Category Archives: Personal Finance
2013 IRS Saving, Gifting and Other Limits
It’s 2013, and the new IRS limits have kicked in. Here’s what you need to know concerning your 401k, IRA and other limits. Continue reading
Indexed Annuities, Better Read the Fine Print
So you purchase the annuity and tie it to the S&P 500 index. This year, the index grows 20%. You would expect to see a 20% return in your annuity, right? Wrong! Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance
Tagged Best Index annuities, Index Annuities, worst index annuities
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Your Financial Future – Can You Fill in the Blanks?
I need to save ___% of my paycheck to reach my financial independence goal to make working optional at age___. My retirement nest egg needs to be built to $_____ to achieve this goal. Continue reading
Why You Need an Estate Plan
Many people think estate plans are for the rich and not necessarily famous. After all, most of us don’t have millions of dollars sitting around, with heirs who fight with murderous intent. But you would be surprised at how useful – even essential – an estate plan can be for the average citizen. Continue reading
The Burden of Debt
If interest rates are too high such as to make your minimum payments too onerous to allow much wiggle room, do not be shy about calling the debt provider to ask for a reduction in the rate. They don’t have to honor your request, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Continue reading
Book Review: The Vigilant Investor
You can go with your gut when choosing between steak or chicken. Use knowledge to choose an advisor. This book will help you do that. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Fiduciary Duty, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged Pat Huttleston, The Vigilant Investor
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The Stretch IRA
A stretch IRA is not officially in the IRS code. It is a wealth transfer method that allows you to potentially “stretch” and even grow the IRA assets over several generations. The strategy involves adjusting beneficiary designations to minimize so-called required minimum distributions (RMDs) over a long period of time. Continue reading
4 Tax Saving Ideas
It’s almost 2012. Your business has done better than expected. Here are a few things you may consider to help lower your tax liability before year end, but you had better hurry! Continue reading
Individual Stocks and Diversification
No matter how aggressive an investor you are, investing in one company, or even a few companies, is not a wise move. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged building a portfolio, sonja gonzalez
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Retirement Plans for the Self Employed
So you quit the corporate rat race to start your own business. It’s hard work, but you enjoy the freedom and the thrill of being your own boss. There is nothing that you miss about your old job.
Except maybe your 401(k). …
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog, Wiser Education
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A Tale of Risk and Reward
There is no room for greed in investing. In the investing world you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. If you want the reward you have to take on the risk as well. Put another way, you have the potential to be rewarded for the amount of risk that you take. Notice I said “potential”. Reward is not a guarantee. The reason is risk. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged risk vs reward
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The Lure of Debit Cards
But is a debit card really better than a credit card? Studies have shown that we spend more when using a credit card. You’d think that using a debit card would alleviate this problem, since you know that you’re using your own money to make the purchase. This isn’t true. Some smart college students I know have figured out they do indeed spend more using a debit card, and now use cash for most purchases. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged debit cards, debit or credit, sonja gonzalez
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When Markets Go Crazy
Worry much about your investments? In volatile markets, it’s easy to feel uneasy. Memories of 2008-2009, when the market lost more than half its value, are still fresh in everyone’s mind. So when the market swings widely nowadays, investors get concerned. Sometimes concerned enough to act.
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Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged Investor Behavior
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Save Early for Retirement
At what age is it better to save for retirement? In your early years of working, money is probably tight. It’s hard to find the extra money to save towards such a far end goal, when the rent needs to be paid, and you have a more immediate need to build emergency savings. You might think that waiting until later in life to save for retirement, when your income is likely higher and you can more likely afford to do so, would be the best option.
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How to pay for College
It’s a blessing and a curse. After much nagging about grades and extra-curricular activities, your beloved Junior or Juniorette has made it into college. Your first thought is how proud you are of your child’s achievement. Your very next thought is, “How in the world do I pay for this?” Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog, Wiser Education
Tagged college funding, paying for college
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IRA Charitable Rollovers
You have done well for yourself. You’ve watched your pennies, saved aggressively, invested wisely, and now, in your golden years, you have a retirement nest egg that is more than you need. You have a philanthropic bent – an alma mater you’re fond of, a charity that is near and dear to your heart. How can you donate to these worthy causes without sacrificing to the IRS more than you think it deserves?
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Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged Charitable giving ira, Donate your IRA, IRA
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Play Defense with a Solid Portfolio
The pictures and stories from Japan have shocked us all. The human aspect of this country’s struggle to cope with the earthquake and tsunami tugs at our hearts. The same applies to those in Middle Eastern countries crying out for freedom and democracy only to be responded to with bullets …
Posted in Articles, Personal Finance, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged Asset Allocation, Portfolio building
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An ETN to replace the Variable Annuity?
A new exchange traded note (ETN) has come to market offering a well-known approach to investing found in active investment strategies, but new to the exchange traded products. The US RBS Trend Pilot ETN (ticker TRND) tracks the total return of the S&P 500 (actual return plus dividends), but provides safety in that if the S&P 500 drops below its 200 day moving average, then TRND will “sell” the S&P 500 and “purchase” short duration US treasury bonds. Looking back to 2008, TRND would have been in treasuries during the financial crisis, missing the worst decline in the S&P 500 in decades and benefiting from treasuries climbing to record prices. Continue reading
Posted in ETFs & Indexing, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged Casey Smith, ETN, RBS US Large Cap Trend Pilot index, TRND, TRND ETN
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2010 Tax Relief Act – Estate Implications
The 2010 Tax Relief Act has been passed. What does this mean for your estate plan? Continue reading
A Random Act of Christmas
Chris Ciulla, a client here at Wiser Wealth Management is organizing support for our troops through his program A Random Act of Christmas. Chris is raising money to purchase gift cards that he and his family will hand out to our troops as the pass through the Atlanta Airport. The gift card will be used by the troops online to pick out a gift of their choosing. You can contribute with a little as $32 to purchase one gift card. Continue reading
Posted in Personal Finance, Wiser Blog, Wiser News
Tagged Support our troops, Wiser Wealth Christmas
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Why do they keep trying to sell you that annuity?
There are several types of annuities with the most popular being the variable annuity. The bank salespeople, often falsely referred to as financial advisors, make the sales pitch sound as if these products are the best things since the Wright Brothers took flight. I say buyer beware. Continue reading
Free ETF Trades at TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade offers 100 commission free ETFs. Continue reading
How to Choose a Financial Advisor
The title “Financial Advisor” has a myriad of meanings. To most, it probably means a financial “expert” to guide you through important decisions and help manage investment assets for the present and future.
However, all advisors are not the same. So, how do you pick one? Below are five factors …
Posted in Personal Finance, Wiser Blog, Wiser Education
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Vanguard Lowers the Cost of Investing… Again
Vanguard has lowered the floor on S&P ETF index investing. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, ETFs & Indexing, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged S&P ETFs, Vanguard ETFs, Vanguard Indexing, Vanguard S&P ETFs
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Top 5 Estate Planning Mistakes
Top 5 estate planning mistakes
I recently read a report that suggested that only about 20 percent of the population has a formal estate plan. After reviewing the points below, please take a minute to consider whether it’s time for you to create or update your estate plan.
Here are
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Letter to Clients – Crisis in Europe
“Because major developed markets are now so highly linked, there is no way for problems in Europe to remain isolated there; we will see a ripple effect here in the US.” Continue reading
Wills and Trusts – In the Box or Off the Web
Dawn Levine an Attorney in Marietta, GA often gets asked what she thinks about Wills done over the internet. Continue reading
Wiser Helps Those Out of Work – Free Tax Prep
Wiser Wealth Management offers free tax preparation services to those currently out of work. Continue reading
Active vs. Passive – Morningstar’s Second Half 2009 Report
Morningstar has released their Box Score Report looking at active vs. passive investing strategies over the second half of 2009.…
The Cruel World of Financial Advice
You expect that your banker or broker will always do what is in your best interest. Can they? It’s a mixed up world when your financial advisor is your salesman. Continue reading
Should you put ETFs in your 401k?
ETFs are empowering individual and professional investors with the power of transparency, diversification, low fees, and, compared to many of active fund managers, better performance. …
Fiduciary and the “B”
Is the “lack of demand” for the ‘B’ share mutual funds because brokers are cleaning up their act and ditching one terrible product to show that they really don’t need to be fiduciaries to have the client’s best interest at heart? Continue reading
Closet Indexer
There is an old joke that financial news journalists write about the hot stock or mutual fund by day and privately invest in long term healthy index funds by night. Could this be true of active fund managers as well? Continue reading
House Makes Death Tax Permanent Today
Despite Republican efforts to do away with the Death Tax, the House voted to pass H.R. 4154 with a final vote of 225 to 200. H.R. 4151 will extend the 2009 3.5 million personal exemption (7.0 million per couple) and the 45% tax rate above those levels through 2010.…
Indexing Thought Brought to you by Today’s Mail
A look at look at 401k Maximizer, a active trading platform for airline employees and how this pie in the sky approach may leave some grounded in the long term. Continue reading
Posted in Articles, ETFs & Indexing, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged 401k maximizer, active management of active funds, active vs passive, american airlines 401k, ASA, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Casey Smith, delta airlines 401k, etf, mutual funds, northwest airlines 401k, southwest airlines 401k
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Stock Picker to Indexer
Recently, Jason Zweig, in his Intelligent Investor column, discussed data mining and proprietary trading on Wall Street, and the unreliability most of these strategies have on predicting the future.…
Death Tax Changes Uncertain
I recently received an Estate Tax update from The Estate Plan (TEP). TEP cited Leimburg Associates, Inc as the source of the following information. Here is my summary.…
Run..Run.. from the Salesman with the Annuity!! UPDATED
I had a email conservation today with an old friend who just purchased an annuity.…
Leverage ETFs in the News…Again
Leveraged ETFs Under Investigation
The Massachusetts Secretary of State, William Galvin, is looking into the marketing of leveraged ETFs and has reportedly written letters to the three biggest players in this market, ProShares, Direxion and Rydex.…
Another Advocate for Indexing
Yesterday, I met with a Captain from Atlantic Southeast Airline (Delta Connection). As soon as he walked in the door, he handed me an article from USA Today about a new book by Justin Fox. Justin Fox was unknown to me but the title of his book, “The Myth of …
John Bogle Endorses Wiser Wealth, Well…Sort of
Our friends at indexuniverse recently interviewed John Bogle. Mr. Bogle is the mutual fund indexing pioneer that started Vanguard.…
Mutual Fund Lending of Your Money!
A Wall Street Journal article caught my eye today. Jason Zweig’s article “Is your Fund Pawning Shares at Your Expense?” covers a unknown regular occurrence that Mutual Fund Managers often loan out shares of the fund’s stocks to other institutions. …
President Obama: An Index Investor
In a recent report, President Obama disclosed a large holding in Vanguard Index Funds. Continue reading
Winning in a Losing Market
In a recent press release, Lou Harvey, President of DALBAR, said,
For 15 years, QAIB has shown that investor returns lag what performance reports and prospectuses would lead one to believe is acheivable. While those returns are, in fact, theoretically acheivable, the reality is that investors are not rational, and
…
Isaac Newton: The Investor
“Long ago, Sir Isaac Newton gave us three laws of motion, which were the work of genius.…
Posted in Articles, Economic Commentary, Personal Finance, Wiser Blog
Tagged etf, investing, Isaac Newton, Money, Stock Market Advice, stock market wisdom, Warren Buffet
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ETFs Vs. ETNs; You Better be Careful
I recently returned from Singapore, where I participated in the Asia Indexing Conference. My Day 1 role was presenting to my Asian peers the difference between an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and an Exchange Traded Note (ETN).…
Insights From the Inside ETF Conference
Last Weekend I was able to attend the Inside ETF Conference in Boca Raton Florida put on by Index Publications, LLC. While we were there, Wiser Wealth Management’s president, Casey Smith was a moderator on a panel covering advisors using ETFs.…
How Poor Investments Happen
Investors tend to do poorly when they react to what the market does instead of preparing for what may happen and taking advantage of long-term forecasts. With a reactionary attitude, investors will rarely do well. Continue reading →