​Roth Conversions are the topic du jour as we approach year end tax planning.  This article looks at the benefits and costs of a conversion, including identifying the optimal windows and why they can be great tax management tools for both early and late career savers.  

It gets more and more difficult to protect and monitor our important information.  If you are helping a senior it is even harder.  
Carefull is a new digital tool that helps consumers monitor their data and accounts as well as those of their loved ones. 

​It is ok to not have all the answers. Sometimes just starting the journey is enough to get you to the next place. What is important is to have a sense of direction.

​Navigating the Medicare enrollment process and all that it entails can be tricky.  Read about Leslie’s adventure and take note of her helpful tips. 

​Good health is our most important asset.  In fact, it is priceless.  If you have experienced a period of poor health, you know what I mean.  In this country, one of the best ways to avoid financial disaster is to have health insurance.

​Everyone is looking for tips and tricks to pay less in taxes and make the most of their money. A health savings account (HSA) is one of our favorites!  It is the only Triple Tax-Free account that allows you to save and plan for retirement.  

​​Everything is fine until it isn’t.  Then we can find ourselves scrambling for solutions.  Being prepared with key estate planning documents is critical since the aging process is different for everyone.  At Mosaic Fi our drumbeat is about planning.  Whether it is a financial plan, estate plan, or even a career plan, you are more likely to experience success if you are prepared.

​One of the most common issues facing seniors and their adult children is choosing the best and safest place for senior care.  Subsequently, another decision arises as to when to sell mom and/or dad’s home when it is no longer a safe place for them.

​Are we heading to a recession? Maybe. We may also be in one, too. Only hindsight will tell us if the current economy meets the definition, which is “a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters”.

Everyone is painfully aware of the current economic cycle which is fraught with inflation, market volatility and supply chain disruption. Pulling out of a global pandemic and its resulting economic upheaval is not simple or easy.
Economic cycles are here to stay. The capital markets are the great correctors of economic dysfunction. The only cure is time.

The above from Dimensional Fund Advisors is a great visual of post downturn markets.

• A broad market index tracking data since 1926 in the US shows that stocks have tended to deliver positive returns over one-year, three-year, and five-year periods following steep declines.
• Cumulative returns show this to striking effect. Five years after market declines of 10%, 20%, and 30%, the cumulative returns all top 50%.
• Viewed in annualized terms across the longest, five-year period, returns after 10%, 20%, and 30% declines have been close to the historical annualized average over the entire period of 9.8%.

Sticking with your plan helps put you in the best position to capture the recovery.

Please call me with your questions!
Jenifer

1.  The average annualized returns for the five-year period after 10% declines were 9.54%; after 20% declines, 9.66%; and after 30% declines, 7.18%. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Short-term performance results should be considered in connection with longer-term performance results. Indices are not available for direct investment. Their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Market declines or downturns are defined as periods in which the cumulative return from a peak is –10%, –20%, or –30% or lower. Returns are calculated for the 1-, 3-, and 5-year look-ahead periods beginning the day after the respective downturn thresholds of –10%, –20%, or –30% are exceeded. The bar chart shows the average returns for the 1-, 3-, and 5-year periods following the 10%, 20%, and 30% thresholds. For the 10% threshold, there are 29 observations for 1-year look-ahead, 28 observations for 3-year look-ahead, and 27 observations for 5-year look-ahead. For the 20% threshold, there are 15 observations for 1-year look-ahead, 14 observations for 3-year look-ahead, and 13 observations for 5-year look-ahead. For the 30% threshold, there are 7 observations for 1-year look-ahead, 6 observations for 3-year look-ahead, and 6 observations for 5-year look-ahead. Peak is a new all-time high prior to a downturn. Data provided by Fama/French and available at mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/ken.french/data_library.html. Eugene Fama and Ken French are members of the Board of Directors of the general partner of, and provide consulting services to, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP. FAMA/FRENCH TOTAL US MARKET RESEARCH INDEX 1926—present: Fama/French Total US Market Research Factor and One-Month US Treasury Bills. Source: Ken French website. Investing risks include loss of principal and fluctuating value. There is no guarantee an investment strategy will be successful. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investment products: • Not FDIC Insured • Not Bank Guaranteed • May Lose Value Dimensional Fund Advisors does not have any bank affiliates.

​COBRA is often misunderstood and often improperly utilized by qualifying individuals.  If you are the covered employee or dependent make sure you understand your benefits.