The best path to sustained financial success for retirement and beyond is the simple formula: earn, save and invest (simple to say or type, but very hard to do). Oddly enough for me, physical fitness challenges have come to typify a similar struggle toward wealth accumulation. I’ll offer two stories to explain what I mean.…
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” – Epictetus. There’s a lot I am uncertain about when it comes to investing. Will the Fed’s actions to stabilize the markets in March and April lead to serious inflation? Will international equities finally begin to outperform U.S. equities? Will Tesla’s stock ever…
In Part II of my analysis of Vice President Biden’s tax plan, I am examining his proposed changes to the estate tax portion of the Internal Revenue Code.* Unlike my previous article that dealt with income tax issues, this article details Biden’s proposals for estate tax changes. These are fairly dramatic compared to the last several decades…
Generally, I try to avoid politics where possible, but in discussing tax and estate planning topics, sometimes that is effectively impossible. As I discovered during an invaluable learning opportunity as an eighteen year-old intern in the office of the Ranking Member of Appropriations, Dave Obey (D-Wisconsin), all tax and estate planning laws are political instruments with the goal of…
Short on cash during the recession or know someone who is? I recommend looking into the concept of Escheat and money that is yours but not in your possession. What is the concept of escheatment and how does it work practically? All states require financial institutions to report unclaimed or abandoned money after a period of…
It has come to my attention that I never discussed when to sell equities. It’s a valid point, and my defense is that, in my mind, the optimal holding period is forever. While that may not be possible for most, where possible, that’s the path to the most efficient wealth accumulation. My reasons are two-fold:…
When we turn on the TV and listen to the news (or worse the financial news), we are bombarded with dire warnings and stories that show how the world is crumbling. These stories include: The virus has changed life forever, yet people are not wearing masks or taking the virus seriously. The virus has accelerated the decline…
MANY MEMBERS of the military live in a crisis-like state. They’re frequently deployed to dangerous places. Their families often have to move every few years. Today, that sense of crisis is shared by many others. In fact, with 23.1 million Americans unemployed as of April, a government paycheck seems stable by comparison. How can families prep their…
I REMEMBER the first time we met. Josh—not his real name—and I went to rival high schools in the Washington, D.C., area. During our senior year, we competed in a track meet. Someone mentioned that we would be going to the same college in the fall, so I went over to introduce myself—a little awkwardly, as…
In writing an article on why homes are often terrible investments, I cautioned that there are times when a home is not a terrible investment and actually makes sense. There are definitely other justifications to invest in residential real estate, but I’m going to focus on the asset side of the home ownership argument by first addressing…
