Normally this time of year I encourage all my business owner clients and faithful readers take a goodlook at what you’ve accomplished so far this year, to accelerate your efforts so you can finish the year strong, and to plan for what you want to have happen next year. This time I’m going to address how those plans can change wildly from what you thought was going to happen and applaud contingency planning.
Tax planning is the process of looking at various tax options in order to determine when, whether, and how to conduct business and personal transactions to reduce or eliminate tax liability.
There is a growing trend among companies to pay later and later. What was 30 days to pay is now becoming 45. Those previously at 45 are going to 60. Worse, small companies are typically targeted first. Here’s what you can do to speed up clients who pay slowly:
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Sadly, Financial Planning only gets a day and it’s different in each state. That’s just not fair! But life insurance is important for your family goals, so here are the important things to consider before buying life insurance.
In case you didn’t already know, I have the travel bug. It started in College when I got the opportunity to visit my UK pen pal and her family in London. Even more than the tourist destinations, I love seeing how people live differently around the world. Staying with her family allowed me a front row seat to the daily activities of a different culture. Another example is the time I went with the Rotary to Guatemala to commemorate a well to provide fresh water that they had donated to an orphanage.
Perhaps in our grandparents generation retirement look like quitting your job, having a retirement party, then proceeding to a new phase of watching TV, yardwork, traveling to visit friends and generally being helpful to the extended family. In the generation of clients that I’m working with now, there is as many individual approaches as I have clients. I’ll share a few of their stories to spur your own imagination about your vision for retiring.
If you have kids in college, the Fall tuition bill is on its way to your mailbox in June-July. If you have a first time starting Freshman, this is your first REAL experience with paying for college. If your kids are younger, now is the perfect time to get serious with college planning how you and/or your kids will pay college expenses.
Although all families are different, here are a few ways families prepare:
In the lyrics of "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" by the famous Lennon, he says "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." As a financial planner, it’s amazingly rewarding to plan successful retirements, education, legacy and your other life goals. And it is also my job to help you mitigate for the things that might hurt those plans, like job loss, disability, business downturns, and death.
What happens to your stuff when you are gone? Usually when people pass away, there is a huge focus on the things they owned and who gets what. But a legacy isn't only about leaving what you’ve earned, but also what you’ve learned.
The notion that you can have a lasting legacy by handing down ideas and values may be a totally new way to look at it. Here are some ways you could pass on the things and ideas, as well as your wealth.
Welcome to February! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. I once had a couple come into my office who wanted to do a financial plan as a Valentine’s Day present to each other. I’ve created hundreds of written financial plans for people; this couple’s plan was novel merely because of the date (pun intended) they selected.
Having a lifelong commitment to a spouse or partner necessitates creating answers to many financial questions. Commitment means taking care towards your shared goals and persistent actions that hopefully make those goals come true.
Happy New Year! We business owners want this year to be better than last year, of course! So let’s create a plan to pursue making this year more profitable, easier, and more fun. As a business owner, business coach, and financial planner, I use the following wrap up / ramp up process to build my own progress and recommend these steps to my business-owner clients as well.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) allows for tax deductible contributions into an account specifically for Health Care expenses. Typical out-of pocket medical expenses include paying for deductibles and copays. If you and your family are relatively healthy, an HSA can help build a substantial reserve for your older years where health care expenses are likely to be much greater.
We’re talking your lifetime financial plan, that is. Having completed over 384 written financial plans and calculated numerous ‘back of the napkin’ plans, each family’s lifetime financial plan for first accumulating and then distributing income (into then out-from) various investment vehicles, is unique. Collectively, however, financial plans for business owners differ fundamentally from our friends with paycheck jobs.
In this month’s article, I’ll be sharing some of the tech tools that I have found that make my life easier and faster, so that I can spend my time making my business more profitable. These tools are easy to use, and often free or inexpensive.
Most parents planning for college are familiar with the mainstream ways of saving and paying for college. These include 529 plans, Savings accounts, life insurance among other common methods. Awesomely, business owners have a few additional tools in their arsenal. Here are a few ways savvy business owners can save and pay more easily for college.
It’s hard to believe that we’re already half-way through the year! How are your business and family finances faring? Are you halfway to your goals? Right now is a great moment to do an assessment of both; while you still have time to adjust, to reach and even to exceed your business and family financial goals for the year. Here are very important areas to look through:
Since age 17, I’ve read every “Money Magazine”, “Wall Street Journal” and every other sensible financial tome I could handle. My parents were so poor they had to sell a cow to pay each car insurance or college bill. By the time I had my first child at age 32, I was no longer struggling. I had saved 10 percent of every paycheck since my first year after college. With intentions of imparting the awesomeness of savings and compound interest to my children, I raised my 2 boys with every bit of wisdom I could muster.
It’s April! By now you’re either done with your taxes or WISH you were done! That makes it a great time to plan what you might do differently so that next year is even easier to get your taxes completed on time with less stress. And you might also be able to pay less in taxes.
Spring is in the air. Warm weather is approaching. Time to clean out any sluggish parts of your business so you can create growth and possibly more profits. Here are some items you should review and improve upon every year if you want to grow your profits and your life. I know you’re busy, but if you want the life you dreamed, set up a system to build on these key areas every year. You may be happier after you cleaned up!
