First Time Home Buyer: How to Make an Offer?
Buying a house can be a stressful endeavor for anyone. But, for first time home buyers, the thought of making an offer on a house for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a very competitive home buying environment, where even a slight delay can cost you the house of your dreams, the anxiety is enough […]
Getting Started on Medicare
All Americans who are age 65 and over are eligible for Medicare. Medicare can be overwhelming for those approaching age 65 and faced with having to enroll in this government managed health insurance program. The purpose of this blog is to take some of the mystery out of Medicare and assist you with the appropriate […]
Time Weighted vs. Money Weighted Returns
Many people assume calculating performance returns on investment accounts to be a very simple process. In its simplest form, you can get your percentage investment return by using this simple equation: (Ending Value – Beginning Value) / Beginning Value. With that in mind, it can get more complicated when you add in factors such as […]
New Tax Act
As promised in our recent Harvester newsletter that we sent on December 7, 2017, we want to update you on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”). The Act made it through the conference committee and was passed by both the House and Senate on December 20 and is expected to be signed by […]
Tax Reform 2018 – The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Tax planning at the present time is difficult given the uncertainty over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Act”). As of the date of this newsletter, both the House and Senate have passed separate versions of the Act that contain significant differences. These differences must be ironed out before a final tax reform bill can […]
Demystifying Medicare
All Americans who are age 65 and over are eligible for Medicare. Medicare can be overwhelming for those approaching age 65 and faced with having to enroll in this government managed health insurance program. The purpose of this blog is to take some of the mystery out of Medicare and assist you with the appropriate […]
Hiring a Financial Professional: 6 Keys to Success
In today’s world, hiring a financial professional can be overwhelming. There is a exhaustive list of titles for financial professionals such as financial advisor, financial planner, wealth manager, investment advisor, estate planner, tax planner and accountant. And while each title mentioned above may conjure up a different business model in your head, the fact is […]
Preparing Financially to Start a Family
So you would like to start a family, but in the back of your mind you are uncertain and a bit overwhelmed by the financial obligations you may be shouldering for the next 18+ years of your life. These are legitimate concerns. According to the 2015 USDA report Expenditures on Children by Families, a middle-income […]
Steps to Reduce the Impact of the Equifax Breach
As many of you know, Equifax recently announced a massive breach of its database that comprised information of 143 million Americans. Many people are now wondering what to do to protect themselves and their identity. Identity theft has become a significant problem and can cause headaches for years. In response to this breach, Equifax has […]
Spending a 529 College Savings Account- Best Practices
After years of saving, your child is finally off to college and you wonder how 18 years have gone by so fast. Ideally, you’ve taken advantage of long-term, tax-free compounding discussed in our college savings strategies blog(http://www.thorinvestment.com/saving-for-college/) and have built up nice gains in the college accounts. Savings in a state-sponsored Qualified Tuition Program, or […]