A Roth Strategy
“But in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” - Benjamin Franklin to Jean Baptiste Leroy, November 13, 1789 As the federal deficit of the United States rises ever higher, the more likely we…
Question! Did We Learn an Important Lesson About the Stock Market?
Financial Consulate’s phones seem to ring off the hook in response to a change in the political atmosphere. The individuals who call depend on who is elected and their political beliefs. Twelve years ago, callers were worried that if President…
Lemmings, following the pack
We have all heard the story of lemmings following the pack, even to the point of running over a cliff to their death. Whether or not it is true of lemmings, we use this metaphor to draw attention and care…
Covid-19, Working from Home and 2020 Tax Consequences
What an unusual year 2020 has been for tax preparers, business owners, employees, and their families! Businesses have been forced to close, allowed to re-open under varying restrictions, and had to struggle with decisions that greatly impacted their employees. Negotiating…
The Best States to Retire In
I have seen many articles about great states to retire to and wondered how they developed their list. So, I decided to write my own article on the best states to retire. The greatest benefit of financial independence is that…
MD Now Allows a Beneficiary Designation on an Automobile Title
In 2018 MD began to allow a beneficiary designation on an Automobile Title. If you own an auto in just one spouses name, then I strongly suggest you put a beneficiary on the auto title. It is very easy and…
Zero-Cost Commission Trading and the Power of Independence
This article is not designed to address the reasons behind zero-commission stocks trading, but instead to make the case for an advisor being independent from brokerage firms, insurance companies, and banks. Recent news banners have heralded zero-cost stock trading from…
The New World of Charitable Giving
There are many cool ways to get the greatest bang for your charitable giving buck, and this article will explore two techniques that are simple, relatively new, and effective. First is the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from an IRA. Unfortunately,…
Investor Poison
If you are an investor and you want to make good investments, make sure you know how to deal with Investor Poison. Investor Poison is the media that throws story after story at you to elicit a response from you. Why would they do that?…
Equifax Data Breach Settlement – What do you need to do?
Equifax Data Breach Settlement What do you need to do? 147 million American’s data was stolen from Equifax in 2017. The data maintained by a credit bureau is immense and put all people affected by this breach at serious…