Your choices now change the course of your future in significant ways. “Into the Woods” is a cautionary reminder of that.
I think my second favorite feature of Charles Schwab’s banking service is their debit cards.
Your child may be in the thick of feeling out a boundary line by testing all your limits, but it pays off to be patient and trust that they will learn and they will listen.
Nice is different from good. You want a good financial planner not just a nice one.
In 2004, David Marotta wrote a seven part series originally titled “Retirement Wisdom.” The series explained the the seven principles to reaching your retirement goals.
Knowing what you want is important to directing the course of your life. To have a better life, you need to have a purpose for both you and your money.
To avoid a higher trading fee at Schwab, it is in your best interest to turn on paperless delivery for everything that you can.
Every school sets a budget or allowance for room and board, referred to as the cost of attendance. Are you allowed to reimburse yourself for the entire amount of Room and Board even if you did not spend that much?
I cannot imagine any consumer who, if they understood how such a select list of advisers was actually compiled, would use this list. Why limit yourself only to firms willing to pay a referral service to endorse them?
The first step to answering this question is to check that the school you want to attend is an eligible educational institution.
Luckily, you can update your address online. Unfortunately, it is not as straightforward as the average investor suspects it will be.
The process of correcting cost basis problems, although time consuming, is worthwhile.
With these moderate interest rates, the only clearly wrong decision in my view is buying a car on loan because you cannot afford it outright.
Schwab used to have a streamlined service for ordering more checks. Now as of 2019, they have outsourced their check ordering to a third party.
In 2009, David Marotta wrote a five-part article series for the Charlottesville Business Journal covering basic investment strategies. Its advice is still relevant today.
In reality, all three “myths” are cause for real concern about SRI, ESG, and other so-called impact investing.
Although this is the least common financial shock studied, it is one of the most difficult because at its core it is a problem money cannot solve.
Here is a strategy that can both help you identify what you value and help you start your budget.
Financial shocks can come in all shapes and sizes. This strategy of budgeting should increase your chance for success over the long haul.
Whatever technique you use to smooth your income, providing for the possibility of having a sudden reduction in income can help your family self-ensure against this potential financial shock.
If a portion of your charitable gift is nondeductible, then no portion of the gift can be counted as a Qualified Charitable Distribution. But there is one accepted loophole for QCDs.
This June, the IRS came out with their final ruling on how charitable gifts to receive state tax credits will be handled. This is how the strategy works now.
This is the financial shock of a trip to hospital. It is upsetting, expensive, and unexpected.
We are very pleased to announce that Elizabeth Woodrum is our newest CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional at Marotta Wealth Management!
This is the financial shock of a major home repair. It is expensive and surprising.
“I may leave a list or other written statement expressing how I wish certain items of my tangible property to be distributed.” But how do I do that?
Here is a simple list of the retirement account types and their differences.
This is the financial shock of a major car repair. It is the most common financial shock with 30% of households reporting such an event within the last 12 months.
It is possible to be prepared for financial emergencies by living 10% more frugally and saving for the inevitable eventuality.
Kudos to you for noticing the value of Roth conversions! We have three ways we can help.
Rebalancing from stocks into bonds reduces your returns on average since bonds have a lower average return. But, as this 2015 article reminds us, there are decades of very choppy markets where even rebalancing an allocation of stocks and bonds can boost returns.
I was always met with the following error message: “We cannot create an account for the Social Security number you entered.”
You swipe your debit card at the card reader and the clerk quickly asks, “Debit or Credit?” Which should you choose? This 2013 article tells us.
We continue to believe that diversification among many different countries provides a more consistent return than investing entirely in the United States.
“I will be turning 70 1/2 and wanted to start making contributions to charity from an IRA and taking the QCD at that time. Would this bill require me to wait two more tax years, until I am 72, to do this?”
Thirty years of interest, dividends, and capital gains tax is a significant savings.
What ever happened to that check? Here’s how to find out if it a Schwab check you wrote has been cashed by the recipient.
An analysis of changing to lower cost funds.
On May 23, 2019, the House passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 with a vote of 417 Yeas and 3 Nays. It is on its way to the Senate.
For those who are doing it themselves, this page can help you satisfy this important IRS requirement.
With a thorough understanding of the IRS rules, performing a Roth Conversion even after your so-called Required Beginning Date (RBD) can be both easy and profitable. This 2016 article teaches how.
Most divisors are looked up in tables based on your age. Others are calculated based on last year’s divisor. Some particularly unfortunate cases have distribution deadlines rather than divisors at all.
Oddly enough, how a trust inherits an IRA is as important as what it does with the IRA after receiving it.
Many of us are anxious about paying our bills on time, but using payment aids like Schwab Bill Pay can help alleviate some of that anxiety.
I must say that homeschooling was by far my best education experience.
Some performance is cause for concern. Other times, you need not worry. Here are 5 times you should not worry and 4 cases when you should.
“If you claimed the standard deduction on your federal income tax return, you must also claim the standard deduction on your Virginia return.”
Be sure to remember to tell your tax preparer that you did a QCD.
Anyone who has to take RMDs from their employer sponsored retirement plan, sadly, has to take RMDs from all components of the plan, even Roth deferrals!
Among the most complicated and frustrating IRA rules are required minimum distributions (RMDs). This case is a classic example.