There was a time when monitoring your financial situation was relatively complicated. Whether it was balancing a checkbook or writing expenses in a ledger, you had to input everything by hand and do a lot of math to get accurate results. 

Thankfully, we’re living in the golden age of technology. Instead of using old-fashioned financial tracking methods, all you need to do is download an app, and you’re ready to go. However, with so many options available, it can be a bit overwhelming to determine which one is best for your needs. Fortunately, we’re here to help with our review of Mint vs. Personal Capital. 

Like it seems for just about every service profession today if you want to go the DIY route and figure it out for yourself, just Google it and you’ll be on your way. I swear I think there is a YouTube video for just about every DIY project you’re attempting to do around the house, with some being easier than others.

While it’s not quite that easy when it comes to managing your finances or becoming your own financial advisor, it can still be done. As long as you have the time and willingness to learn, you certainly can go at it yourself. Many people handle their personal finances themselves and do a great job.

Since the novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe, it has impacted everything about our daily lives. However, while some of the effects were immediate, such as quarantines and lockdowns, one of the less obvious was how it would impact retirement planning. 

In this article, we want to look at the various ways that COVID-19 has disrupted retirement plans. To help understand these effects better, we’re going to look at the three stages of planning - early, pre-retirement, and retirement. We’ll also pay attention to the various legal changes that were inside the relief bill passed in March. 

The Financial Freedom Blueprint® Is Now An Online Course

We have some super exciting news around here at NextGen Wealth. We have taken our trademarked financial planning process, The Financial Freedom Blueprint®, and turned it into a do it yourself online course.

So, if you’re the do it yourselfer type when it comes to your personal finances, you now have a financial planning process laid out for you that will take you through every step of the way.

Now that the holidays are over, it’s back to reality. For many – hopefully, not you – it means paying off all the debts you racked up from your extremely generous giving. Let’s just hope you had already budgeted for it and you were merely using your credit card to get the free rewards.

Regardless of whether you have debt or not, sometimes, unknowns pop up in our lives where we need to get access to money. If you don’t have it sitting in a savings account – which I’m sure you do if you’re an avid reader of this blog – you have to find it somewhere.

Let’s face it; saving for your children’s college is quite the challenge. However, just as challenging is actually finding the right spot to send them off to college. There are so many choices with only so much money you can realistically spend without you and your child completely being indebted for the rest of your lives.

Sounds like a real pleasant experience, doesn’t it? Well, for most parents, it can really be a gigantic pain to find the right college for their children. Today, though, I’m going to explain how to make it a much more comfortable experience where everyone will understand and be happy.

We’re headed for another recession. At least, that’s what people are saying, both on the news and elsewhere in the media. However, with an economy that’s thriving right now, where is all of this recession talk coming from? 

While we’re not going to dive into the many variables that are included in modern economics, one element that has financial analysts shook is the inverted yield curve. However, outside of stock exchanges and broker offices, chances are that you don’t understand what this curve is and what it means for the economy. 

As the old saying goes, the only constants in life are death and taxes. However, while you can’t avoid paying your share to the government, you may be able to lower your tax burden. Income shifting is a well-known tactic for moving money around so that you don’t have to pay as much in taxes. Today, we’re going to dive into this strategy and see how income shifting might be able to lower your taxes. 

What is Income Shifting?

The name of this tactic kind of gives it away. To reduce the amount you owe, you simply shift your income to another person. Let’s say that you’re in a relatively high tax bracket (i.e., 35 percent). So, instead of paying all of your income at that rate, you give part of it to a relative in a lower tax bracket (i.e., 10 percent). 

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start thinking about retirement. Although you will want to put money away in a variety of different accounts, one of the most reliable is an IRA. You may already be familiar with Traditional and Roth IRAs, but the fact is there is a way to move money from a Traditional to a Roth, which is considered a Backdoor Roth IRA or a Roth Conversion.

Both actually do the same thing in a slightly different way. A Backdoor Roth IRA is typically in relation to converting a Traditional non-deductible contribution to a Roth IRA. A Roth Conversion is normally in relation to a larger amount being converted from a Traditional to a Roth. Again, they both do the same thing but just have different names. Today, we’re going to focus on the Backdoor Roth IRA.

For many individuals, the primary concern is to save as much money as they can before retirement. After all, the bigger your nest egg, the less likely you’ll run out. 

However, even if your retirement accounts are bursting at the seams, budgeting is still a necessity. In many cases, without a budget, you could wind up having to dust off the old resume because your funds are starting to run low. 

As a financial advisor, I meet with individuals and couples who hope to retire early all the time - I mean, who doesn’t. Once I sit down with them for some basic number-crunching, we work together to create a long-term financial plan that will guide many of their decisions. 

This can include how much to invest, when and where to invest, and ways to increase cash flow and returns while keeping long-term costs and taxes to a minimum. 

The average person needs between 70 and 80 percent of their income each year when they retire. If you have that already saved, you're probably in good shape. 

However, there's always more you can do to help you stretch your retirement funds without sacrificing your quality of life. It just takes planning and know-how.

Do you have a 529 plan? Do you work with a financial advisor? Do you have a 529 plan that’s managed directly through your financial advisor?

If you answered yes to the first question, then that’s perfectly fine. If you answered yes to the second question, that’s great as well. However, if you answered yes to the third question, well, that’s where I tend to differ from a lot of financial advisors… and yes, that’s coming from a financial advisor.

First of all, congratulations that you are able to max out your 401k. Whether it’s $18,000 if you are under 50 years old or $24,000 if you’re over 50, that is a lot of money to sock away on an annual basis.

Now that we have established you're contributing the max, the next question I ask is do you receive matching contributions from your employer? If the answer is yes, another congratulations are in order because not all employers provide a company match.

No, this isn’t some kind of get rich scheme that I’m pitching but rather something everyone who has a savings account should really consider. According to gobankingrates.com, as of April 2016, the average savings account interest rate was only .06%. That’s right, only .06%!

Believe it or not, though, I have seen many clients who branch at their local (insert giant bank name here) earning a measly .01%. That means if you had $50,000 sitting in a savings account there, your annual interest would add up to a whopping $5!

Whether you’re a first-time real estate investor or an experienced veteran, you can always do a little bit more to maximize profit in your investment properties. Here’s how you can get the most bang for your buck. 

Fix-and-Flip for Cheap

One of the most common types of investment properties are fix-and-flip properties. For the uninitiated, a fix-and-flip investment is when you buy a house that’s undervalued, most of the time because it’s old and run-down. You purchase it at a cheap price, fix it up and make it nice—thus improving its value—and then you sell it to make a profit.

Organizing your financial life is a fundamental, critical step for wealth building. Establishing a budget, planning your savings and ensuring you are preparing for retirement now secures your future and ensures you stay on track to meet your personal financial goals. Given the plethora of financial advice available, it can be difficult to find and develop the right plan for you. 

There are some fundamentals that can be applied to anyone’s financial situation though, and creating an efficient financial life is as much about getting started as it is maintaining smart financial planning and decisions. Here is our brief guide to creating an efficient financial life that meets your needs.

Have you ever thought about what financial freedom looks like? Or, has it never even crossed your mind simply because you’re just trying to make it to the next day. 

Regardless of whether you’ve actually thought about it or not, it’s something most people can’t even fathom but would love to achieve. However, the main issue lies in how to actually get there.

Check out our Ultimate Health Savings Account Guide Infographic. We think it's pretty awesome and sums up the true power of an HSA. For more information, check out our Ultimate Guide to Health Savings Accounts.

Have you ever thought about what financial freedom looks like? Or, has it never even crossed your mind simply because you’re just trying to make it to the next day. 

Regardless of whether you’ve actually thought about it or not, it’s something most people can’t even fathom but would love to achieve. However, the main issue lies in how to actually get there.