View from the Lake
Where Financial Planning meets the Real World
Will Social Security Be Around When I Need It?
By Brian Ellenbecker CFP®, EA®, CPWA®, CIMA®, CLTC® You’ve probably heard media reports about the worrisome financial condition of Social Security, but how heavily should you weigh this information when deciding when to begin receiving benefits? While some changes will need to be made to Social Security (e.g., payroll taxes may increase or benefits may be reduced […] Read More
Donating Appreciated Stock vs. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution
By Brian Ellenbecker CFP®, EA®, CPWA®, CIMA®, CLTC® Donating Appreciated Stock vs. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution – which option is right for you? For charitably inclined individuals, there are an abundance of options available to donate money to charity while also maximizing the tax benefit. Two of the most popular options are donating appreciated stock and […] Read More
Estate Planning at Different Stages of Life
By Kevin Reardon CFP® Different Life Stages Require Different Types of Estate Planning When I started my career, there was an overriding belief that Estate Planning was just for ‘rich people.’ As the years progressed, the industry recognized that ‘old people’ are prime candidates for planning too. I could write a satirically funny article on how […] Read More
Digital Currency Versus Bitcoin and the Future of Money
By Daniel Burrus – one of the World’s Leading Futurists on Global Trends and Disruptive Innovation. When Bitcoin debuted in 2009, I published an article making a few predictions using my Hard Trend Methodology that have proven to be highly accurate. While I stated that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology represented a Hard Trend that would grow exponentially, […] Read More
Family Love Letters
By Kevin Reardon CFP® Family Love Letters What are family love letters? We have all heard stories of someone on their death bed who said, “there are some things that I have always wanted to tell you,” or the survivor who lamented “I wonder what Mom or Dad thought.” Imagine if each of us, in the […] Read More
Planning Strategies Under a Lower Estate Tax Exemption
By Brian Ellenbecker CFP®, EA®, CPWA®, CIMA®, CLTC® Estate tax planning has seen dramatic changes over the past 20 years. In 2000, the estate tax exemption was just $675,000 with a top estate tax rate of 55%. Today, the exemption is at an all-time high of $11,700,000 with a top tax rate of 40%. Considering the exemption […] Read More
President Biden’s Tax Proposals and How They May Affect You
By Nick Ziarek CFP®, CFA How Will President Biden’s Tax Proposals Affect You? Tax reform is a front burner topic as President Biden advances issues core to his campaign and, more importantly, to help fund the proposed infrastructure spending to build back America after COVID. The landscape can be murky as various proposals have been […] Read More
Brian’s Tip of the Month July 2021
Inheriting a Health Savings Account (HSA) What happens to a Health Savings Account (HSA) when the owner of the account passes away? The popularity of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) continues to grow. The numerous tax benefits (tax deductible contributions, tax-deferred growth, AND tax-free distributions for qualified expenses) are attractive to many families. As health care […] Read More
Unexpected Wedding Costs
By Ryan Rink CFP®, ChFC®, CLTC® Planning and Prioritizing Wedding Expenses Are you or someone you know getting married in the near future? This is one of the most exciting times of life, and also tends to be one of the biggest expenses. Wanting the big, beautiful wedding often comes with a price tag, and […] Read More
