Category: financial-planning
-
Are You Actually Tax Planning? The Difference Between Planning and Preparation.
It’s officially October, which means year-end tax planning will start picking up over the next few months. The end of the year is an ideal time for many financial moves that can positively affect your tax situation. Unfortunately, many people don’t recognize the value of tax planning throughout the year, let alone at the end…
-
Do We Need to Open a Trump Account for Our Child? Where It Fits in Their Financial Plan.
Trump Accounts are officially here. Does that mean every parent should open one? Last week, I walked through the thought process of creating a financial plan for your kid. It’s important to clarify how you want to support your children financially as they grow. Doing so will help illuminate which accounts are better suited for…
-
What Should You Pay for Your Kids? Building a Financial Plan for Their Future.
A growing part of many families’ financial plans is saving for education and their kids’ future savings. Especially with back-to-school season kicking in over the last month or two, it’s natural for parents to think about what their kids’ future may look like, at least financially, over the next few decades. Will they go to…
-
Does Kentucky’s New Estate Law Mean You Should Update Your Estate Plan? 5 Questions Worth Answering
Kentucky Senate Bill 50 (SB 50) is one of the most sweeping changes to Kentucky trust and estate law in a long time. Now that many provisions of the bill are in effect, it raises immediate questions for some Kentucky families. For questions specific to your exact estate plan, call your attorney and get specific…
-
What Happens When Your Financial Plan Changes? Why Planning Matters More Than the Plan.
Whenever I talk with a client about the next decade or two of their future, I always try to account for the fact that life almost never works out the way we want it to. It is easy for people in my industry, or other similar professional services, to project the future as if it…
-
Should You Listen to Your Accountant? How To Optimize Your Financial Team.
“My accountant has been trying to get me to do that.” I hear this more than you think, at least from clients and friends who have a good accountant. But perhaps more importantly, I also hear from people when they don’t agree with a recommendation from their accountant. In either situation, I always find it…
-
What Is Your Money Actually For? A Better Way to Think About Building Wealth.
The third pillar of financial planning is building wealth. Once everything is organized and you’re not overextended, making progress on your goals is the final and most important step. Many people start building wealth and skip organizing or protecting it first. They look at the stock market as a proxy for how their financial life…
-
What Could Derail Your Financial Plan? How to Protect What Matters Most.
After organizing your financial life into a clearer and more understandable picture, naturally certain problems or issues will surface. Protecting wealth is the next phase on the journey to better finances. What happens if I lose my job? Am I saving enough? What if I get sued? Many questions naturally emerge, questions that you have…
-
Are Your Finances Organized? Why Clarity Comes Before Wealth.
Sometimes financial planning can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There are so many different pieces of someone’s financial life that many times it can be hard to keep up with everything. Last week I introduced a new mental model for understanding your finances, starting with organizing, then protecting, and finally…
-
Is Your Financial Life Working Together? The Three Pillars of Financial Planning.
Once I learned what financial planning was, it felt as if I was given shortcuts on personal finances. There are those on the inside who understand the true meaning of financial planning, and those on the outside who don’t. There is a large misconception in the public’s mind about what financial planning is, and why…