Financial Planning Archives

February 4, 2021

IRA: #RealMoneyTalk, What Is That?

By Renee Powell in Credit 101, Financial Planning, Retirement Tag bonds, Buy, Career, Checking Account, earnings, experience, Fees, Financial Planning, Financial Wize, FinancialWize, Grow, historical, invest, Investing, investment, money, paycheck, planning, Retirement, retirement savings, Saving, savings, Savings Account, tax, thankful, Vs., will

Some of us know it as I.R.A while others pronounce it âeye-ruh.â No matter if youâre team âI-R-Aâ or team âeye-ruhâ, you should definitely know what it means!Â

These letters stand for Individual Retirement Account.Â

Donât roll your eyes! I know âretirementâ sounds like something you should only worry about when youâre much older, but I promise, youâll be thankful you learned all about this. Itâll help you learn a couple tips on smart tax moves and ultimately help out your future self!Â

You probably have a bank account where you put your money, right? So this is still relevant to you! Now, the question is: how much is the money sitting in your account growing each year? If youâre lucky, the answer is somewhere around 2% in the year 2020 (for a high yield savings account). But most people donât have that. Most people have a checking account that doesnât pay them any interest at all or a traditional savings account that offers an average of 0.09% in interest per year. That may not sound like a big difference – 2% versus .09% – but trust me: IT IS!Â

The BreakdownÂ

After 10 years of saving $100 every month (or $50 from each biweekly paycheck), a bank account with .09% interest rate or annual percentage rate (also called APR) will have a total of $12,059.56, while a high yield savings account growing at a 2% APR will have a total of $13,402.46. Thatâs a difference of over $1,000 of FREE MONEY! And, whatâs even more eye-opening is that the longer you invest and the more the interest compounds, the bigger the effect. So over a 40 year period of time, which is a typical American working career, the difference is more than $25,000!

What does any of this have to do with that Individual Retirement Account I mentioned earlier? Patience, weâre getting there!

When it comes to money, growth is key. How much can you grow your money in a year? In 10 years? In your working career? With a bank, your money is safe and protected, but it doesnât really grow that much. Thatâs where the stock market comes in! Itâs a good idea to put the money you may need for an emergency into a bank account for easy and guaranteed access, but also consider putting at least 5% of your earnings into an investment account for long term goals such as retirement.Â

For example, a 401k through your job allows you to invest your money in the stock market. If you donât have access to a 401k through your job, then you can open up an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that also allows you to invest your money in the stock market. Similarly, a pension plan (if you can even get one of those in the 21st century!) also invests your money in the stock market.Â

So why do all of these fancy accounts put our hard-earned money in the stock market? The answer is: over the long term, (not just one year, but over many, many years) the stock market has a history of providing higher rates of return, thereby growing peopleâs money much faster than any bank!Â

When your job doesnât offer any workplace retirement benefits, then you can open an Individual Retirement Account on your own. Let me break down the basics for you:

Who: You!Â

What: Opening an IRA

Where: At a brokerage firm of your choice

When: Anytime you want

Why: Because your money can grow more in an IRA than it would in the bank over the long run

Now, letâs talk about the âhow.â First, choose whether you want to pay taxes on the money youâll be investing when you file your taxes next or if youâd rather pay them in the future when you file taxes for the year you took the money out. That will determine whether you open a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.

Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA

Roth IRA: Investment account that lets you put money away for your retirement. Money invested here is after taxes have been paid, so you donât have to worry about paying taxes ever again. Also, any profits you earn over time will never be taxed, and thatâs a BIG deal! Available only if you earn under a certain income level.Â

Traditional IRA: Investment account that lets you put money away for retirement, but claim a tax break on the amount invested when you file your taxes. Since you get a tax break now, when you take the money out in the future youâll have to pay taxes on your invested dollars and the profits earned. Available no matter what income level you fall under.Â Â

People who earn too much money for a Roth IRA tend to choose a traditional IRA (the limits for how much you can earn to have a Roth IRA changes every year.) Also, people who predict that they will earn less money in the future (at retirement) also like to choose a Traditional IRA because they like the idea of paying less in taxes as a result of being in a lower tax bracket.Â

Once youâve chosen the IRA type that you prefer, youâre ready to choose a brokerage firm. Choosing a brokerage firm is similar to choosing a bank. Make sure that you know what the fees are, what the customer service experience is like, what account types they offer, and what in-person versus web-based services or platforms they have. You can call them up or go online and create your account. Heads up: Youâll have to link the investment account (the IRA) to your bank account so that you can transfer money and begin to invest in the account you created.Â

What Do I Put Into My IRA?

Now, the toughest question of them all: What investments do I invest the dollars within my IRA into? The short answer is that it really depends on what your goals are. If youâre not trying to retire anytime soon, then you can afford to be risky. You can have mostly stocks and little to no bonds in the IRA. If you plan on retiring very soon, youâll want to make sure you have most of your money in more secure investments that donât change unpredictably in the market, such as bonds. The general rule of thumb when it comes to deciding how much to put in stocks versus bonds looks like this:Â

120 – your age = percentage of investment that should be stocks

So for example, A 30-year-old in 2020 should have 90% stocks in their IRA and 10% in bonds because 120 – 30 = 90.Â

Keep in mind that this can vary if youâre comfortable being more aggressive (more stocks) or more conservative (more bonds) with your investments. Itâs simply a good rule of thumb to get you started.Â

One final analogy to help you remember how this works, and then youâre on your way! The brokerage firm is kind of like your bank. Itâs where you open the account and do business. Your IRA is like the type of account you open at that bank. It has rules you need to follow and the rules change each year, so do your research. (When can you touch the money? How much money are you allowed to invest per year? Are there income limits on this account?) If you break the rules, then you may pay fees or maybe even penalty taxes. So make sure you understand the rules!Â

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFâs are what your dollars can buy and are held within the account. Finally, the annual rate of return is like your APR. While at the bank, the rate of growth or APR is offered to you upfront, thatâs not really possible with an IRA or any other investment account because the stock market is highly unpredictable. But remember, historical data shows that it averages much more growth than bank accounts do over the long run, so donât be afraid to put money aside for the long term if you can afford to.

Now, off you go! Youâre ready to open that IRA if you donât already have one!Â

The post IRA: #RealMoneyTalk, What Is That? appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Source: mint.intuit.com

February 3, 2021

3 Reasons to Set Up a Donor-Advised Fund to Maximize Your Charitable Tax Deductions

By Renee Powell in Credit 101, Financial Planning Tag Extra Money, Family, Fees, Financial Planning, Financial Wize, FinancialWize, investment, money, property, savings, tax, Tax Tips

Using donor-advised funds is a more advanced tax strategy that has gotten more popular recently with the introduction of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in February 2020. The TCJA nearly doubled the amount of the standard deduction, which makes it less advantageous to itemize deductions such as charitable contributions. For people with a lot of charitable contributions, donor-advised funds are one option to still get a deduction for charitable contributions.

What is a donor-advised fund?

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization that accepts contributions and generally funds other charitable organizations. While the concept of a donor-advised fund has been around for nearly 100 years, they were typically only used by the ua-wealthy. And while it is true that donor-advised funds are still not going to be useful for the vast majority of people, recent tax law changes have made their use more prevalent.

You can set up a donor-advised fund with most brokerages, including Fidelity, Vanguard, and Bank of America. You can donate cash, securities, or other types of assets to the DAF. The exact list of assets eligible for donation depends on the brokerage. After you have contributed, you can then make charitable contributions from the balance of your account.

You can maximize your charitable tax deductions in one year

One common reason that people set up donor-advised funds is to maximize their charitable tax deductions in a particular tax year. To show why this can be beneficial, Iâll use an example:

Our example family files their taxes married filing jointly and has regular charitable contributions of $20,000 per year. The standard deduction in 2020 for married filing jointly is $24,800. Because their amount of charitable deductions is less than the standard deduction, they may not see any tax benefit from their charitable contributions (depending on their amount of other itemized deductions). In 2021 they again plan to contribute $20,000 to charitable organizations and again are unlikely to see any tax benefit from doing so.

Now consider this same family now decides to set up a donor-advised fund in 2020. They have extra money sitting around in low-interest savings or checking account or in a taxable investment account. So they set up a donor-advised fund in 2020 and fund it with $40,000 in cash, stocks, or other assets. They are eligible to take the full $40,000 as an itemized deduction, even if they only use $20,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Then in 2021, they can donate the remaining $20,000 to their preferred charity. They will not be able to deduct any charitable contributions in 2021 but can instead take the raised standard deduction amount.

You may be able to deduct the full value of stocks or other investments

Another reason you might want to set up a donor-advised fund is that you may be able to deduct the full value of stocks or other investments. Again, Iâll use an example to help illustrate the point.

Letâs say that you have shares that you purchased for $20,000 that are now worth $50,000. Many charities, especially smaller organizations, are not set up to accept donations of stocks or other investments. So if you want to donate that $50,000 to charity, you may have to liquidate your shares. This will mean that you will have to pay tax on the proceeds.

With a donor-advised fund, you can donate the shares to your fund and deduct the full fair market value of your shares. Then the fund can make the contribution to the charity of your choice.

Donate a wide range of assets

Another benefit to setting up a donor-advised fund is the ability to donate a wide range of different classes of assets. As we mentioned earlier, many charities are not set up in such a way to be able to accept non-cash donations. While the exact list of assets that a donor-advised fund can accept varies by the firm running the fund, it generally will include more types of assets than a typical charity.

Why you might not want to set up a donor-advised fund

While there are plenty of advantages to setting up a donor-advised fund, there are a few things that you might want to watch out for.

Itâs definitely more complicated than just making charitable contributions on your own. You may find that the tax savings are not worth the extra hassle.
On top of the added layer of complexity, most firms with DAFs charge administrative fees that can cut into your rate of return.
You may be limited on the charities that you can donate to. Each donor-advised fund typically will have a list of eligible charities. So you may find that a charity that you want to donate to is not available.
You also lose control over the funds that you donate – the donation to the fund is irrevocable, meaning once youâve donated to the fund you cannot get the donation back. While most advisors state that they will donate the money as you direct, they are not legally required to do so.
The money in a DAF is invested, so it may lose value. That means that the amount you were hoping to donate may be less than you were anticipating. You also typically have a limited range of investments available for your investment, and those funds also often come with fees.

It’s also important to keep in mind, the annual income tax deduction limits for gifts to donor-advised funds, are 60% of Adjusted Gross Income for contributions of cash, 30% of AGI for contributions of property that would qualify for capital gains tax treatment; 50% of AGI for blended contributions of cash and non-cash assets.

The post 3 Reasons to Set Up a Donor-Advised Fund to Maximize Your Charitable Tax Deductions appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Source: mint.intuit.com

January 13, 2021

Best Checking Accounts 2020

By Renee Powell in Credit 101, Financial Planning Tag ATM, Banking, Cash Back, Checking Account, Debit Card, Fees, Financial IQ, Financial Planning, Financial Wize, FinancialWize, investment, money, paycheck, Retirement, Rewards, savings, Savings Account

Sound money management is an important part of a solid financial strategy. Youâll want to have some of your money set for retirement in a traditional or Roth IRA. Still, other money might be saved for your kidsâ college, a down payment on a house or other longer-term goals. And then you might have an emergency fund as well as a checking account that you use to pay your monthly bills and expenses. Each of these buckets of money can be in a different kind of account. In this article, weâll look at some of the best checking accounts.

What makes a good checking account

Before we look at some of the best checking accounts, itâs a good idea to talk about what makes for a good checking account. A checking account is an account that you would typically use to pay your ongoing monthly expenses. It is more and more rare to actually write paper checks, and instead, you would typically use a debit card or cashless payment account linked to your checking account.Â

With a checking account, some features to look for include no monthly or maintenance fees, a low minimum amount to open an account, the rate at which they pay interest, and any account opening bonus they might offer. The interest rate that checking and savings accounts pay is tied to the federal funds rate and usually varies over time. As of 2020, the interest rates are quite low, and many checking and savings accounts do not pay any interest at all. Also keep in mind that even if your account pays you 1% interest, youâre still losing money to inflation. So you wouldnât want to keep any long-term investment money in a checking or savings account.

With all that being said, letâs take a look at some of the top checking accounts available.

Discover Cashback Debit

Discoverâs checking account offers 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month, which is one of the few debit cards that offer a reward on ongoing purchases. The Discover Cashback Debit account also comes with no monthly maintenance or other fees, no fees to withdraw at over 60,000 ATMs worldwide and no fees for insufficient funds.

CapitalOne 360 Checking

The CapitalOne 360 Checking account has no account minimums or fees. It currently offers a 0.10% APY on balances, though you can also open a no-fee CapitalOne 360 Performance Savings account which offers 0.65% APY as of the time of this writing. CapitalOne also has thousands of branch offices nationwide, so you can do your banking online or in-person. The CapitalOne 360 Checking account offers three different options if you happen to overdraft your account – Auto-Decline, Next Day Grace and Free Savings Transfer.

Fidelity Cash Management Account

Fidelityâs Cash Management Account also offers no account fees or minimum balances. It also reimburses ATM fees nationwide, though only offers 0.01% APY on account balances. Fidelity makes it easy to transfer money between your checking account, savings accounts and any retirement accounts you have with Fidelity. Plus, the Fidelity Rewards Visa offers 2% cash back on all purchases, which you can redeem into your Fidelity Cash Management Account or any other Fidelity account.

Wealthfront Cash Account

Wealthfrontâs Cash Account offers a high-interest checking account (0.35% APY as of this writing) with no fees. And Wealthfrontâs convenient account dashboard lets you easily move money between your checking account and any investment or retirement accounts that you have with them. They also offer a service where you can get access to your paycheck up to two days early if you direct deposit into your Wealthfront Cash Account

HSBC Premier Checking

HSBCâs Premier Checking account also offers no fee on ATMs nationwide or for everyday banking transactions, but does charge a monthly maintenance fee if you donât have at least $75,000 in combined accounts or direct deposits of at least $5,000 monthly. They are currently offering a promotion where you can earn 3% as a welcome bonus, up to $600. Youâll get 3% on qualifying direct deposits, up to $100 per month, for the first six months of having your account.

Chase Total Checking

Chase Total Checking is currently offering a welcome bonus of $200 when you open a new account and have a direct deposit made to your account in the first 90 days. Also, there is a $12 monthly maintenance fee which can be avoided if you either:

Have direct deposits totaling $500 or more
Have a balance at the beginning of each day of $1,500 or more
Have an average beginning day balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of all of your Chase accounts

The post Best Checking Accounts 2020 appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Source: mint.intuit.com

January 12, 2021

5 Financial Goals to Start in 2021

By Renee Powell in Credit 101, Financial Planning Tag Debt Repayment, Emergency Fund, Financial Goals, financial habits, Financial Planning, Financial Wize, FinancialWize, Saving, savings

Although many people start New Yearâs resolutions in January, thereâs nothing magical about January with regards to self-improvement. Still, the best time to make a change or set a goal is today, so if youâre ready to level up in your life, thereâs no time like the present. Here are five financial habits that you might consider starting this year.Â

Commit to a written budget (and review it often)

The very first thing that youâll want to do is commit to a budget. Having a budget is the cornerstone and foundation for financial success. Knowing where your money is going (and not going) can help you understand where youâre at. If youâve had trouble making or keeping a budget, resolve to start a budget this year. A tool like Mint can be a great way to put your budget on autopilot.

Remember that a budget is just a tool to help you to not spend money on the things you donât find important so that you have money to spend on the things that you do find important. If you already have a budget, make it a habit to review your budget, at least monthly. That can help you identify where you might be able to make improvements.

As you start or recommit to your budget, make sure that it is written down. Budgets that are not written down, like goals, tend to fall by the wayside easily.

Start (or build) your emergency fund

Another great habit to get into in 2021 is starting an emergency fund. An emergency fund should be one of the very first things you do with any extra money you have in your budget. Even before working on eliminating your debt or saving for retirement, it makes a lot of sense to set aside money for emergencies.

A good rule of thumb is to start with a $1,000 emergency fund. It may not cover catastrophic emergencies, but it can help you to avoid having to spend on your credit cards when the unexpected happens. After youâve started that basic emergency fund, then you can continue to build it up while also starting to pay off debt or invest for the future. If you can, itâs a good idea to have a couple of months of expenses in your emergency fund. That way youâre covered for a while in case you lose an income source or have a major emergency.

Make a plan to eliminate your debt

The next habit to start or continue this year is to eliminate your debt. Depending on how much debt you currently have, it may not be realistic to pay off all of your debt in 2021. But no matter what, you should have a plan in place. There are a variety of different debt repayment strategies – the debt snowball and the debt avalanche among many. Itâs important to pick a debt payoff approach that works for you, and that you can stick to. Make it a habit to spend less than you earn and work towards becoming debt-free.

Spend with a purpose

Another great habit that can help you live within your means is to spend with a purpose. Spending with a purpose means that you are conscious with your spending. If you ever find yourself wondering where all your money has gone, you may benefit from being more deliberate with your spending.

Many people find success by setting a rule about any non-essential spending. For example, before you make any purchases besides essentials like rent, utilities, and debt payments, you must write it down. Just the act of writing it down (or taking a picture of it) is enough for many people to be more deliberate and conscious about what they choose to spend their money on.

Pay yourself first, and make sure to give yourself a raise

If youâre like many people, you may have good intentions of saving money each month, but at the end of the month, you find thereâs nothing left over after all the bills are paid. One habit that people who are successful financially have is to pay themselves first. Put your savings money aside at the BEGINNING of the month. Itâs a bit of a mental trick, but many people find that having that money out of sight helps them to save more.

Another financial habit to start is to always give yourself a raise. Whenever you get a raise at work or come across any âextraâ money, IMMEDIATELY put it either in your emergency fund or use it to pay down your debt. Putting any raise or extra money towards your savings (instead of increasing your standard of living) is a great habit to start.Â

This is a great habit to start, especially if you are young or just starting out in your professional life.Â Of course, paying yourself first and giving yourself a raise, doesnât mean that you have to only eat ramen or canât have nice things. But thanks to the magic of compound interest, the sooner you start to save and invest, the better off youâll be.

The post 5 Financial Goals to Start in 2021 appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Source: mint.intuit.com

Category Financial Planning

The BreakdownÂ

Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA

What Do I Put Into My IRA?

What is a donor-advised fund?

You can maximize your charitable tax deductions in one year

You may be able to deduct the full value of stocks or other investments

Donate a wide range of assets

Why you might not want to set up a donor-advised fund

What makes a good checking account

Discover Cashback Debit

CapitalOne 360 Checking

Fidelity Cash Management Account

Wealthfront Cash Account

HSBC Premier Checking

Chase Total Checking

Commit to a written budget (and review it often)

Start (or build) your emergency fund

Make a plan to eliminate your debt

Spend with a purpose

Pay yourself first, and make sure to give yourself a raise