Posts in Financial Planning
Common, Life-Altering Financial Mistakes

Unfortunately, we have been around long enough to have seen people make some serious financial mistakes. Mistakes that can have life-altering consequences. Helping people knock the dust off and pick up the pieces is not fun. If there is a bright spot in going through these difficult times with clients, it is that our current and future clients get to benefit from the knowledge we gain from having helped clients during these setbacks.

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Beacon Financial Strategies' Market and Planning Update Webinar 4th Quarter 2020

Here is a replay of our October 20, 2020 webinar. During this webinar we discuss: observations on 2020 market performance, thoughts heading into the election cycle, tax planning opportunities as we head into the end of the year, and what have we learned from 2020. All followed up with a Q&A!

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Finance In A Flash: Should I Adjust My Asset Allocation?

On this episode of Finance In A Flash, Nick and Chip discuss a question that a lot of people have been asking during this turbulent time in the market; "Should I adjust my asset allocation?". They start with the basics of describing how they think about asset allocation throughout a person's lifetime and then transition into instances when it may or may not be an appropriate time to adjust your portfolio's asset allocation.

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Roth Conversion Instead of Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?

With the passage of the CARES Act on March 27th, Congress eliminated IRA required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year. This means that many taxpayers above the age of 72, or anyone who is taking inherited IRA distributions, will likely have quite a change in their taxable income in 2020. So, is it a good year to do a Roth Conversion instead?

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It’s Time for an Estate Planning Review

It is very important to periodically take the time to review your estate plan and make sure your existing documents are still appropriate and continue to meet your needs. This is a task that Beacon reminds clients to address about every other year. So what are those things that need to be reviewed?

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Watch out for Coronavirus Scams!

Scam artists are always looking for new ways to prey on consumers. Now they are using the same tactics to take advantage of consumers' heightened financial and health concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some of the more prevalent coronavirus scams that consumers need to watch out for.

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Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns: Tax-Loss Harvesting

On this episode of Finance In A Flash we continue our series on Financial Planning Opportunities Amid Market Downturns by covering Tax-Loss Harvesting. We go through the details of Tax-Loss Harvesting and the benefits of using this strategy during times when your investments have losses.

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Increasing Your Odds

As we help clients make long-term financial decisions, we also like to consider the probability of various negative outcomes. While we consider ourselves generally optimistic people, we believe that it is both important and helpful to also think about “worst case scenarios” - those financial uncertainties that have the potential to derail financial goals.

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Establishing Your Emergency Fund Target

Do you know the factors to consider when establishing an emergency savings account? How much cash is it appropriate to keep on hand in short term savings and money markets?  Before we address the question, it is important to understand the important role cash plays in an overall financial plan.

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Charitable Gifting in 2020

2020 is turning out to be quite different from what many of us had planned on back in January. Not only are there changes in our day to day life, there are changes that could impact your financial life and what you had originally planned on doing this year. One of those changes relates to charitable gifting.

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Webinar: A Perspective on The Financial Markets

This webinar provides a historical perspective to recent stock market declines related to COVID-19. It also provides some financial planning opportunities and ideas to explore in the future.

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Planning for Your Retirement "Time"

How you want to retire is almost as important as when you want to retire. When you are younger it may be hard to imagine what you would do if you didn’t get up and go to work every morning.  But as you get closer to to your retirement date, you should really stop and think about how you will fill your time.

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