We’re in Our 70s with No Heirs. I Like Donating $30,000 From Our $700,000 IRA to Charity — My Husband...
A couple in their late 70s with $700,000 in IRAs and $30,000 annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) are using qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) to donate the full RMD tax‑free to scholarships. Their other income sources cover all living expenses, and they hold $450,000 in cash reserves. The husband proposes taking some RMDs as taxable income, while the wife prefers continuing QCDs. Expert advice recommends keeping the QCD‑only approach unless a low‑tax year or specific cash need justifies taxable withdrawals.
‘I Worked Very Hard’: I’m 71 and Have $6 Million After Scrimping and Saving. My Son, 33, Wants Money for...
A 71‑year‑old woman with a $6 million nest egg is weighing whether to fund her 33‑year‑old son’s down‑payment on a house. The son, an engineer in New Jersey, earns a solid but not extravagant salary and his wife, a stay‑at‑home teacher,...
This One's for You (and Barry Manilow Fans) if You're Asking, 'Am I Really on the Right Financial Track?'
Amid volatile markets and shifting economic outlooks, many Americans are questioning whether their financial plans are on track. The article advocates a one‑time financial check‑up to review savings, investments, retirement accounts, taxes and goals without long‑term advisory fees. It outlines...
I'm a Financial Adviser: This Is How to Ensure Your Kids Never Hear, 'We Might Lose the House'
A financial adviser argues that retirement risk stems more from plan fragility than market volatility, urging clients to build cash‑flow resilience, tax‑shock control, and coordinated five‑pillar strategies. He proposes a three‑bucket framework—safety, income, growth—to ensure essential expenses are covered without...
‘I Plan to Exit Corporate Life’: I’m 50 and Have $400,000. My Wife Is a Teacher. Can I Retire at...
A 50‑year‑old immigrant earning $250,000 annually with a $400,000 retirement portfolio wants to leave corporate work by age 55 to focus on family. He currently holds $300,000 in cash earning 4% interest and $85,000 in a brokerage account, planning to...
Asian Families Are Moving Faster than Their Wealth Plans
Asian high‑net‑worth families are relocating and diversifying assets faster than their traditional wealth‑planning frameworks can accommodate. Data from the Henley Wealth Report shows a record 142,000 millionaires moved abroad in 2025, with the trend set to rise to 165,000 in...
How to Find a Trustworthy Custodian for Your Precious Metals IRA
Precious metals IRAs let investors hold gold, silver, platinum or palladium in a tax‑advantaged retirement account, but the IRS requires an approved custodian to manage the account and storage. The article outlines the essential duties of custodians—account setup, transaction execution,...
Fidelity Freedom 2065 Fund Q4 2025 Commentary
Fidelity’s Freedom 2065 target‑date fund reported Q4 2025 outperformance, driven by active asset allocation and selective security picks. The fund’s glide‑path is being revised to raise equity exposure for younger investors and add inflation‑sensitive assets for those approaching retirement. Risk...
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Timeless Wisdom From Buffett: How to Avoid Common Investment Pitfalls
Investor Warren Buffett warns that following the crowd into hot assets often results in buying at inflated prices and missing out on gains. He emphasizes that early, independent research and buying undervalued securities lead to superior long‑term returns. The article...
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ChatGPT Told Us to Do This With $10K—Here’s What We’d Do Instead
ChatGPT recommended a balanced $10,000 allocation—$6,000 in a high‑yield savings account and $4,000 in a short‑term CD—while warning against low‑rate traditional accounts. The advice correctly emphasized liquidity and rate differentials, but the specific CD rates it cited were outdated, missing...
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Applicable Federal Rate (AFR): Definition and Usage Guide
The IRS publishes a monthly Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) to set a minimum interest benchmark for private loans, categorizing rates by short‑term, mid‑term, and long‑term durations. The AFR is derived from Treasury yields and is used to prevent below‑market loans...
25+ OBBBA Income Tax Strategies Still Hiding in Every 2025 Return on Your Desk
The 2025 tax season brings the new OBBBA provisions, which add roughly $4,000 in average tax cuts per filer when both individual and business benefits are combined. While software automatically captures standard deductions and the Child Tax Credit, it misses...
How Investing $100 a Week Can Turn Into $10,000 in Just Two Years
Investing a modest $100 each week in a low‑cost index fund can generate $5,200 in principal after one year and surpass $10,000 in two years, even before accounting for market gains. The strategy relies on automatic weekly transfers, removing the...
Dodd Kittsley on Why Active Management Is Back in Focus
Dodd Kittsley, director of ETF strategy at Davis Advisors, highlighted a resurgence of active management as markets become increasingly concentrated and valuations stretch. He explained that the Davis Select U.S. Equity ETF (DUSA) uses a high‑conviction, fundamentals‑driven approach, holding only...
Protecting Your Savings with a Swiss Bank
Opening a multicurrency account with Swiss‑regulated Dukascopy offers savers a stable, fee‑transparent way to hold over 20 currencies, including the Swiss franc, which historically appreciates in crises. Swiss banks operate under FINMA, enforcing strict capital and liquidity rules that helped...
Don't Overlook These Highly Ranked Dividend Stocks: LCUT, KRT, MGA, SFD
Zacks Investment Research highlights four Zacks Rank #1 dividend stocks—Lifetime Brands (LCUT), Karat Packaging (KRT), Magna International (MGA) and Smithfield Foods (SFD). All trade at forward‑earnings multiples well below their industry averages and offer yields ranging from 2.7% to 6.4%....
Advisors Seeking to Appeal to Midcareer HNW Women Better Not Forget Estate Planning
Advisors targeting mid‑career high‑net‑worth women must proactively introduce estate‑planning conversations, according to Vanilla’s Women & Wealth survey. The study finds 46% of these women view family financial protection as their top goal, yet one‑third say their advisor never raised the...
H&R Block Wants to Be More than a Tax Company. It Wants to Be Your Year-Round Financial Advisor
H&R Block’s new CEO Curtis Campbell, a former Dell and AWS executive, is reshaping the 70‑year‑old tax preparer into a year‑round financial platform. Leveraging AI tools like AI Tax Assist for consumers and Sidekick for pros, the firm aims to...
How Millennial and Gen Z Entrepreneurs Are Maximizing 2025 Tax Savings
Millennial and Gen Z entrepreneurs are turning tax planning into a proactive growth tool, using AI-driven loss harvesting and real‑time accounting to cut liabilities before year‑end. They favor S‑corporations or LLCs taxed as S‑corps to lower self‑employment taxes and gain pass‑through...
Three Fiscal Landmines Faced by Family Offices
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) cemented a $15 million estate‑gift exemption but introduced a 35 % cap on itemized deductions and a 0.5 % AGI floor that erodes charitable benefits for high‑income families. A pending California billionaire tax would levy a one‑time 5 % charge on...
Why Financial Planning Is More Important Than Ever
Financial planning has become essential as rising living costs, economic volatility, longer life expectancies, and mounting household debt strain personal finances. Strategic budgeting helps allocate income, build emergency buffers, and diversify investments to weather market swings. Effective debt management and...
How Family Talks, and the Right Trust, Can Build 'Estate Tax Magic'
The Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management white paper emphasizes that family dialogue and the right trust structures are essential to preserving generational wealth. It outlines a three‑part rubric—pay lower taxes now, transfer assets to reduce future estate taxes, and...
Fidelity Flags the Roth IRA Loophole High Earners Need
Fidelity outlines a backdoor Roth IRA conversion that lets high‑income earners bypass the IRS’s contribution limits. For 2025, direct Roth contributions phase out above $150,000 (single) and $236,000 (joint), but the two‑step process—nondeductible traditional IRA contribution followed by a swift...
Orion, Pontera Deepen Partnership with Eclipse Integration
Orion Advisor Services and Pontera have deepened their partnership by adding a dedicated data feed that brings held‑away retirement account information into Orion Eclipse, the firm’s portfolio construction and trading platform. The integration lets advisors view 401(k), 403(b) and other...
Homeowners Over 62: You May Be Sitting on Tax-Free Cash
Homeowners aged 62 and older can tap their accumulated home equity through a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a reverse mortgage, both of which provide tax‑free cash that does not count as ordinary income. These products allow retirees...
How to Invest in SpaceX Before the IPO
The Space Innovators ETF (ticker NASA) gives retail investors private‑market exposure to SpaceX before its anticipated IPO, positioning the fund as a gateway to the dominant player in the space economy. SpaceX now accounts for over half of all launches...
Freedom Bank Partners with InvestiFi for Digital Investing
Freedom Bank has teamed up with InvestiFi to embed a full‑service digital investing suite into its online banking platform. The integration lets customers trade stocks, ETFs and digital assets directly from their checking accounts, while also offering Guided Investing portfolios...
Retirees Are Rethinking This 'Safe' Withdrawal Strategy
The classic 4 percent rule, long‑used as a retirement withdrawal benchmark, is losing relevance as bond yields stay low, inflation rises, and lifespans extend. Morningstar’s 2026 research recommends a safer starting withdrawal of 3.9 percent, with the rate dropping to 3.5 percent for...
The Dividend Yield on the S&P 500 Is Now at 50-Year Lows. Here's the Biggest Problem.
The S&P 500 dividend yield has slipped to a 50‑year low of 1.24%, barely above the tech‑bubble trough of 1.09%. While roughly 56.5% of index constituents still pay dividends, the largest-cap firms—especially the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants—contribute most of the shortfall...
Canadian Pension Plans Are so Healthy that Employers Are Taking a Contribution 'Holiday,' Says Mercer
Canadian defined‑benefit pension plans have reached record health, with a median solvency ratio of 123 percent at the end of Q1 2026, up from just over 80 percent in 2020. Strong equity returns in 2025 lifted assets, creating large surpluses that trigger mandatory...
When Clients Ask About Private Credit: How Advisors Can Address Common Concerns with Confidence
Advisors are increasingly fielding high‑net‑worth client questions about private credit amid headlines of isolated fund failures and broader concerns about liquidity and risk. The article explains that private credit’s long‑term, contract‑driven returns differ fundamentally from the daily price swings of...
LTAFs Gain Isa Access as Retail Push Gathers Pace
Long‑term asset funds (LTAFs) became eligible for Stocks & Shares and Junior ISAs on 6 April, expanding retail access to private‑market investments. The UK LTAF market now holds about £7.3 bn in assets, up from £5 bn in June 2025, with an additional £3.1 bn of committed...
What a Roommate Can Save You in 100 U.S. Cities – 2026 Study
SmartAsset’s 2026 study shows that sharing a two‑bedroom apartment can save the average renter about $541 per month, roughly $6,500 a year. Cleveland, Ohio leads with a 47.8% rent reduction, while New York City offers the biggest dollar savings at...
Buy 3 Hartford Mutual Funds for Consistent Returns
Hartford’s asset‑management platform, bolstered by sub‑advisors like Wellington and Schroders, offers three mutual funds that Zacks rates as top‑tier buys. The International Growth, Dividend and Growth HLS, and Schroders International Multi‑Cap Value funds all post strong three‑ and five‑year annualized...
CRED Upgrades Kuvera for Affluent Investors
Fintech leader CRED has upgraded its wealth‑management platform Kuvera to better serve affluent investors. The revamp adds a behavioural framework that scores users on discipline, allocation and performance, aiming to improve long‑term compounding. A new "Surplus" feature lets idle cash...
IRS Tax Debt Trap: How Retirees Accidentally Drain Their 401(k)s
Retirees often reach for 401(k) or IRA funds to pay an IRS notice, but the withdrawal is taxed as ordinary income, potentially pushing them into a higher tax bracket. The added income can also increase the taxable portion of Social...
Investors Trust’s David Knights on Succession Planning and Intergenerational Wealth in Asia
David Knights, head of Investors Trust’s Asian distribution, relocated to Kuala Lumpur three years ago, building a cohesive, multilingual team that enhances client service across the region. He notes that Asian high‑net‑worth clients are increasingly focused on longevity, sustainable retirement,...
Does Your Retirement Plan Ignore Half of Your Net Worth? Here's How You Can Tap Your Housing Wealth for a...
The article highlights that primary residences now represent roughly half of Baby Boomers’ net worth, yet most retirement‑planning tools treat home equity as a non‑liquid liability. Federal Reserve data shows the share of wealth in homes rose to just over...
Nobody Knows How to File Taxes on Prediction Market Wins
Prediction‑market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have surged, with Kalshi processing over $12 billion in monthly trade volume, yet the IRS has issued no clear guidance on how users should report winnings. Tax professionals are left to interpret existing rules...
Grab These 3 Large-Cap Blend Mutual Funds for Top-Notch Returns
Zacks highlights three top‑ranked large‑cap blend mutual funds—Fidelity Growth & Income (FGRIX), American Funds Fundamental Investors (ANCFX) and American Funds Investment Company of America (AIVSX)—each earning a Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buy. Over the past three years the funds delivered...
L&G Launches New ‘Financial Age’ Tool to Align Your Pension with Your Career Before the Tax Deadline
Legal & General's latest survey reveals a mismatch between Britons' life stages and their pension habits. While 52% have seen income rises, 39% have not increased pension contributions, and 32% still use their original starter‑job contribution rate. To address this,...
AI ‘Gold Rush’ Is Rewriting the Playbook for Advisors but Are You Ready?
The surge of AI‑driven startups is prompting a wave of pre‑IPO tender offers, allowing founders to cash out earlier than the traditional build‑to‑IPO path. Nicholas Garcia of Compound Planning warns that this shift forces wealth advisors to overhaul risk, tax,...
Getting Individual Investors in on the GP Stakes Action
General partner (GP) stakes are gaining traction among private‑wealth and retail investors as a way to capture cash‑flow distributions, soften the private‑equity J‑curve, and add diversification to portfolios. Recent market activity shows fund managers packaging GP equity into vehicles that...
Morgan Stanley Plans Private Credit Fund Even as Investors Flee
Morgan Stanley announced the North Haven Strategic Credit Fund, an interval fund that will invest across a broad spectrum of private credit assets and permit quarterly redemptions of up to 5% of outstanding shares. The launch comes as the $1.8 trillion...
Advisors Weigh Crypto Portfolio Strategies
At the Exchange conference, financial advisors debated Bitcoin’s role in portfolios, with 70 percent labeling it a high‑beta tech stock rather than digital gold. Panelists from Grayscale, Osprey and Kaiko advocated indexing crypto assets beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum to reduce selection...
IRS Offers Guidance on Nominating Opportunity Zone Tracts
The IRS and Treasury have issued Revenue Procedure 2026‑12 outlining how states, territories and the District of Columbia can nominate census tracts as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The legislation makes the opportunity‑zone program permanent and adds specific...
Oct 1, 2025 | The Summit - Tempe AZ E8 | Guest: Matthew Jarvis, Co-Founder, The Perfect RIA
The Summit’s eighth episode (E8) will be held in Tempe, Arizona on October 1, 2025, featuring Matthew Jarvis, co‑founder of The Perfect RIA, as the keynote guest. The series, now in its eighth installment, has previously hosted leaders such as Shelby Nicholl, Scott Danner,...
Treasury Picks BNY, Robinhood for Trump Accounts Rollout
The U.S. Treasury announced a partnership with The Bank of New York Mellon and Robinhood to launch the “Trump accounts” retirement‑savings program for newborns. Each child born between 2025 and 2028 will receive a $1,000 seed funded by tax dollars,...
Managing ETF and Mutual Fund Exposure Across Asset Classes
Advisors in 2026 must treat ETFs and mutual funds as complementary tools rather than competing structures. Higher‑for‑longer rates and heightened U.S. equity concentration have made active duration management and exposure auditing essential. ETFs dominate core, low‑cost, liquid exposures while active...
Oct 1, 2025 | The Summit - Tempe AZ E4 | Guest: Justin Waller, CFP, Founder, Waller Financial Coaching
At The Summit 2025 in Tempe, Arizona, host Chuck interviewed Justin Waller, CFP and founder of Waller Financial Coaching. The conversation centered on the strategic decision for financial advisors to leave their Independent Broker‑Dealer (IBD) firms. Waller outlined specific scenarios...