As tax season winds down, many people were surprised to receive a tax bill and are now bewildered about what to do next. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2018 eliminated many deductions, including the SALT deduction (state and local tax), charitable contributions for those who don’t itemize, among many other strategies normally applied before year-end to reduce taxes. The only remaining strategy to reduce tax may be by way of investing in tax-free, municipal bonds. If you’re in a h

Travel is an investment in life and should not be considered an expense. Corporate America is not known for its generous vacation time and there are other reasons why travel may not make the annual to-do list. World travel brings more than a check-mark to a bucket list, it adds to the substance of life and can open the doors one would have never thought possible. While predicting the rate of return on a stock is something that is the very nature of financial planning, the ret

It’s counterintuitive to think that being conservative with your investments isn’t effectively protecting your assets and can pose an even greater risk to your financial plan over the long-run. A conservative portfolio is usually comprised of cash, CDs, US Treasury, and high-grade corporate bonds. An increasingly aggressive portfolio will depend on the amount of stocks added to the mix. The dilemma facing conservative investors is the choice between accepting the volatility t

Many people are surprised to learn they are going to be paying more tax this year. This is thanks to the recent tax law changes, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, that was put into law by the Republican majority effective January 1, 2018. In no certain terms was it obvious what the full impact would be until tax time as this was the most significant change to the tax code in decades. The biggest reason for the increase in tax due is the cap on deductions at $10,000. If you live in C

If you’re self-employed, it’s prudent to put your business plan into words, which is the first step to putting your vision into action. There is every reason that a business owner should write a business plan and plenty of reasons why a regular employee should do the same. The most basic reason is to put into words what you are trying to create for yourself and your future. Here are a few suggestions for developing your business plan. Mission statement Describe in a sentence