Articles on Wealth Management Topics

One of the most widespread misconceptions or overlooked opportunities in retirement planning concerns contributions to IRAs.

In other Articles on Wealth Management Topics, we've discussed the confusion that many consumers of financial services have regarding terminology such as "fiduciary". Another misconception that many people (including related professionals) struggle with is the difference between Fee-Only and fee-based financial advice.

Pension or "defined benefit" plans are in a state of decline in more ways than one. Thousands of pension plans have been terminated in recent years. The vast majority of them were fully funded, but were frozen by healthy companies, like IBM, Verizon and Hewlett Packard, looking to save money.

Education is an ongoing hot-button issue in Utah. One aspect of education funding that we should be able to come together on, however, is that we are lucky to have one of the best 529 plans in the country here in the Beehive state.

Stock markets can be characterized as being both consistently positive and eerily quiet in recent months. Volatility and trading volumes continue to be extremely subdued, but stock indices just keep grinding higher. A few factoids to underscore these points -

Under the Federal financial aid formula, financial aid is reduced 35 cents for every dollar of student assets, but only 5.6 cents for every dollar of parental assets. In this regard, UGMA and UTMA accounts, considered an asset of the student, are less attractive as college funding vehicles than parental 529 accounts.

With this year's tax filing extension due date just behind us, tax season was an even more painful experience than usual for many mutual fund investors. Many mutual fund companies have been distributing much higher capital gains to shareholders in recent years, resulting in higher related tax bills.

With financial markets quietly grinding higher in recent months, I've been able to complete one of my major projects for the year, which was to investigate so-called "smart beta" mutual funds.

Families have a tendency to underestimate their eligibility for need-based financial aid for college. Many wealthy parents, in particular, wonder whether it's worthwhile to apply for financial aid.

Years ago, I was quoted in Newsweek as having said, "If you can't get by on the wise 4 percent withdrawal rate [from your retirement nest egg], you should have a serious talk with yourself and your spouse about your priorities, trade-offs and aspirations." While it's certainly nice being mentioned in a national publication, the material I contributed to the article had nothing to do with withdrawal rates from retirement portfolios. And financial planning rules of thumb are next to useless.