Should you carry a mortgage, service the debt, and invest the difference in retirement? We will explore the popular “carry a mortgage and invest for a higher rate of return” position many advisors seem to take in this month article. Google search “Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early,” and you will likely find many […]
“Home is where the heart is.” ~ Gaius Plinius Secundus, a Roman philosopher better known as Pliny the Elder The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the popular idiom reads “Your home will always be the place for which you feel the deepest affection, no matter where you are.” The website Quora.com (which advertises itself as “A […]
Deconstructing the pro-investing argument against paying off your mortgage: In next month’s newsletter we’ll deconstruct several of the pro-mortgage viewpoints. We’ll stress test various rates of return assumptions in an attempt to determine where mortgage intertest rates and portfolio returns cross over from advantageous to disadvantageous. In doing so I hope to identify the level […]
Where you going? You: Mark, we’re going on vacation! Me: That’s great? Where are you going? You: “Vacation.” Me: Wonderful, where to? You: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, Mark. Are you not listening? Me: That’s awesome, what’s your destination? You: “Vacation” is our destination! This dialogue seems a bit silly, right? However, this is a conversation that plays out […]
On December 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law a spending bill containing the SECURE act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act). The new legislation took effect on January 1st of 2020, giving only 11 days (minus holidays and weekends) for everyone to adjust. This has left many financial institutions and financial […]
Imagine this. It’s early afternoon and you’re at the grocery store with list in hand. Your cart is overflowing. Only a few items remain, and soon you will be headed to the checkout counter. Did you bring your checkbook? Oh, I see. That’s too old fashioned for you, huh? How about your credit or debit […]
When wealth transfers from one generation to another often times there’s an opportunity for mistakes to be made, especially when passing appreciated non-retirement assets. In the last six months we’ve come across two separate cases in which an error could’ve cost these families well over $500,000 in unnecessary taxable gains, and it was of no […]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 was one of the largest sweeping set of tax code changes in history. Among one of the lesser known changes was an alteration to the rules impacting the utilization of 529 savings plan assets. It opened the door for change in the way families utilize 529 plan […]
Recently I was listening to an audio file of one of my mentors Jim Rohn. If you don’t know who Jim Rohn is, he’s worth getting to know, but only after you finish this article. His legacy still lives on through recordings on YouTube or curated materials that may be purchased through Success Magazine. Even […]
What’s that outside your window? Wow, see that car in your driveway. It’s a real head turner! You must get a lot of compliments. It has value to you as an asset. There’s an intrinsic value you derive from owning it. You use it for transportation. It gets you from point A to point B. […]