Every now and then, lawmakers in Washington make noise about changing various sections of the tax advantaged retirement accounts I’m so fond of recommending to my clients. Now that we’re living substantially longer, and a…
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Setting Up a 401(k) to Take Advantage of the ‘Mega’ Back Door Roth Conversion
If you’re a personal finance nut you may have heard of a strategy called the “back door Roth IRA conversion.” This maneuver essentially allows you to contribute money to a Roth IRA, even if your…
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A Review of Providence’s 457(b) Plan
In my financial planning firm I work mostly with business owners and medical professionals. A good number of my clients are employees of Providence, which is one of the major medical providers in the Pacific…
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Year-End Capital Gains Distributions: How to Avoid Getting Slammed
With tax season now in the rear view mirror, many of us are licking our wounds after a shellacking from Uncle Sam. I heard from a lot of people this year that they owed far…
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What’s an Appropriate Cash Reserve in Retirement?
Cash flow is one of the first topics I like to cover when working with new financial planning clients. Cash flow is so fundamental to the rest of your household finances that it’s really helpful…
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How to Take Advantage of Your Retirement “Gap Years”
Often when I bring up the idea of retirement “gap years” in meetings, my clients’ minds wander toward a family member who’s decided to take a year off between high school and college. Then they…
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Dollar Cost Averaging: Are You Really Better Off?
As I write this post the S&P 500 is about 100 points off it’s all time high of 2922, and climbing fast. We’ve seen an incredible bull market over the last ten years since the…
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Free Online Training: Market Volatility Survival Guide
If you’ve been paying any kind of attention to the markets over the last two months, you’ve probably noticed a new trend: volatility. Consistent market volatility isn’t something we’ve seen in quite some time. Other…
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Backdoor Roth IRA Conversion: How to Contribute to a Roth IRA When You Make Too Much Money
If you asked me to choose my FAVORITE type of account to invest in, it would definitely be the Roth IRA. Roth IRAs allow you to save money tax free for the rest of your…
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Bloodletting and Evidence Based Investing
Have you ever heard the term “bloodletting”? Bloodletting was a tactic used by the medical community to prevent or cure illness. In the old days, the collective wisdom was that our blood was one of…
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