Author Archives: David John Marotta

Which is worse: Being destitute while still alive or dying happy and provided for with a little extra?

A savings waterfall is a tool to help investors prioritize savings goals and allocate funds appropriately.

Social Security has a number of flaws, to which these static tax brackets can be added.

If you have received a projection from your company which included a lump sum offer that you were interested in taking, you may want to analyze it again.

The worst financial problems stem from trying to live a champagne and caviar lifestyle on a beer and chips budget.

Did you know David wrote a Christmas novel? This 2020 book by David John Marotta and Brendon Marotta makes you rethink what is happening in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Every day, we voters and the government have the chance to free our children from this burden.

It is perfectly fine for you to underspend your assets. You don’t need my permission, but you have my blessing anyway.

I share this story here in case others in a similar situation may benefit from seeing this example.

There are at least two reasons why your Social Security benefits are failing to keep up with inflation.

We haven’t seen high interest rates in many years, but high interest rates do not remove the potential benefits of having a mortgage.

Adding more Stability to an asset allocation isn’t an easy issue. It takes science to know how much bonds you need. It takes artistry to gradually adjust your asset allocation over time. 

In this article, I am defending the use of self-control in your financial habits.

Inflation has at least four grievous effects on our economy. This 2014 article explains them.

Staying fully invested is an important part of your financial plan. Yet still, there are at least five reasons to hold cash.

Old financial news read with 20-20 hindsight helps remind us that this is what markets do.

Although this card is an easy way to pay 3% less for an eBay purchase, I won’t be adding it to my wallet since that is its only use.

As advertisers have found it harder and harder to reach consumers, they are continually seeking ways to gain your attention.

Regardless of which it is and whether we are in a recession, it is always a good time to have a balanced portfolio.

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show with Rob Schilling to talk about dangers of seeking utopia and the sinfulness of humanity.

Protecting you from elder fraud is just one of the many services we can offer as a part of comprehensive financial planning.

In this video, David used examples from our tax planning service to demonstrate what a Roth conversion plan might look like and how systematic Roth conversions can create a higher after-tax net worth in the future.

This process works as the people in your contacts list are probably not scammers.

FRDM is interesting, but using our country specific funds plus a low cost Vanguard Emerging Market fund allows us to emphasize freedom for as low a cost as possible.

I decided to see if McDonald’s famous burger was still appreciating faster than the CPI. It has been.

When you get out of the markets, you have made a huge gamble with your retirement money, and now the stakes are high.

Currently, 12-month inflation is 8.58% and the crowdsourced expected inflation is 2.88%. Here’s what to do.

A recovery after a significant downturn in the markets is often marked by steep growth. If you sell and flatline, you will likely miss the market’s natural recovery and thus your own personal future recovery becomes very difficult.

Being a fiduciary means more, regardless of what the Department of Labor might write in their press releases.

We think holding your next seven years of spending in relatively safe bonds is always a good idea. But holding too much in bonds may not keep up with inflation and is not ideal for your long-term investment strategy.

You learn a lot by the discipline of reading old news.

Regardless of what you do with the money earned, continuing to work is a worthwhile journey.

Equating an entire school system into an economic game is one way which has worked for Keys.

Bitcoin satisfies some of the characteristics of a currency, but there are at least seven areas of concern.

Whenever the IRS challenges you, the burden of producing evidence that your claims are true rests entirely with you.

Some states do not tax their residents on income from a mutual fund that was earned on U.S. government obligations.

Three generations explain this family saying which teaches one method of mitigating risk.

On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show with Rob Schilling to talk about “How The United States Ruined Its Own Fiscal Health.”

At 4.0% inflation, cash will lose 82.88% of its value over 45 years. Such loss of value can ruin a retirement plan more so than any market returns. Your long term investments need to appreciate well over inflation. The best method to do that is to stay mostly invested in stocks.

A gone-fishing portfolio is a portfolio of just a few stocks which should weather the ups and downs of the market fairly well while only rebalancing twice a year.

This gone-fishing portfolio is our default portfolio which can be used at any custodian.

We recommend this gone-fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at Vanguard.

I expect that eventually Bitcoin will either develop a real, useful value for investors or the bubble will burst.

Now that the Franklin Templeton funds have been added to the Institutional Intelligent Portfolios platform, we are updating our allocations to use the cheaper funds as their primary targets.

Saving for long-term care, if done early enough, is not too expensive and helps to protect yourself from this potential financial shock.

We are very thankful that Genworth has released this information freely for everyone to use.

The class will be held virtually on Zoom each Thursday from noon to 1:00 PM EST between March 10 and March 31, 2022.

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show with Rob Schilling to talk about “The Failure of Government.”

Like any good free market system, it is infinitely flexible, adapting to the needs and resources of the environment.

The class will be held March 10 through March 31, 2022 each Thursday from noon to 1:30 PM on Zoom.