Soesbe Financial
Thank you to the Center for hosting the first “Financial Planning 101” seminar at their lovely headquarters in downtown Sacramento.
Susan gave a detailed overview of what the six areas of financial planning are, what they cover, and why everyone in this modern world should use good financial planning to help ensure their comfortable retirement.
“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the policy committee said in a statement.
via Axios
The Federal Reserve made an aggressive new move in its campaign to bring down inflation Wednesday, raising its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, the steepest rate hike since 1994 — and indicated another similar move could be coming next month.
Driving the news: In addition to increasing their target for short-term interest rates to a range of between 1.5% and 1.75% Fed officials projected that their target rate will reach 3.4% late this year, far higher than the 1.9% they envisioned in March.
Why it matters: The Fed has shifted toward a break-the-glass, emergency footing on inflation — but such abrupt rate hikes risk sending the economy into recession and markets plunging further.
[more…]
Read the full story here: https://www.axios.com/2022/06/15/inflation-rate-hike-federal-reserve
Thank you to the Sacramento LGBT Community Center for hosting our seminar “Introduction to Lifetime and Legacy Charitable Giving and Tax Planning”. The event was well-received and we were able to provide excellent information to the attendees. We look forward to doing it again next year!
Understanding your cost basis can save you pretty penny or three. Here’s a useful little primer on what cost basis is, and why it’s useful to understand, from the folks at Schwab.
Many people dislike thinking about taxes so much that they ignore the topic until filing season is upon them. Unfortunately, waiting until the last minute to deal with tax matters can lead to missed opportunities to potentially reduce your tax bill.
Investors who include tax planning as part of their investing strategy could potentially see significant tax benefits over the long run, says Hayden Adams, CPA, director of tax and financial planning at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.
You shouldn’t just be thinking about capital gains and losses. Savvy investors know how to manage the so-called “cost basis” and holding periods of their investments to help reduce gains that are subject to taxes. Knowing your cost basis can be a valuable tool.
Simply put, your cost basis is what you paid for an investment, including brokerage fees, “loads” and any other trading cost—and it can be adjusted for corporate actions such as mergers, stock splits and dividend payments. This matters because your capital gain (or loss) will be the difference between the cost basis and the price at which you sell your securities. This cost is pretty easy to calculate—if you don’t reinvest dividends or dollar-cost average when you invest.
Read the full article here:
https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/save-on-taxes-know-your-cost-basis
The seminar was really well received, and based on the awesome feedback from all of you, we hope to be able to give this one again every year 🙂
Too many Americans are struggling with the economic impact of Covid-19. This on top of the pre-existing social conditions that negatively impact women, is making things even grimmer for their retirement, as is explored in this New York Times article.
Unequal job losses now will translate into smaller nest eggs and Social Security benefits down the road.
By Mark Miller
During the first months of the pandemic, Leah Tyrrell found that she could pull off a balancing act: working in sales for a San Diego clothing maker and caring for her three young daughters at home. Her hours had been reduced, and working remotely in the morning left her time to be with the children the rest of the day.
“At the time, I thought I could tackle it,” Ms. Tyrrell said.That changed in Augustwhen her employer started asking people to return full time. Her company was flexible, but something had to give — and since her husband was bringing home a bigger paycheck, she quit work to help her girls, ages 9, 8 and 5, with online school.
“It was a very tough decision, but we just decided that, especially having a third child in kindergarten on the computer, I would need to sit and guide her through what the teacher was talking about,” she said.
Retirement is still on the distant horizon for Ms. Tyrrell, 43, but she hopes the long-term damage to her nest egg will be minimal. She participated in her company 401(k) plan, which had a matching contribution, and aims to resume saving when she goes back to work after the pandemic recedes.
“When I do go back, I hope it will be with a company that provides a match, but I’ll definitely lose at least a year of any kind of savings,” she said.
The hit to her retirement resources — and to those of other women in her shoes — could be considerably deeper.
Policy experts have long acknowledged a gender gap in retirement security. Women tend to earn less than men, and they are more likely to take time off from work to care for children or elderly parents. Even brief career interruptions diminish wage growth, retirement savings and Social Security benefits, which are determined by wage history. Women also tend to outlive men, needing to stretch resources over more years. In particular, they face higher health care expenses in retirement.
Read the full article here:
www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/business/women-retirement-covid-social-security.html