

Here in Arizona, we have a great opportunity to take advantage of “dollar-for-dollar” tax credits. In our experience, people struggle to leverage them in their finances. We’re breaking down these credits and talking next steps on how to use them.