Main Questions Asked:

What should I look at with my end-of-year financial planning?

What does Joel really think about Dave Ramsey’s program?

How should I address some of my biggest financial fears?

Key Lessons Learned:

Things to Consider With Your End-of-Year Planning

• Should I max out my retirement contributions? If you are older, you should max out your Roth. If you are over 50 years old that’s $24,500.
• If you are over 70 1/2, you have to take your RMD. Make sure you take out your required minimum distributions. If you don’t, you will have to pay a fine.
• What is tax loss harvesting? This is a freebie. Sell stocks that you are down in, and you will get a tax advantage. Take losses to offset process profits.
• Evaluate your options for tax-deductible charitable contributions. Your standard deduction this year is higher. If you itemize, now is the time to make those charitable contributions.
• Consider if a Roth conversion makes sense for you. Everyone is unique, we have analysis software that will help you answer this question.

Joel’s Take on the Dave Ramsey Program

• Dave Ramsey has a great program. His goal was to prevent young people from getting into debt or to help them get out of debt.
• Joel thinks that it is great common sense advice. It gives a good foundation on debt and budgeting and what to do if you get into trouble.
• Young people should go through Financial Peace University. The program helps people deal with poor financial decisions and how to fix them.

Some of the Biggest Financial Fears That People Have

• Running out of money before you die. One fear always has to do with not having income coming in anymore. Investments have to generate income, and we are living longer. We want to help you not run out of money.
• We don’t want to blow through our nest egg paying for nursing home care. We are living longer and there is more of a likelihood of dementia or some other need for long-term care.
• Paying more taxes than we have to pay. It’s important to minimize your taxes over your lifetime as you go into retirement. You may pay more this year but it’s the lifetime that matters. It’s important to have a tax plan along with your income plan.
• Not having anything left to pass on to the kids and grandkids. A lot of times clients want to leave something behind to give their family a start. This can be addressed as part of your income plan.