By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

Those long-awaited-for golden years are finally right around the corner, and your dreams of golf courses and sandy white beaches are almost a reality! But wait…without the security of a steady paycheck and a structured schedule, you’re embarking on a journey into the unknown of finite resources and endless free time. Will all your years of hard work pay off?

We’ve found that most retirees face the same 5 financial planning challenges during the first 10 years of retirement. If you want to experience a fulfilling retirement free of worry and regret, listen up. 

By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

Do you remember the days when you could give generously to others and get a nice tax break as an added benefit? Even if you didn’t donate money for the sole purpose of saving on your taxes, it was a nice perk come tax time. Unfortunately, the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with its higher standard deduction, causes a whole lot of people to lose out on all tax benefits associated with charitable giving. 

Thankfully, you can still receive tax benefits for your charitable giving. How? Enter donor-advised funds.

By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

Did you remember to fasten your seatbelt when we entered 2020? I hope so, because the events of this year just keep getting more unexpected and unsettling. We’ve learned not to make plans, not to get hopes up, and hold on to everything loosely. And it all started with five letters and a number: COVID-19. While the coronavirus pandemic is at its core a health issue, the downstream effects of it on other aspects of our society have been significant, perhaps the greatest being economic. As we reach the mid-year point of 2020, let’s take a look at what is going on in the economy, most of which can trace its roots back to COVID-19.

By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

When the 2008/2009 financial crisis hit, many millennials were just entering the workforce or in the early years of their career. With high unemployment and overqualified people applying for jobs, the younger generation was hit hard and many young adults had to move home or make unexpected life changes. Well, it’s happening again, and millennials and the older half of Generation Z are hurting financially since many of them work in industries that have taken the brunt of the coronavirus shutdowns. (1)

By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

We’re almost halfway through 2020, and to say the year hasn’t gone as expected would be a massive understatement. Forget “uncertain times”—more like scary or downright panic-inducing. In the midst of unprecedented volatility regarding the markets and employment, it’s normal to experience a multitude of emotions, including uncertainty and fear. 

Given the situation, it’s normal to worry. But the key is to worry about the right things.

By Colleen Weber, CFP^®, CPA

Have you found yourself with some extra time on your hands these days? With the absence of commuting, traveling, eating out, and socializing in person, many of us have an emptier calendar than usual and want to use our time wisely. Allow us to make a suggestion: Why not do some financial spring cleaning? It’s the perfect opportunity to not only organize and declutter your home, but also give your finances a little extra love. It might even relieve some stress as you take proactive steps to gain a better understanding of your financial situation. Here are a few ways to do just that. 

We all understand the importance of social distancing during the global Covid-19 pandemic.  Or do we?

A new website is doing something ingenious; it is collecting and aggregating the location tracking data on peoples’ cellphones to determine whether they are or are not coming within six feet of other individuals.  Taken together, the algorithm provides an index that allows us to see which states’ citizens are practicing social distancing, and which states’ populations are not following guidelines.  

The world’s healthcare experts haven’t been able to give us a definitive date as to when a coronavirus vaccine will finally come to market—for obvious reasons.  There are a variety of vaccine formulas being tested on human subjects as you read this, but the researchers will have to test many different formulas and different dosages of each formula, and evaluate the impact on the immune systems of a significant number of test subjects.  

By Colleen Weber, CFP®, CPA

Although the CARES Act’s $2 trillion allocation to the economy has been compared to President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the more recent measure should be thought of as a relief effort, rather than economic stimulus.  CARES is addressing the immediate fallout in the business world and in peoples’ personal finances, an attempt to cushion the impact of social distancing and the loss of work and business that it entails.

The big picture perspective is that the CARES Act allocates $150 billion to enhance hospital capacity, a $500 billion loan fund for businesses in distress and $150 billion in direct support to state and local governments to help fight the coronavirus epidemic.

Read More “The CARES Act Explained”

One of the biggest economic impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic is not the second quarter economic decline, but the longer-term ways it could transform our global economy—potentially for the better.  The world has been forced to go digital on an unprecedented scale, and more companies are now accepting a teleworking environment that many have resisted over the years. We are all experimenting with potentially a more efficient work modality, and it’s possible that we—workers and corporations—won’t ever go back.

Read More “The Tele-working Revolution”