Ben Yeager and Rusty Eriksen provide a summary view of our investment committee’s latest research, sharing our thoughts on market volatility, interest rates and international markets.
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With a long-term view of tax planning, the goal is to reduce tax payments over time, not necessarily this year. It might actually make sense to pay a little extra now if it means you can save more money later. One of the best ways to do this is with a Roth conversion.
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You've got your water, bread and flashlights ready to go, but what about the documents you may need in case of an emergency? I never recommend panicking, but a little preparation now can save you headaches later. Avoid the paper chase by using our handy document checklist.
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Chris Hostetler and David Wise provide a summary view of our investment committee’s latest research.
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As financial advisors, we always encourage our clients to complete their estate documents, but it wasn’t until this year that I experienced first-hand just how important it is to follow through after the legal documents are drafted. Executing the documents is just the beginning. Where most people fall short is the implementation, which can be easily overlooked.
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The new tax code may mean you need a new strategy for giving. Depending on your personal tax situation, you might want to consider “bunching”: making two years’ worth of gifts in one year. This strategy could work if you make substantial gifts but still land just below your standard deduction threshold.
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You know the income tax code has changed for 2018, and you may have a vague idea of the impact to your situation. Most taxpayers are getting offsetting doses of positive and negative adjustments, and it is time to start thinking about some of the details and the planning implications. To help our clients start thinking about their personal situations, we hosted an educational event a few weeks ago to highlight some of the major changes in the new tax code.
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Ben Yeager and David Wise provide a summary view of our investment committee’s latest research.
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You’ve cleaned out the garage and straightened your closet, but when was the last time you organized something that truly mattered? Too many of us accumulate the debris of one-time financial decisions and never clean up: an old 401(k) that you haven’t rebalanced in years, 15-year-old tax documents sitting in your desk drawer, a permanent life insurance policy that hasn’t been properly funded and the list goes on
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If you’re looking to buy a new home or improve your current home, there are some things you should know about the new tax law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which goes into effect for the 2018 tax year. In fact, the law may affect you as a homeowner, even if you aren’t making any changes to your address or spending money to renovate the place.
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Chris Hostetler and Rusty Eriksen provide a summary view of our investment committee’s latest research.
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One important immediate update affects anybody who receives a salary. You may see a change in your net paycheck between now and February 15, because the IRS has just updated tax withholding rules to account for the new brackets and standard deductions. For some, this will mean a larger net paycheck, but others may receive a smaller net paycheck.
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OK, we’re a week into the new year. Have you already cheated on your resolutions? We aren’t encouraging you to give up, but if you’d like to add some new resolutions – ones that would make your financial advisor proud – we have a few ideas.
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At Hilltop, we are big fans of podcasts and blogs – this is a golden age for content, with a virtually infinite variety of topics and perspectives available. A client recently suggested we share our listening (and reading) list, and we figured now is a great time to share.
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Welcome to the first series of videos on the Hilltop Views blog! We just held our quarterly investment review and wanted to share what we are seeing in investments around the world.
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As you have probably heard by now, the Equifax credit bureau reported last week that their database was infiltrated by criminals between May and July of this year. According to Equifax, the criminals gathered information on 143 million people, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and some driver’s license numbers.
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We take it for granted now that the world is becoming more globalized every year. This can be seen in the production of goods – NPR’s Planet Money produced a series in 2013 following the production of a simple T-shirt, showing how cotton makes its way from the US to Asia or South America for production and back again to the US for sale.
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For many families, summer marks the time for transition as the children prepare for (or continue) their college education. This usually coincides with the children reaching the age of majority, which in North Carolina is 18 years old.
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