Income Tax Breaks for Homeowners
The U.S. government has a long standing history of including incentives in the income tax code to encourage home ownership. This is because of the positive impact home buying has on the economy – consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Purchases of homes, especially new construction, creates a ripple of consumer […]
401k: Understanding the Ins and Outs of the Most Popular Retirement Tool
Whether you’ve just started a new job, or you’ve been at one for years, odds are that your employer has given you the option to participate in an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan (401k). The 401(k) plan is one of the most popular retirement tools for working individuals. Despite its popularity, surveys have shown that many […]
Savings Rate vs. Investment Return: Which is more important in wealth creation?
Most people have heard the advice to save early. We wrote a blog in 2014 titled Importance of Investing at a Young Age and Best Practices. In addition to emphasizing the importance of saving early, it also answers the common question of “where” to invest your savings. When it comes to investing though, most individual […]
Do I Need A Living Trust?
Much has been written about the use of a living trust as a means of reducing the cost of passing your assets to your heirs at death. For most people, the primary motivation for creating a living trust is to avoid the probate process. In general, any assets which are in a decedent’s individual name […]
An Analyst’s Up-close View of the Energy Market
After recently returning from a natural resources conference in Denver, I thought it would be beneficial to share some of my takeaways. The conference was a mix of listening to CEO’s discuss trends in the market and touring companies in the field. One of the main focuses of the event was the energy space – […]
What is a Backdoor Roth IRA?
Roth IRAs are a powerful way to save for retirement. The beauty of a Roth IRA is that all growth and withdrawals from the account are tax-free and having a tax-free income source in retirement can be extremely beneficial. It is important to keep in mind that any contributions to a Roth account will be […]
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 […]
ENERGY INVESTING- WE ARE ONLY IN THE 2ND OR 3RD INNING!
One of the best performing sectors in the equity market recently has been energy. Since the end of November, mid-stream pipelines (Master Limited Partnerships – MLPs) are up over 19% through last Friday’s close. We believe that these gains represent the early stage of a long bull market in energy investments for the following reasons: […]