October, 2021 | Live a Life By Design

Change — The Most difficult Task To Accomplish

Posted on October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Life happens with – or without – our consent! One of the most problematic areas of life is managing the fast-paced world of ever-changing financial, tax and estate information. In the past two weeks, the United States Congress has proposed more than ten bills, between the Senate and the House of Representatives, to increase tax revenue for the United States of America. Some of these proposed bills would impact your family. Others will impact families with greater wealth. Too often elected officials feel that they must act, whether it is a good outcome or bad one, to give the appearance of working for their electorate. Change is one outcome of working in our government and the impact is real.

As a CERTIFIED FINANACIAL PLANNER^TM professional, one of the areas of control we bring to our clients is change. Of course, life is going to change almost daily. However, when you have a plan of action, with an expert in the field of planning guiding you through the maze of change, your probability of achieving your intended outcomes is much higher. Our role is to help you understand the impact of the changes on your personal life and finances. Frequently, you are subjected to changes without your knowledge. Consider inflationary impact on your investments.

One need only watch a few minutes of network television news daily to know her life is being impacted in positive and negative ways. Inflation has risen to 5.4% in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and may not have reached its peak. How does this affect your life? Think about the different consumer goods you purchase in a typical week. How much has gasoline, milk, bread and medications increased in the past year? Has your income maintained the pace of this increased cost of living? In most instances, the answer to this question is “no”.

What you need is to formulate a plan that considers inflation as a pressure on your family’s budget. One of the economic factors that is pertinacious is inflation. This challenge to the value of a dollar is always a factor in planning. The bigger question is how much will inflation be in 2022, 2023 and 2024? If I knew the answer to this quandary, well, I would be on an island in the Caribbean sipping on an iced tea while watching the sun set. Oh, back to reality.

One mitigating approach to combatting the negative impact of inflation is to invest in assets that are inflation resistant. For example, you wouldn’t wish to buy a 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond while inflation is rising. The impact of inflation on the value of the security is considerably negative. However, you may wish to analyze your portfolio for investments in stocks that are more growth oriented to overcome the inflationary pressure you are experiencing.

Another area of change for which we have no control is the loss of a spouse or other family member. This type of change, we refer to as familial change, is difficult for most families to navigate, particularly when the person was a breadwinner for the family. What do you do now? It is critical that you seek the appropriate counseling from a licensed therapist or group to deal with grief. The next step would be to regain control of your finances. Seek out a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help gain clarity of focus and to manage the change to your best outcomes. When you meet with someone to discuss your personal finances, it takes a tremendous amount of trust. The good news is that you will gain significant optimism from the assistance that will empower you with confidence that life is back to your design.

Change will be present in our lives forever. However, you have the power to determine if the changes control you or you control the effects of the changes. One powerful tool in maintaining your control is to have a plan. Contact a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM professional to help you gain control of your financial life. See you on the jogging trail!

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The Millennial Perspective: Where is the bridge?

Posted on October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 by Ashley Stieb

“When I was your age, I already owned a home, a car, and had no student debt. What are you doing wrong?” I am willing to bet that a good chunk of Millennials have heard something along those lines from a member of an older generation such as Gen X and Baby Boomers. Well, despite being the largest generation in the workforce and in the country today, we make a great deal less and hold a lot less wealth than the older generations did at the same age.

Wealth is defined as the measure of one’s assets (what they own) less their debts (what they owe). The generational wealth gap has been a hot topic among Millennials for a few years now and as a result, there have been many studies done to determine just how big that gap really is. When the Baby Boomers were in their 30s, they collectively held a little over 21% of the nation’s wealth. The youngest Millennials are all nearing their 30s now and collectively hold less than 4% of the nation’s wealth today. That is a pretty big difference.

I also looked into the average wage earned by Baby Boomers in their 30s. The number on paper isn’t too far off from what Millennials are earning today, so you might think, “what is the problem then?” The actual break down of the value of the dollar is the problem. The average hourly wage for Baby Boomers in 1984 was $18.99 and today the average for Millennials is $19.32 only a $0.33 difference. However, you have to look at what the value of $18.99 in 1984 would be in 2021. That number is around $48, so that means that Baby Boomers made almost 40% more in their 30s than Millennials. Imagine what living off of $40,180.60 today versus living off of a little less than $98,000 a year would be like. The quality of life is vastly different.

Millennials are savings far less, if anything, for retirement and have far less assets than the older generations had at this age. This is because the cost of living is increasing much faster than what we are being paid. This is how the gap has grown to be so large. Millennials, and even Gen X, are not on track to hold has much wealth as Baby Boomers do when they are near retirement age. Speaking from experience, it can be hard to find a budget that works for the quality of life you want while still preparing for the future, but it helps to talk to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ to find a system that is right for you.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more to the generational wealth gap when you really investigate it, including trickle down economics, so if you are looking for some light reading then I encourage you to dive in. I also believe that we have a long way to go before we bridge this gap. Until then, the next time someone starts a money discussion with, “when I was your age,” you have a couple of talking points to get by.

Resources:

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Year-End Tax Planning Ideas

Posted on October 7, 2021October 7, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

When is the best time to plan for lowering your income tax bill? Everyday! As we rapidly approach Halloween, it triggers in my mind a few activities that should be addressed by individuals who desire to pay less in income taxes for 2021. Most Americans will not itemize deductions due to the higher standard deduction allowed in the CARES Act of 2020. There remains plenty of other options for lower your bill payable to Uncle Sam.

First, the easiest method of lowering your tax bill is to pay yourself first. Before you get confused from reading the previous sentence, think about areas of tax law that benefit you such as deferring income or contributing to qualified accounts. If you are working with an organization that provides a retirement plan, review the plan documentation and determine if you can make additional contributions to the plan or at least increase your deferral for 2022.

The maximum amount of deferrals you may direct to your employer’s plan depends on the type of plan offered. For example, if your employer offers a 401(k) plan, did you contribute the maximum for your age? If you are under the age of 50, the maximum you could contribute for 2021 is $19,500. You do not have to contribute this amount, but this is the maximum allowed. However, for those of us age 50 or older, an additional $6,500 catch-up provision is allowed in 2021. This is a total of $26,000 of income removed from your taxable income for 2021. This is a valuable reduction in tax burden…for now.

Should you work for any entity that does not provide a retirement plan, consider a contribution to a traditional IRA before April 15, 2022. You may contribute up to $6,000 in a traditional IRA on or before the deadline and escape taxation on this amount income for 2021. If you are 50 years of age or older, you may contribute another $1,000 of catch-up contributions.

If you are self-employed and desire to save taxes in 2021, you may wish to consider a SEP Plan, which is a retirement plan for self-employed individuals. This plan is especially helpful in contributing larger amounts of money to grow your retirement savings. The limit for contributions in this type of plan for 2021 is $58,000 or 25% of your self-employment compensation whichever is lower. If you wish to establish this type of plan, you must form and fund the plan prior to the filing of your 2021 income tax return including extensions of time to file.

Administratively, it is important to initiate the organization of your tax documents for the year. Don’t wait until April 15, 2022, to begin this process. Your taxes are becoming more complicated each year. I know it sounds good, but every time Congress passes a “tax simplification” bill, the Internal Revenue Code gets more confusing. Oh well. There are far worse ramifications that may occur in life.

At the time of writing this article, Congress was mired in conflict as to the amount of a funding bill for improvements to the infrastructure, which is very broadly defined in the bill. Is the amount $6 trillion, $3.5 trillion or $1.5 trillion? No matter how quickly you read the prior sentence, it is a lot of money. What makes it more difficult when planning your taxes for a certain year is that the law continues to change on a rather chaotic basis.

My approach would be for Congress to set a deadline such as October 31 of each year to pass any tax bills. This would allow for ample time to make changes to forms and IRS software to accurately process the upcoming tax returns for the year. In the past two years, primarily due to COVID-19 and the stimulation of the economy with three tax bills, the IRS has been overwhelmed with a task that is insurmountable. Hopefully, we will know the applicable tax laws for 2021 before yearend.

It is wise to visit with your CPA or CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help you get a handle on your tax burden before it becomes a real challenge. See you on the jogging trail!

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Your Future Depends on It

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Life consists of many different, and small, actions that create outcomes in a desired manner. This is a double-edged sword for many of us. Should we wish to purchase a new car or save for the future education of our children? Can we live in the current home or should be buy a much larger one?

The biggest challenge that American citizens face is one of priorities. Our country offers so much in potential personal and financial growth opportunities it becomes overwhelming for many people causing difficulties. Do I wish we had a different system than the current capitalistic markets? No way! However, I do wish to help people make more sound decisions with their hard-earned money.

An analysis of the savings rate, defined as the ration of money saved by individuals or families to their disposable income (income after taxes), reflects periods of time in which savings diminishes far below the required level to sustain the futures of the savers. Based on a review of the personal savings rate in the United States for the years 1960 – 2020, savings ranges were a low of 3.6% in 2007 and a high of 13.7% in 2020.

The explanations for the differences in savings rates could be many different reasons – concern for the future due to the pandemic as in 2020 or loss of a job due to economic downturn effects. One obvious impact for savings is the need for short-term may be the purchase of large, durable goods such as cars, appliances for the home, etc. Savings for long-term needs may be for the purchase of a home, college education for the children, retirement funding needs as well as many other purposes.

According to research performed by Jack Caporal of The Motley Fool, 40% of Americans are afraid they won’t be able to retire because of setbacks caused by the pandemic. One method of mitigating the impact of economic emergencies beyond your control is save more money. I know, this is simply said and difficult to accomplish.

To reach your goal of saving more for the future, you must be honest with yourself and know exactly where you are today. If you are saving 3% of your after-tax income and wish to be saving 10% of after-tax income, this is quite a large difference in your lifestyle. One of the best means of saving for the future is the pre-tax contributions to your employer’s retirement plan. If you don’t receive the money in hand, the likelihood that your lifestyle will not conflate to a higher level is remote. My mother’s old adage of, “Out of sight, out of mind,” bears out this truth about money.

Second, record and analyze every penny of after-tax dollars that you spend over a two-week period. Earnestly think about the future and how you might be able to limit your spending in areas that aren’t positive in your life such as smoking or tobacco use. By saving the money he would have spent on cigarettes, my older brother informed me that he had an additional $3,118 in his savings and, as a bonus, felt better about himself. If that isn’t a win-win situation, I don’t know that I could think of one!

Cash flow management is the foundation to financial success. All things spring from the flow of cash and assets in our lives. Live your life as you wish; however, if you want to live longer, quit worrying about the daily costs of life and truly enjoy your senior years, you must start today. One of the best actions to start saving and stay focused on the long-term perspectives you wish to achieve is to seek out a coach or someone that can give you honest advice for your best interest. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional can help you plan for the best outcomes in your life. What you do today is critical for your life. Your future depends on it.