​According to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, the economic outlook is bright. Unless, of course, it isn’t.

​In-er-tia, a tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged. (The Oxford Dictionary)

“There is no time like the present.”
“Just do it”
“Never put off til tomorrow, what you can do today”

Procrastination, the bane of our existence.  Yes, there are more serious things to worry about, but your financial health is pretty important. In our chairs we see a great deal of financial/investor inertia.  

What causes financial inertia? 

​2021 is finally here!  We all tend to feel like we are starting with a clean slate as we kick off the new year.   It feels like a new beginning...

From a financial perspective, it is a great time to take stock of your family’s current savings plan and ask yourself if there is room to save more or if you are missing opportunities to save in a  more tax-efficient way.  Here are a few of our favorite tips that are often overlooked.

​​​2020 provides unique year-end tax planning opportunities for several reasons, including lower tax rates, the Secure Act passed in late 2019, and the Cares Act passed earlier this year. While we expect there to be tax code changes down the road as a result of a new presidency and legislature, it is important to stay focused on current tax planning opportunities with an eye to the future.    
Potential opportunities include

Income Bracket Management:  

• For retirees, this year, knowing where to save, as well as how and from which account to pull funds can help minimize your tax liability longer-term and maximize the benefit of lower rates. 

 Type of accounts in which to contribute:

•  Tax-deferred, tax-free, or taxable accounts.

Partial Roth Conversions:

• Allow you to control when you pay income tax on your retirement accounts and potentially take advantage of lower tax rates and brackets.

Required Minimum Distributions:

• The Secure Act increased the RMD age from 70 ½  to 72
• The Cares Act allows for skipping an RMD in 2020

Charitable Giving:

• New tax incentives for charitable giving in 2020 came in March with the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The law gives donors who plan to take the standard deduction the option to claim an above-the-line deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions to operating charities. The CARES Act also gives donors who will itemize deductions an option to elect a 100% of AGI deduction limit for cash donations, and deduction amounts above this limit may be carried over for up to five years. With both options, the cash donations must be made directly to operating charities and cannot go to donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, or private foundations.

We are including our 2020 End of Year Checklist for your review.  Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

​












​During stressful situations, our brain alerts us to "proceed with caution".  That makes sense...if we were cave men or women, it might have saved our lives.  Now we are living in a stressful world with the Coronavirus and it is here to stay for the foreseeable future.  Having a financial plan in this new reality is more important than ever.  

When I started writing this article it was well before COVID-19 was widely acknowledged in the US.  While much has changed in our day-to-day lives, what is important to us has not changed.  The silver lining in any crisis is the opportunity to make changes that will serve us better in our lives.  Relationships may take on more importance, and certainly good health and well-being is a priority.      

Here, in Chicago, we yearn for spring...(it's much nicer to be socially distant out of doors!).  March is the daffodil month.  It is also the month that seems to stand in the way of the warm weather we are desperately looking forward to. So rather than wishing March away, I decided I would try my best to enjoy March, being mindful of the gift of time.  This led me to ponder mindfulness and money.  

Here is a simple truth about money:   In order to get where you want to go, you have to know where you are.
​
​When it comes to personal finance, knowing "where you are" means tallying your net worth (what you own minus what you owe) and calculating your cash flow

​Would you build a house without architectural plans?  Would you take an extended road trip without GPS?  Yet we often invest our money without a strategy (roadmap) in mind. When we generalize goals over longer time horizons, we have no idea if they are realistic or if we are on track to accomplish them in a time frame that we have in mind.  Instead we live in fear that things won’t work out the way we hope they will.  What’s wrong with that? 

More than anyone, busy women understand the value of time.  Many of our clients are busy women who feel  responsible for the well-being of their families. Hence, it stands to reason that the time/value of money is pretty darn important as it is a critical element that allows us to take care of ourselves and our families.   It is no surprise our clients also know that life’s financial implications for women are different than for men.