Colleague and sketch guy extraordinaire, Carl Richards, has a new book called The One-Page Financial Plan. My work is all about organizing, simplifying, and getting clarity around what really matters for you, and a one-page plan sounded awesome. As I often do, I test-drove this process myself and here’s what my One-Page Plan looks like: […]
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains several spoilers for AMC’s Mad Men series finale. For several nights last week I was catching up with the rest of you on the trials and travails of Mad Men in time for the series finale. For years I avoided watching the Emmy-award winning show: Who wanted to relive the […]
For those of you with income higher than the limits to contribute directly to a Roth IRA, you can still achieve tax-free savings through a “back door” Roth strategy: contributing first to a Traditional (non-deductible) IRA, followed by conversion to Roth. This “Contribute-then-Convert” strategy provides a tax efficient way to tax-diversify your accounts provided that […]
The uncertainty of future income tax rates makes planning for taxes more critical. Effective IRA planning is one way to achieve tax diversification to manage this uncertainty. As noted in Part 1 of this series, you may be limited in your ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA. But you can use a “back door” […]
We never know what the future will hold, but it is clearly possible that tax rates in future years could be higher than those we have today. Between new taxes and higher rates, and the elimination of certain deductions, planning for tax diversification has become critical. Effective IRA planning is one way to achieve this. In Part […]
SPOILER ALERT: If you’re not already watching PBS’ masterpiece series, Downton Abbey, first of all, where have you been? Secondly, you may want to read this after you’re caught up on the travails of the Crawleys and the Granthams through Season Three of the series. In the wealthy world of Downton Abbey in early twentieth […]
Congratulations. You’ve won the Google/Facebook/Amazon lottery. You got in on the ground floor of a successful company, you’ve worked hard, and it’s paid off. So what’s the downside? Unless your entire social circle consists of co-workers enjoying the same liquidity event, you will likely experience shifts in your Tribe. That group of people you depend […]
BOOK REVIEW Your Digital Afterlife: When Facebook, Flickr and Twitter are Your Estate, What’s Your Legacy? By Evan Carroll and John Romano Email accounts. Facebook. LinkedIn. Twitter. Tumblr. Flickr. YouTube. Your data is going to outlive you. My first exposure to issues with digital legacies was after 9/11, when surviving friends and loved ones were […]
I’m adding to the already crowded blogosphere with the intent to explore the following question: how do we deploy our resources – financial and otherwise — in a way that makes us happy? And how do we do this with eyes wide open to the distractions and detours that lead us astray? It’s one thing […]