Welcome back to our fourth-quarter blog series covering various aspects of our federal tax code. Today, we will explain standard versus itemized tax deductions and how thinking strategically around these deductions can help your overall tax obligation in the long run. Standard vs. Itemized Deduction: What You Need to Know When calculating your taxable income, you are allowed to subtract various items from your gross wage to arrive at the… Read More

Today’s blog post is part of our 4th quarter series and will discuss some of the details associated with capital gains tax planning. Lyle’s previous blog in this series, Understanding the U.S. Tax System Through a Simple Story, highlighted the ordinary income tax brackets. His analogy helped to clarify the reality of how our tax code works for ordinary income. Ordinary income includes wages, salaries, and interest earned and is… Read More

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” But is that really true? As the tax code has grown more complex, fewer people understand how the U.S. tax system works. In fact, according to a recent survey, fewer than half of all taxpayers know which tax bracket they fall into. To better understand our federal tax system, let’s explore a metaphorical story. First, we’ll go out for… Read More

Throughout the past 30 years, we have determined that two human emotions are typically the main culprits behind significant financial mistakes: Fear and Greed.   Today’s blog post will focus on the potentially negative impact of “listening to the voice” of fear.  On November 5th, we will mark the 2024 Presidential Election Day. If the polls are accurate, this race is extremely close—a toss-up! Hopefully, the election results will be finalized… Read More

As we turn another page on our 2024 calendar, we now find ourselves in October, which is recognized as Cybersecurity Awareness Month.   Unfortunately, hacking scams surround us, and we must remain vigilant as these schemes become more sophisticated with advances in technology. Some common schemes include simple phishing attempts that target large numbers of people and targeted techniques designed to infiltrate the finances and private information of corporations.   However,… Read More

When it comes to investments, perspective is everything. As advisors, one of the questions we are often asked goes something like this: “In light of the [insert scary news headline of the week here], would you recommend any changes to our portfolio?” Let me be clear upfront: I am by no means diminishing the importance of this type of question. As an advisor, if my client is concerned or curious… Read More

Last week, our family had the privilege of hosting two boys, aged eight and ten, from Uganda, along with a young adult chaperone. They are part of the African Children’s Choir and performed at our church. With full transparency, we didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity to host them. It wasn’t until a heartfelt plea from our church leadership—who needed more host families—that we reluctantly agreed. With the challenges we… Read More

In last week’s blog, Managing Debt as Interest Rates Rise, Garry reminded us of some fundamental decision-making regarding debt payoff versus seizing the opportunity to get meaningful interest rates on our cash accounts, or “safe money.” Let’s agree to define cash accounts as money markets, high-yield savings, and CDs. Today’s blog post will discuss the fallacy of “falling in love” with these cash accounts. We begin today’s discussion by looking… Read More