Don’t Fear the FAFSA
The start of October brings cooler temperatures, visits to the local pumpkin patch, scary movies, and all-you-can-eat candy on Halloween. October also marks a spooky but important date for those planning to attend college for the 2021-2022 school year: the opening of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Do you have a college […]
A Different Type of Child Credit
In an (almost) cashless society, credit is king…or so it can often feel this way. A credit score is linked to a person just like their driving record or GPA. From applying for a loan to applying for a job, a decent score is necessary to thrive or at least not be squashed by outrageous […]
Required Minimum Distributions Update
As the year flies by I have noticed more and more questions of uncertainty revolving around one particular subject, Required Minimum Distributions or RMDs. More specifically the question is, “Are RMDs required for 2021?” I believe the reason this has become a topic of uncertainty is due to the fact that for 2020 RMDs were […]
Creating Family Financial Awareness
August 14 is Financial Awareness Day. While you’ll probably see plenty of articles about getting your finances in order or raising financially literate kids, there’s another layer to financial awareness that often gets forgotten: planning for aging parents. I’m an only child of two middle-aged parents (don’t tell them I called them that) so it’s […]
Planning Amid Uncertainty
As a Certified Public Accountant and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, I deal with uncertainty on a daily basis. Clients progressing through different life stages, volatile financial markets, and keeping up to date with ever-changing tax laws are a few examples of this daily uncertainty. Our Keller/KMH staff field a steady stream of pertinent questions and […]
Living in the Moment Versus Saving
There is a fine line between living in the moment and saving for retirement. The balance is the challenge. Fleeting thoughts, or maybe not so fleeting, are vacations abroad, a dream car, a ranch, and/or helping the adult children with the purchase of their first homes. This balancing act begins at any age. My adult […]
More Tax Talk 2021
My last article was released to the Advocate on February 14th of this year. Here we are, over four months later with very little real clarity on what income and estate taxes will look like for 2021 or 2022. What we do have is the President’s “American Families Plan” presented to Congress and released on […]
Elder Financial Abuse and Exploitation
June marks Elder Abuse Prevention Month. At a time when 70% of the nation’s wealth is controlled by Americans over 50 years old, fraudsters are using new tactics to take advantage of retiring baby boomers and the growing number of older Americans. And while some of these criminals are strangers, most often elder financial abuse […]
College Planning Accounts
My wife and I are expecting our first child. With all of the excitement and planning of setting up the nursery and getting the crib and diapers, one equally important piece of planning is beginning the baby’s college savings. There are several different options when saving for college, so we wanted to make sure that […]
Estate Plan Quarterly Payments
Death, taxes, and our fingers are a few things we can count on. As for the former, taxes will be owed and death is certain. In knowing a tax bill will be due on April 15th annually, we as a general population pay withholding through payroll and Social Security deductions, IRA distributions, and quarterly estimates. […]