Wealth Management Blog | WrapManager (33)

Estate Planning 101: Helping You Get Started

Posted by Michael J. O'Connor | CWS®, Vice President Investments

December 23, 2015

Estate Planning 101: Helping You Get Started

We’ll admit it: creating a comprehensive estate plan is not the easiest thing in the world to do. In fact, it usually involves a great deal of time, planning, and in some cases can come with a price tag.

But that does not make estate planning any less important to your financial future! Spending adequate time on your estate plan can mean having your assets distributed the way you want them distributed, and it can save your family time and money and help them avoid the hardships that often accompany estate settlements where plan documents are unclear (or non-existent).

Enter Estate Planning 101, your guide to the estate planning basics you need to get started. Creating a comprehensive estate plan takes time, and your plan is subject to change over the years as your family and financial circumstances change. Our goal is to give you a starting point by outlining some of the basics.

What is an Estate Plan?

An estate plan creates a documented approach for how your assets should be distributed after you pass away (or become unable to make your own financial decisions). Many folks may believe that an estate plan is only necessary for the very wealthy, but that is not necessarily the case at all.

[+] Read More

Estate Planning

Conjunction Probabilities and Behavioral Finance – Doug’s Quiz Corner

December 16, 2015

Quizmaster, Doug Hutchinson has come up with another great quiz. This month, he demonstrates how cognitive bias can influence our perspectives and decisions. Good luck! Consider the following scenario: Laura is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley where she majored in English and Environmental Studies. As a student, Laura was very concerned with social justice issues and environmental issues. She is an avid reader and a vegetarian. Indicate which of the following cases is most probable? Which case is the least probable? A) Laura works in the banking industry B) Laura works as a librarian C) Laura works as a librarian, takes yoga classes, and is a member of the Sierra Club D) Laura works in the banking industry and is a member of the Sierra Club [+] Read More

7 Tips to Reduce Taxable Income Through Charitable Giving

December 16, 2015

Charitable giving reached an all-time high in 2014,1 with Americans giving $358.38 billion to charities, according to National Philanthropic Trust.2 Giving feels good, but the benefits of giving don’t end there. You can also reduce your taxable income through charitable giving by making sure you follow the tax guidelines for charitable donations. If you haven’t yet done so, you can join the millions of Americans who donate to charity and receive a reward for themselves: a lower overall tax bill. In order to make a difference in your taxes, follow these 7 guidelines: Choose Qualified Charities. Not all charities qualify for tax deductions. If you’re unsure about a charity’s status, ask to see their letter from the IRS or search online at the IRS Exempt Organization Select Check website. If you’re donating to a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, keep in mind that religious charities are considered de facto charitable organizations, even if they’re not on the IRS list. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management Market Perspective - Patience

December 15, 2015

Eagle Asset Management's Richard Skeppstrom urges patience in this month's Market Perspective. "When things don’t seem normal, we’re prone to action. Yes, we’ll wait around a bit expecting the familiar to return but we aren’t a patient species: somewhere between dogs and finches. The urge to do something overwhelms caution at some point. I believe we (the markets) are there. We’ve given up on the return of familiar. The genetic playbook is calling for action. Morgan Stanley is feeling it: The company just fired 25 percent of its fixed-income folks. Conclusion: Fixed income is crippled forever or Christmas is the best season for job searches? The epic merger boom: Zero organic growth is bad for my CEO pay or Goldman Sachs deserves more deal fees The U.S. Federal Reserve’s profound dithering over 25 basis points: Evidence of a desire to do something or a Fed out of options? [+] Read More

Potential Tax Benefits of Switching to a Separately Managed Account

December 8, 2015

Previously, we discussed ways to reduce your taxable income by maximizing your contributions to tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)s and SEP IRAs. This is a great tax strategy, but it’s not the only strategy for you to consider. We’d like to continue that discussion with another strategy for reducing your taxable income: switching from mutual funds to separately managed accounts (SMAs). After all, in the end, it’s not how much you earn that matters most. What matters is how much you manage to keep. Before we get into the tax advantages of Separately Managed Accounts, let’s define them and learn about how they’re different from Mutual Funds. [+] Read More

New eBook! Guide to Researching Money Managers

December 2, 2015

Money managers and the underlying investments can act as the fuel for your investment plan, propelling you toward your retirement goals and the future you’ve planned for yourself. Therefore, it’s important to choose your money manager carefully. There are some general rules of thumb that will help you to find the right strategy mix to help make your goals a reality. Finding a money manager can be time-consuming, however, and there are many other things you would rather be doing. Fortunately, financial advisors can serve two functions: they can create and monitor your investment plan, and they can also research money managers for you. Our new eBook, Guide to Researching Money Managers, will discuss the following topics that can help you better understand steps you can take when researching money managers: What's the Difference Between a Money Manager and a Financial Advisor? In short, money managers manage and financial advisors advise. Financial advisors understand individuals’ financial situations and create unique investment plans while money managers spend their time managing portfolio strategies. This section will go into more detail about the differences. [+] Read More

Did You Know? Interesting Facts about the Federal Reserve

December 1, 2015

For all the media coverage garnered by the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the potential for interest rate hikes, you rarely encounter basic explanations of how the Fed actually functions. Simple questions, like: How and when was the Federal Reserve formed, and for what reason? How are meetings structured/scheduled, and what are the guidelines for making decisions? The Federal Reserve is arguably the most watched financial institution in the world, yet we’d venture to say that even many expert advisors are unaware of some of the basic ins-and-outs of how it works. We’ll cover a few of those here. (In)Frequently Asked Questions about the Federal Reserve How and when was the Federal Reserve formed, and for what reason? [+] Read More

Reduce Taxable Income: Maximize Contributions to Tax-Deferred Accounts

November 25, 2015

Tax bills are on the rise: it now takes the average American until April 24th each year to work enough to pay off his or her share of local, state, and federal taxes, as calculated by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.1 With proper planning, however, you can reduce your income tax burden by maximizing contributions to tax-deferred accounts. This is a common tax-reducing strategy, but investors often underuse it. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management - Volatility Examined

November 23, 2015

Richard Skeppstrom, of Eagle Asset Management's Strategic Return Portfolio, analyzes recent market volatility in Eagle's November Market Perspective. "As the third quarter came to a close, equity markets were a stumble away from panic. Bankruptcy concerns were playing havoc in the commodity space while technicians nervously watched for a Dow sell signal. If the Dow had closed below the August trough of 15666: a blood bath. I wrote that I was comfortable with my equity allocation and would just wait and see, ignoble action possibly resembling chicken excrement. Of course, my reluctance to do anything was a reliable buy signal. Don Hayes, the longstanding strategist at fondly remembered Wheat First Securities, used to say the markets will do whatever they can to confound the most. The rebound this month certainly qualifies. Not only has the market staged a striking rebound, but also sector leadership completely reversed. Energy and commodities – hated a few weeks ago – have led while healthcare has lagged. [+] Read More

Social Security Changes: How the Budget Agreement Affects Retirement Plans

November 18, 2015

Investor concerns about another government shutdown were eased in late October, when Congressional leaders passed a bipartisan agreement that will provide relief from sequester cuts and avoid unnecessary debt defaults1 (yes, we just wrote the words ‘bipartisan’ and ‘agreement’ in the same sentence). A closer look at the budget agreement, however, revealed some changes to Social Security rules that will close the window – at least for now - on some unique Social Security Retirement Benefit ‘strategies’ that we’ve written about before. The End of the “File and Suspend” Strategy The first is the File and Suspend Strategy. Before this budget agreement, the file and suspend option allowed one person in a married couple to file for their benefit (thereby allowing the spouse to claim their benefit) but then immediately suspend it – allowing that future benefit to increase. You file, your spouse claims, then you suspend. [+] Read More