Financial Planning Focus

In our last newsletter, Kristan Anderson delved into some of the complexities and planning opportunities surrounding required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts.

When a famous Hollywood actor died unexpectedly in 2008 at age 28, the will he had signed in 2003 named his parents and sisters as the beneficiaries of his estate.

Most of our clients are at a place in their lives where they are well established financially.

Since the start of the pandemic, current college students have been put in a place that no one in history has ever been.

Well, actually that’s not quite how it works. I’m often surprised by how little some clients understand the rules around taking required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from retirement accounts.

Rapper Dee-1 sings (unflatteringly) about his experience with a student loan servicer in his song, “Sallie Mae Back.” When an issue reaches enough critical mass to be the sole subject of a rap song, that’s when you know you have to sit up and take notice.

One of the most common questions we receive from high net worth clients is how to protect and effectively transfer assets. While there are many different ways to accomplish these objectives, one specific strategy has recently garnered some interest for married couples.

In March the Internal Revenue Service announced that the 2020 tax year due date for individual’s federal income tax filing would be extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. With the extension, you have an opportunity to avoid a few headaches resulting from a very difficult year and still have a few tax planning opportunities to reduce your 2020 taxes.

Last month, the financial planning department did a presentation to clients on financial planning basics. If you missed the presentation, or are interested in any of the material that we discussed, please feel free to reach out to anyone in the planning department.

While the past year was difficult, incredible stories from 2020 highlight how people were able to give time, talents and resources to help those less fortunate.