Should You Lease or Buy A Car: Interview with a CFP® and Owner of a Car Dealership
When clients are looking to purchase a new car one of the most common questions that we receive is “Should I Buy or Lease?” To get the answer, we interviewed a Certified Financial Planner and the owner of Rensselaer Honda to educate our audience on the pros and cons of buying vs leasing.
How to Title Your House To Avoid Probate
When we are working with clients on their estate plan, one of the primary objectives is to assist them with titling their assets so they avoid the probate process after they pass away. For anyone that has had to serve as the executor of an estate, you have probably had firsthand experience of how much of a headache the probate processes which is why it's typically a goal of an estate plan to avoid the probate process altogether.
What Is A Donor Advised Fund and How Do They Work for Charitable Contributions?
Due to changes in the tax laws, fewer individuals are now able to capture a tax deduction for their charitable contributions. In an effort to recapture the tax deduction, more individuals are setting up Donor Advised Funds at Fidelity and Vanguard to take full advantage of the tax deduction associated with giving to a charity, church, college, or other not-for-profit organizations.
What Vehicle Expenses Can Self-Employed Individuals Deduct?
Self-employed individuals have a lot of options when it comes to deducting expenses for their vehicle to offset income from the business. In this video we are going to review:
1) What vehicle expenses can be deducted: Mileage, insurance, payments, registration, etc.
2) Business Use Percentage
3) Buying vs Leasing a Car Deduction Options
4) Mileage Deduction Calculation
5) How Depreciation and Bonus Depreciation Works
6) Depreciation recapture tax trap
7) Can you buy a Ferreri through the business and deduct it? (luxury cars)
8) Tax impact if you get into an accident and total the vehicle
Social Security Will Only Increase by 2.5% In 2025
The Social Security Administration recently announced that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 will only be 2.5% for 2025. That is a much lower COLA increase than we have seen in the past few years, with a COLA increase of 3.2% in 2024 and an increase of 8.7% in 2023. According to the Social Security Administration, the 2.5% increase in 2025 will result, on average, in a $50 per month increase to social security recipients.
Leaving Your Job? What Should You Do With Your 401(k)?
When you separate service from an employer, you have to make decisions with regard to your 401K plan. It’s important to understand the pros and cons of each option while also understanding that the optimal solution often varies from person to person based on their financial situation and objectives. The four primary options are:
1) Leave it in the existing 401(k) plan
2) Rollover to an IRA
3) Rollover to your new employer’s 401(k) plan
4) Cash Distribution
Focusing On Buying Dividend Paying Stocks Is A Mistake
Picking the right stocks to invest in is not an easy process but all too often I see retail investors make the mistake of narrowing their investment research to just stocks that pay dividends. This is a common mistake that investors make and, in this article, we are going to cover the total return approach versus the dividend payor approach to investing.
What Is an ETF & Why Have They Surpassed Mutual Funds in Popularity?
There is a sea change happening in the investment industry where the inflows into ETF’s are rapidly outpacing the inflows into mutual funds. When comparing ETFs to mutual funds, ETFs sometimes offer more tax efficiency, trade flexibility, a wider array of investment strategies, and in certain cases lower trading costs and expense ratios which has led to their rise in popularity among investors. But there are also some risks associated with ETFs that not all investors are aware of……..
