How To Update Your Address at Schwab and Why It Is Not Straightforward
with No Comments

Luckily, you can update your address online. Unfortunately, it is not as straightforward as the average investor suspects it will be.

What is Cost Basis and How Do I Calculate It?
with No Comments

The process of correcting cost basis problems, although time consuming, is worthwhile.

Q&A: Should I Get a Car Loan To Stay Invested?
with No Comments

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.

Charles Schwab: How to Order More Checks or Deposit Slips (2019 Update)
with No Comments

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.

How to Implement Basic Investment Strategies
with No Comments

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.

Schwab’s 3 Myths of Responsible Investing Are Actually True
with No Comments

In reality, all three “myths” are cause for real concern about SRI, ESG, and other so-called impact investing.

How to Budget for Emergencies: Divorce, Separation, or Widowing
with No Comments

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.

Core Values Budgeting: One Strategy to Identify Budgeting Changes
with No Comments

Here is a strategy that can both help you identify what you value and help you start your budget.

How to Budget for Emergencies: Other Large Expenses
with No Comments

Financial shocks can come in all shapes and sizes. This strategy of budgeting should increase your chance for success over the long haul.

How to Budget for Emergencies: Pay Cut
with No Comments

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.

Q&A: Can I Still Use a QCD to Get State Tax Credits?
with No Comments

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.

State Tax Credits: Navigating the New IRS Rules to Find Tax Savings
with No Comments

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.

How to Budget for Emergencies: Trip to Hospital
with No Comments

This is the financial shock of a trip to hospital. It is upsetting, expensive, and unexpected.

All About Elizabeth Woodrum, CFP®
with No Comments

We are very pleased to announce that Elizabeth Woodrum is our newest CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional at Marotta Wealth Management!

How to Budget for Emergencies: Major Home Repair
with No Comments

This is the financial shock of a major home repair. It is expensive and surprising.

Best Practices for Your Estate Plan’s Tangible Property List
with No Comments

“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?

The Complete Guide to Retirement Account Types
with No Comments

Here is a simple list of the retirement account types and their differences.

How to Budget for Emergencies: Major Car Repair
with No Comments

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.

How to Budget for Emergencies (The Series)
with No Comments

It is possible to be prepared for financial emergencies by living 10% more frugally and saving for the inevitable eventuality.

Q&A: Do You Offer Roth Conversion Planning for Someone Who Is Not a Client?
with No Comments

Kudos to you for noticing the value of Roth conversions! We have three ways we can help.

How to Create a my Social Security Account When You Get an Error Message
with No Comments

I was always met with the following error message: “We cannot create an account for the Social Security number you entered.”

Helpful Chart Shows Why You Should Diversify Globally
with No Comments

We continue to believe that diversification among many different countries provides a more consistent return than investing entirely in the United States.

Q&A: How Does the SECURE Act Change QCDs?
with No Comments

“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?”

The 30-Year Value of a Single Roth Conversion
with No Comments

Thirty years of interest, dividends, and capital gains tax is a significant savings.

How to Confirm a Schwab Bank Check You Wrote Was Cashed
with No Comments

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.

IRA Reform on Horizon – SECURE Act of 2019
with No Comments

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.

How to See Your Schwab RMD Online
with No Comments

For those who are doing it themselves, this page can help you satisfy this important IRS requirement.

#TBT Roth Conversion: Take Your Required Minimum Distribution Out First
with No Comments

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.

The Full Complexity of All Required Minimum Distribution Divisors Explained
with No Comments

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.

How to Inherit an IRA When a Trust is the Beneficiary
with No Comments

Oddly enough, how a trust inherits an IRA is as important as what it does with the IRA after receiving it.

How to Use Schwab Bill Pay
with No Comments

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.

The Complete Guide to Homeschooling Laws in Virginia
with 1 Comment

I must say that homeschooling was by far my best education experience.

When Should I Worry About Performance?
with No Comments

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.

How QCDs May Help Your Virginia State Taxes
with No Comments

“If you claimed the standard deduction on your federal income tax return, you must also claim the standard deduction on your Virginia return.”

No One Tells the IRS You Did a QCD Except You
with No Comments

Be sure to remember to tell your tax preparer that you did a QCD.

Older Than 59? Get Your Roth Out of Your 401(k) Now!
with No Comments

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!

Q&A: How Do I Calculate My RMD from a Complicated 401(k)-to-IRA Rollover?
with No Comments

Among the most complicated and frustrating IRA rules are required minimum distributions (RMDs). This case is a classic example.

Q&A: Moving Across State Lines With a Tenants by the Entirety Account
with No Comments

“I’m moving to a state which does not recognize Tenants by the Entirety. What do I need to do?”

Both Spouses Can Make The HSA Catch-Up Contribution
with No Comments

If both spouses contribute to their own HSAs for 2019, they can achieve a joint contribution of $9,000.

Q&A: Can I Amend My Estate Plan by Hand?
with No Comments

When it comes to legal, if your attorney is allowed to make the edit, you are allowed to make the edit.

Fund Your Child’s Roth with Chore Income
with No Comments

There are many opportunities to pay your children. If that payment can be counted as earned income, then the child is eligible to fund their Roth IRA.

Radio: Success and Significance in Retirement
with No Comments

On Tuesday, April 9, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss how to achieve success and significance in retirement by both adequately savings for retirement and finding fulfillment during that period of your life.

Cloth Diapers: A Lesson in Investing
with No Comments

This isn’t the kind of article you think it is. My daughter wore disposable diapers.

Q&A: Can I Do Backdoor Roth and an IRA Rollover In the Same Year?
with No Comments

This person has no IRA balance, but is about to get one with an IRA Rollover. So the question is one of timing: can they do the IRA Rollover after the nondeductible contribution has already been converted so that their cream and coffee never mix?

Getting Started as an Executor
with No Comments

This is intended to be a brief overview of what you should do once you realize you are overseeing an estate.

Contribute As Much As You Can to a 457 Plan
with No Comments

If your employer offers a 457 plan, consider taking advantage of the ability to shelter more money each year from taxes in a Roth account.

Radio: Checklist for Reviewing Your Tax Return
with No Comments

On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss how to do your own tax review.

Q&A: Can I Turn My Real Estate Income Into a REIT to Get the QBI Deduction?
with No Comments

You are allowed to deduct “up to 20 percent of their combined qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends,” and this deduction is unlimited. So it begs the question: Is there a way I can deduct my normal real estate income?

Radio: Best Time to Invest 2019
with No Comments

There is always an excuse to delay doing something that involves risk. They close the show reminding you not to wait. Invest now.

1 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter!