AdviceIQ Articles

  • Give Now To Save on Taxes

    Submitted by Doug White on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 3:00pm

     
    Even if you aren’t planning to give any substantial gifts, you may be surprised at just how much you or your family can benefit from a making a gift this year. When current rules expire in 2013, taxes on gifts shoot up, so act now, before New Year’s Day.
     
    The old saying goes: “If something’s too good to be true, it is.” Here, though, is an opportunity that is indeed almost too good.
     

  • 3 Steps to Getting a Raise

    Submitted by Neal Frankle on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 12:00pm

    There are three important steps you can take to get a raise at work, even though the economy is in a rut. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can’t ask your employer for more money while unemployment levels are high.
     
    Quite the contrary. It is exactly because the economy is so poor that your employer will be more amenable to giving you a raise – if you do it the right way.
     
    Here is how to do it.

     

  • Gap Years Tax Planning

    Submitted by David John Marotta on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 9:00am

    The time between retirement and Social Security at age 70, the so-called gap years, is an important tax-planning opportunity. With some planning for this gap, you can move income into lower tax brackets.
     
    By waiting to collect Social Security until 70, you get the biggest payout. You can file at 62, and receive a lesser amount. Or wait until your “full retirement age” – for many baby boomers, that’s 66 – and get more. A lot of people retire before 70 but wait until then to file.
     

  • Year-End Gift Tax Planning

    Submitted by Elaine King and... on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 3:00pm

    The maximum for tax-free gifts may shrink on New Year’s Day. If you are planning on giving someone a significant gift, you can choose to do so before the end of the year to minimize the taxes involved.
     

  • How the Pros Value Stocks

    Submitted by Vincent Trivett on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 12:00pm

    When picking stocks, how do you know how whether a stock is in bargain or bubble territory?
     
    The trick to valuing stocks is that there is no trick to it. It takes a lot of research and hard work to seek out companies that are undervalued by the markets and have potential for growth.
     
    Price isn’t necessarily a good measure of value: A stock selling for $100 per share may be overpriced, and another going for $5 may be underpriced. Then what is a good measure? Here are some of the ways that professional investors use to evaluate stocks:
     

  • Retirement and Taxes

    Submitted by Scott M. Kahan on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 9:00am

     
    One variable that is hard to plan for in retirement is taxes. There are steps you can take, though, despite the uncertain tax landscape.
     
    We don’t even know what the tax rates will be in 2013, so how can you plan for 20 years or more in the future? We can’t say whether rates will be higher or lower, or if tax-preferred investments will change. But not knowing doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be planning.
     
    Gather the Data
     

  • Taxes Rising? What To Do

    Submitted by Donna Lea on Thu, 10/11/2012 - 3:00pm

     
    Your tax rates may increase drastically on Jan. 1, 2013, as the Bush tax cuts expire. You can take steps now to minimize the bigger tax bite.
     
    This advice assumes that Congress does not act to extend the Bush cuts. The three areas that will affect Americans the most will be on income, investments and estates.
     
    Ordinary Income Tax
     

  • If Retirement Plans Go Awry

    Submitted by Eve Kaplan on Thu, 10/11/2012 - 12:00pm

    There’s a Yiddish proverb: “Man plans, and God laughs.”  Some of your best-laid plans quickly can go awry, especially for something as monumental as retirement planning. How can you recoup?
     

  • Women’s Financial Issues

    Submitted by Elaine King and... on Thu, 10/11/2012 - 9:00am

     
    Despite huge strides toward workplace equality, women still lag behind men in financial literacy, especially when it comes to managing money and investing. What can women do to redress this?
     
    According to a recent study by Financial Finesse, women are less likely than men to rebalance their investments, take a risk tolerance assessment, have an emergency fund or feel comfortable with their debt.
     

  • Sound Body, Sound Finances

    Submitted by Rick Kahler on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 3:00pm

     
    At first glance, the cost of staying healthy might seem way too high. It is not.
     
    Fitness centers, healthy foods and doctor visits come at a cost, but in the long run, maintaining poor health costs far more. Let's look at some of the ways it pays financially to take care of your health.
     

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SMART ADVICE

 

A Tragic Mistake: ‘I Don’t Need Help Handling my Money’

 

By Larry Light, Editor-in-Chief

May 1, 2013

 

We all like to think we’re smart and self-sufficient. A lot of folks believe they can manage their financial lives by themselves. These do-it-yourselfers are woefully wrong.

 

AdviceIQ is about giving the world the wisdom of smart, honest (none can have any regulatory infractions) advisors. Are we blindly pro-advisor? No, we are clear-eyed about being pro-good advisor. Everyone, even the financial cognoscenti, should have such a helper to sort out life’s perplexities.

 

Lamentably, the financial crisis and the Bernard Madoff scandal convinced many to steer clear of advisors. According to a Deloitte consulting firm study, 57% of those polled say they’re more comfortable handling their retirement planning on their own. Plus, 38% contend they need no professional advice to plan.

 

Really? A story from Paul Sullivan shows how wrong-headed they are. Sullivan is enormously well-versed in personal finance, which he writes about for the New York Times. But it turns out that even he could use some help with his portfolio. One day he went before Tiger 21, an investment club of very wealthy (with at least $10 million in net worth) types who assessed his financial situation. To Sullivan’s surprise and dismay, the group found major holes: He and his wife didn’t have enough insurance, they carried an unneeded vacation home and spent too much.

 

The blasé DIY attitude vexes Edmond Walters, founder and chief executive of eMoney Advisor, which provides support services to advisors. He watches discount broker TV ads that promise you can direct your investments by yourself, without paying an advisor. “It’s dangerous,” he says. “The ads say you can come home after work and spend a couple of hours trading a month. But the professionals have a lot more information than you.” Result: You get slammed.

 

As the Times’ Sullivan attests, it’s good to have a more knowledgeable someone guiding you, an expert who keeps up with all the arcane changes in the financial arena. Do you know how much disability coverage you need? Are you saving adequately for your kids’ education? How much money are you wasting for no good reason? Will your investments support you through your retirement?

 

Walters spent almost two decades as an advisor before he started his current company. “But,” he says, “even I have an advisor.”

 

 

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