Articles

Estates & Trusts

• Charitable Giving

  To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.

• Family Limited Partnerships

  One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.

Retirement

• SEP IRAs

  A SEP IRA is a type of plan under which the employer contributes (up to a certain limit) to an employee’s IRA.

• SIMPLE IRAs

  The SIMPLE plan may appeal to small business owners as it is easy to set up, administer, and allows for a tax deduction.

• IRA Rollover

  If you leave a job or retire, you should consider your options regarding your employer retirement plan assets.

• Your Business and Retirement

  Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.

• Self-Employed Retirement Plans

  Tax-deferred retirement plans for self-employed individuals have higher contribution limits than IRAs.

• Traditional IRAs

  If you do not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you might consider a traditional IRA.

• 401(k) Plans

  401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plans have many benefits, including that the funds accumulate tax-deferred.

Tax Planning

• Required Minimum Distributions

  Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.

• Tax-Advantaged Investments

  Many traditional tax-advantaged investment strategies have gone away, but there are still some alternatives.

• Mutual Fund Profits

  Want to keep more of your mutual fund profits? You may be interested in strategies to help lower your tax liability.

Investing

• Growth Stocks vs. Value Stocks

  The labels “growth” and “value” reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.

• Zero-Coupon Bonds

  Zero-coupon bonds represent a type of bond that does not pay interest during the life of the bond.

• Diversification

  An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.

• Types of Bonds

  Bonds are issued by many entities and share many characteristics, each type of bond has certain benefits and risks.

• Bonds

  A bond is simply evidence of a debt from a government entity or a corporation and represents a long-term IOU.

• Bond Ratings

  Bond ratings gauge a bond issuer’s financial ability to repay its promised principal and interest payments.

• Stock Indexes

  Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.

• Mutual Funds vs. Stocks

  The difference between purchasing an individual stock versus shares in a mutual fund to potentially earn dividends.

• Mutual Funds

  A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.

• Closed-End Funds

  With closed-end funds, investors pool their money together to purchase a professionally managed portfolio of stocks and/or bonds.

• Mutual Fund Loads

  It’s important to understand mutual fund loads, or sales charges, and exactly what they entail so you can make informed investing decisions.

• Investment Risks

  Understanding different types of investment risk can help investors manage their money more effectively.

• Asset Classes

  There are five broad asset classes that you should take into consideration when constructing your investment portfolio.

• Asset Allocation

  Asset allocation is a method used to help manage investment risk; it does not guarantee a profit or protect against investment loss.

Cash Management

• Money Market Funds

  Money market funds can be a highly liquid and effective cash management tool.

• Managing Cash

  There are numerous investment alternatives available to help provide liquidity.

• Effects of Inflation

  Historically, one of the best ways to fight the effects of inflation has been to utilize growth-oriented investments.

Risk Management

• Universal Life Insurance

  Consider a universal life insurance policy if you want the flexibility to change your premium or death benefit.

• Variable Life Insurance

  Variable life insurance gives you the control to allocate your account value among a variety of investment options.

• Types of Life Insurance

  When selecting a life insurance policy, examine all your options, as well as the positives and negatives of each type.