FiGuide

Will Renting Overtake Home-Buying?

Thomas Fisher, CFP® — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:06:00 +0000

This past May, sales of new homes plunged to the lowest levels seen since such data began to be recorded in 1963. June and July sales have been tepid. Are home sales likely to remain in a funk for a few years? Some demographers think it’s like...

Is a Private Foundation Right For You?

John A. Kvale, CFA, CFP® — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:30:54 +0000

Have you always wanted to leave something behind that will stand as your legacy and remain long after you have gone? Maybe you have a passion concerning a specific non-profit organization that you would like donate to on a regular basis. Maybe others have asked you set something in motion and they would like to contribute to your philanthropic cause?

3 Easy Steps For Creating Your Emergency Fund

Kimberly J. Howard, CFP® — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:53:51 +0000

Most Financial Planners recommend setting aside a separate cash reserve to cover expenses for emergencies such as a leaky roof, broken furnace, medical expense not covered by insurance or a job loss. Not sure where and how to start your emergency fund? Here are 3 steps to consider when setting up your fund:

What Happens When You Over Contribute to Your Roth IRA?

Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:06:46 +0000

If you intentionally over-fund your Roth IRA, above the amount that you’re allowed to contribute for the tax year. The tax law allows you to remove the excess contribution by October 15 of the year following the year of contribution. If you do not remove the excess contribution (and the gains associated with it) by that point, you will be subject to a 6% excise tax on the excess contribution until the situation is rectified.

Top 10 Mistakes Investors Make With Their 401ks

Richard T. Feight, CFP® — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:04:35 +0000

Over the years you begin to see a pattern of mistakes that people make with their 401ks. Considering that upwards of 66% of current workers retirement income will come from their savings, I’m amazed that people don’t pay more attention.

Compare Your Company’s 401k Offering With Others Online With BrightScope

Roger Wohlner, CFP® — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:28:24 +0000

For those of you who are not familiar, BrightScope is a start-up company that has introduced an online-database and ranking tool for 401(k) plans. They use information culled from 5500 reports and the DOL to gather data and rank plans along six key factors:

Splitting The House During a Divorce In a Recession

Linda Y. Leitz, CFP®, EA, CDFA — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:07:28 +0000

Besides income and expenses, the house is another issue that sometimes has some aberrant circumstances in this recession. During a “normal” economy, it’s pretty common for divorcing families either sell the home or one of them continues to live in it. Seems pretty straightforward.

The Fallacy of a Financial Plan

Bob Rall, CFP® — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:30:28 +0000

Think about a financial plan that was done in early 2008. By early 2009 the investment landscape had changed in a dramatic way. With most of the world markets down 30-50% in that time period, your plan would certainly look a lot different than it did just twelve months earlier.

Six Tax Benefits For Job Seekers

Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:35:23 +0000

The IRS recently published their Summertime Tax Tip 2010-04, entitled “Six Tax Benefits for Job Seekers”, with some good tips that you should know as you go about your job hunt. The text of the actual publication from the IRS follows, and at the end of the article I have added a few additional job-related tax breaks that could be useful to you. Six Tax Benefits for Job Seekers Many taxpayers spend time during the summer months updating their resume and attending career fairs. If you are ...

The Ultimate Social Security Do Over

Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:37:47 +0000

If you don’t know about this tactic, you can read the article The Ultimate “Do Over” by clicking the link. Briefly, this tactic provides a way for you to file for your Social Security benefit and then later, after your benefit would have been potentially increased had you not filed, you can re-pay what you’ve received and start over at your new age. (Read the article at the link above, it’s explained much better there…) I didn’t tell the complete the story in that article though: there are a few items ...