July, 2021 | Live a Life By Design

Planning Ideas for Life Transitions

Posted on July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Life has a funny way of creating stressful activities for us. During the span from birth to death, we experience many different situations that require the best in us at the worst of times. Consider the change in life caused by divorce. Many people face this difficult event and do so without proper advice and consultation from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. This could spell disaster for the person.

A divorce requires a marital balance sheet from the litigating couple with appropriate titles of the assets disclosed to the court. In many families, one of the two parties has a significantly higher employer plan account such as a 401(k) plan and the other party may be entitled to a portion of this account during property settlement. The best method of transitioning this asset to the other party is through a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. This document, when properly prepared within the IRS regulations, allows the receiving party to accept the funds on a tax-deferred basis in the same manner the account owner held the funds.

The primary issue of this type of transfer is that the recipient of the funds must pay tax to remove funds from the receiving IRA. This may trigger additional penalties, depending upon the age of the recipient, and significant taxes.

A better approach to property settlement is to allocate taxable and tax-deferred assets in a ratio that allows the receiving party to access needed cash for the transition of life without incurring penalties and taxes. The receipt of assets in a divorce are not taxable to the transferee party or deductible by the transferring party.

We believe it is a win-win for the divorcing couple to amicably allocate the assets in a manner that allows each party to continue life with the least amount of disruption. Further, you should request your attorney engage a Certified Financial Planner™ professional to assist in cash flow and income tax planning before the documents for property settlement are prepared. This approach saves the individual money, time and frustration in the process of getting on with life.

Another transition in life is the passing of a spouse. This is a different approach than the separation of a couple by divorce. It is necessary that proper titling of assets and structure of the estate be performed. Changes are being considered by Congress and the president that will require reconsideration of existing estate planning documents. For example, the estate exemption may be lowered considerably from its current amount of $11,700,000. Many families that previously assumed their assets would pass to their beneficiaries tax-free may find themselves with a rather large tax burden.

Benjamin Franklin stated it best, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” If Mr. Franklin, and his heirs, would not be offended, I offer to include in his eloquent statement “…and changes in the tax laws of the United States.”

Key points for your consideration are: 1) consult a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional if considering a divorce; 2) if in divorce at the present, seek an analysis of the types of assets owned by the married couple; and 3) prepare a plan for post-transition that will allow you to minimize taxes and maximize cash flow so that you may achieve a lifestyle of your choosing.

Life may present you challenges but you don’t have to face them alone. Contact a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help you plan for the best outcomes in your life. See you on the jogging trail!

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Your Philosophy Determines Your Success

Posted on July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Often people look at others in determining their success achievement as valid. What is not known about the person is their background, mindset and skillset. When defining your success in terms of control of your life, financially or in any other measure, it is critical that you understand the reasons for such accomplishment.

Philosophy is the basis for all of your functions in life. By learning and adapting a belief system that you are capable, deserving and endowed with potential, you are accepting your philosophy to be one destined for success. How do you define success? For example, recently a billionaire in the United States flew his own spaceship to the atmosphere of the Earth for approximately eleven minutes. He reached the Earth and was giving a press conference where he remarked, “The mission was a great success!”

The philosophy of the ultra-wealthy is one of unlimited capability. To create a mindset that you are capable of achieving your utmost desires and goals is a powerful concept. It is my belief that each of us is endowed with greatness awaiting to be shown to the world. This revelation may not come in the form of wealth as defined by the world but rather through knowledge, health, spirituality and other means.

First, you must think about your life and what would be the most impactful method of leaving your legacy. This seems to be the most difficult step of establishing a philosophy that will guide your life. In its basic terms, it is actually very simple. What do you value most in life? Is it your children, spouse, charity, church, community, grandchildren? Once the value determinant is defined, you may realize a different strategy for your life emerges.

For example, if you wish to leave a legacy to your grandchildren, your philosophy and approach to life would be a perpetual gift to each generation. You may decide to leave poems depicting your love and admiration for them. Or you may simply wish to leave photographs with descriptions of their ancestry and the wonderful history of their family.

One means in which I am leaving a legacy for my children is through journaling. Each time I write in my private journals, which will only be read once I have expired, I am leaving my philosophy of life, thoughts about the deeper meaning of relationships and values I hope to instill in my family. Even though I am verbally teaching our children these meanings, when they are older the words of my journals will resonate the teaching, they were granted while I was living.

Philosophy also applies to your financial approach to lifetime independence. When a person adopts a philosophy of living within his means, being charitable to others and investing in a prudent, consistent manner, success will truly be achieved. If you wish to learn more about philosophy, make sure to bookmark this site.

Disengage from the busyness of the world and think about your approach to life and its many wonderful facets that you wish to leave to your family and friends. The only negative in this process is that you may realize you have a lot of life to live.

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Deductions or Credits?

Posted on July 16, 2021July 16, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

One of the most confusing components of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America is the difference between deductions and credits. Let’s explore a few of these differences and provide you a guide as to how to select the appropriate approach to lower your income taxes for 2021.

Many younger, married couples desire to own a home. In 2021, due to the effects of the pandemic on supply chains and logistics, the cost of the various materials to build a home has risen significantly. A good method of lowering the overall cost of the home is to take advantage of any credits that may be available to you for home ownership. For example, when renting a personal residence, you receive no income tax benefits for your monthly rental payments. However, when you are investing in a personal residence, the current law allows deductions for ad valorem taxes and mortgage interest.

Notice in the previous sentence I used the word “deductions”. What if you had a more advantageous means of benefitting from home ownership? The First-Time Homebuyer Credit is available for those individuals who have not owned a principal residence in the 3-year period ending on the date of the purchase of the principal residence to which this credit applies. To many millennials, this is an incentive to invest in real estate for potential growth in the future.

The credit amount for purchasing your home, for tax year 2021, is limited to $8,000 or ten percent of the purchase price of the residence.

Additional considerations must be examined to determine qualification for the credit such as purchase price limitations of the home, modified adjusted gross income of the taxpayer (buyer) and the location of the property. Claiming this credit may sound confusing but the benefits exceed the time involved to determine qualification. Consult with your tax adviser or Certified Financial Planner™ professional prior to purchasing your first home to determine if you qualify for this generous credit.

The benefit of a tax credit as opposed to a tax deduction is that a credit offsets your tax liability dollar-for-dollar. For example, lets assume, in a very simplistic example, that you calculated your tax liability for the year 2020 and you owe $15,000 of tax and had $6,000 of federal income tax withholding from your paycheck. This would require you to pay the $9,000 deficiency out of your savings when filing your return. However, if you had qualified for a credit that would offset the deficiency of $9,000, say the First-Time Homebuyer Credit of $8,000, you would only need $1,000 of your savings to completely pay your tax bill.

The deductions for mortgage interest and ad valorem taxes are opportunities to save additional taxes but credits are more valuable to you due to the ability to offset the tax burden directly. Further, you may not accumulate a sufficient amount of itemized deductions for the year in which you buy your first home. The mortgage interest and associated taxes would not be helpful in lowering your income taxes if you can’t exceed the allowed standard deduction.

One of the bedrock principles of tax planning is to take advantage of legal opportunities to lower your tax burden to the lowest possible amount legally owed. Judge Learned Hand’s quote of patriotism in taxation comes to mind – “Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.”

Well said, Judge Hand. I’ll see you on the jogging trail!

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Millennial Perspective: Walking the Tightrope of Life

Posted on July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 by Ashley Stieb

Do you ever feel like you are teetering too close to one side when trying to balance your life? For many millennials, this may include work, family, social life, and school. It can be a lot to handle sometimes. So, what can we do to help ourselves get balanced? Well, there are a lot of things to consider and to try. The process of finding balance may include a lot of trial and error. However, when you find the right match, it will have been worth it.

Planning the activities in your life may be the most common way to balance life. When it is all on paper, or on a virtual calendar, you can see the balance more clearly. Let’s say you have to work from 8 am – 5 pm every Monday through Friday. Pencil that in your calendar, long term. Now you can work around it and add family time, social time, or school, whatever is relevant to you. Remember, just because you have empty spaces around that set block, does not mean it has to be filled with something. Prioritize your time in a way that allows you to get through your to-do list and makes you happy and comfortable. Be sure to leave yourself some down time too because we all need to take a breather occasionally. Don’t forget that life has a tendency to take an unexpected turn. In this case, you may need to move things around, but this way you can look at your calendar and make time for everything in advance with a little less stress.

Boundaries can also be helpful when trying to balance life. It can be rather difficult for some people to “unplug” these days, especially with the growing number of work-from-home jobs. When you are working at home it feels strange to take a day off or even just clock out at closing time. Some people even have this struggle in a traditional office setting. This is where your boundaries come into play. You must draw that line of when you stop working and pick up the next part of the day, which for many is family time. This can also be flipped. Many people may run into their family life interfering with your work life. For example, when I was a little girl, I would walk home from school, and I would often call my mom as soon as I walked in the door. I would tell her that I made it home okay, but being the chatty person I am, I would usually carry on a conversation for several minutes. This is where I crossed the boundary into my mom’s work life and brought her family time to her job. My mom is a very kind woman and, of course, never told me to stop calling. However, as an adult that now works full time, I understand how that could have been frustrating at times.

It is okay to tell people “No” sometimes. You cannot make everyone happy. Learning to say no gives you the power to manage your life in a way that works best for you. If you are planning to work on schoolwork, but your friends asked you to go out for the night, say no. You can meet up with them at a time that is better for you. If you are in the middle of something and a co-worker asks you a small favor, say no. Even if feels uncomfortable to say at times, it is okay. Once you give “no” a chance, it will feel more natural over time, and it can be key for reducing stress and balancing life. It also means that when you say “yes,” it will hold more power!

Remember that there will always be something to do as long as life goes on. So, next time you feel yourself getting off-balance, try some of these methods. We, fortunately, get to dictate our own lives, so why not make it a little easier on ourselves? No matter what strategy works for you, finding that balance can lead to less stress and a better quality of life.

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Freedoms and Opportunities

Posted on July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Sunday, we celebrate the founding of our country, the United States of America! For 245 years this land has offered opportunities in abundance to those who wish to grow their wealth. Hard work and perseverance are the two primary ingredients to creating and maintaining your family’s security. Today, I may reminisce about the opportunities I personally experienced as a citizen of this great country but many people have enjoyed the fruits of this fine land.

The future of the United States of America has always been about freedom. People from hundreds of countries across the globe have sought America as a land for their realization of a more secure future for their families. One of the greatest tools that allows U.S. citizens and residents to achieve their dreams is capitalism. Think about the number of immigrants who achieved wealth and fame by bringing their work ethic and creativity to this country. For example, Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. Pierre is a French citizen who had a goal of developing technology in the United States that would allow people all over the world to interact and share interests. With revenue in excess of $10 billion, I would say that Pierre has realized his goal!

Along with the freedoms we enjoy in our country, we must accept our responsibilities as citizens. Not only did Pierre become uber successful, he shared his wealth by establishing a philanthropic foundation that supports others who simply wish to receive a hand “up” not a hand “out”. By sharing his wealth with others to build a better community and create opportunities for promising Americans, Pierre has been recognized and honored with a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

It is often forgotten that we have a duty, as Americans, to help our fellow man from the benefits we have gained our wealth. Libraries, schools, hospitals, and other critical structures in our communities, across this land, are built from the wealth earned by those capitalists that sought and achieved greatness. One of the greatest experiences a successful entrepreneur can acknowledge is the granting of opportunity to someone who, similar to himself, only needed someone to believe in their potential.

Our local community has benefited greatly from the generosity of such wonderful entrepreneurs and business people like Clark and Wanda Bass, Mike and Nancy McGowan, Gary and Ruyana Fugitt and many others. These dynamic families saw a need in their local community, and the State of Oklahoma, and sought a means of providing support. To build on their initial and abundant contributions is the responsibility of the next generation – you and me.

Take a look around at the many benefits we share as citizens of this, the greatest country on the planet, the United States of America. I have been fortunate to travel to many countries and am always proud to see home.

We are not a perfect country but we are country that continually seeks a better way of life for its citizens. You want to be a success in the United States of America? Roll up your sleeves, serve others in a manner that will help them solve their challenges and you will realize success beyond your imagination! Who knows? You may develop the next SpaceX, eBay or Facebook. When you do reach the pinnacle of success, remember your responsibilities and help others climb along with you to reach their potential.

May God continue to richly bless each of you as you seek your opportunities and may He bless the United States of America. Happy birthday, USA!