You have to see opportunity before you can seize it.
– Greg Hickman
Through the burger-soaked haze of my morning, I’m sitting down to write to you about something important.
But before I get there and speaking of burgers, how WAS your weekend? I sure hope it was restful. We business owners don’t enjoy the government-mandated holidays, but at the same time, sometimes the best policy really is: "If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em"! [So, we took Monday off too:)]
There’s a couple beautiful things about Memorial Day, in my humble opinion:
1) Summer is here.
The pools open, the shorts become a permanent staple and even the flip flops begin to make an appearance. For us, around here, we spend a lot of time in our summers sitting down with families to conduct careful analyses of their tax situation — BEFORE the winter strikes, and our moves become much more limited. This is called "tax planning", and it’s an essential move, if you want to get the maximum tax savings possible.
Let us know if you’d like one of our "coveted" tax planning slots this month. (618) 532-7223
2) Memorial Day reminds us that our current struggles have been overcome.
With all of the chaos in our current events (tornadoes, Mideast turmoil, government debt, etc.), it’s important to remember that even just one or two generations ago, our nation faced much worse–and prevailed. The "sacrifices" we may be forced to make in the midst of a bad economy are nothing compared to the rationing and privation of the WWII generation. And the young men and women who have served overseas in the past decade or so could also give us a good lesson in what REAL need looks like.
It’s right that we honor their triumph, and for many thousands of families — their deep sacrifice.
As I’ve already written a long-ish note today, I want to honor your inbox time — and make my Weekly Note short and sweet, as we start our summer together…
Alan K. Newcomb’s
"Real World" Personal Strategy
How Planning Can Save You $1000+
Too many clients (almost all of them) wait until the winter before they look at their tax obligations. Even worse, they wait until that season before they speak with their professional in any kind of proactive way.
That’s a problem, and it could be costing you some serious savings.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say that you were considering taking money out of a pension (401k) to finance the down payment on a house. It’s quite a common maneuver. But let’s say next that you do this withOUT discussing it ahead of time with a professional. That could be a four (or five) figure mistake.
If you were to come into our offices before such a move, I would ask you a few easy, but very important questions, and then (depending on the answer) likely advise you to first roll the money ($10,000) into a Traditional IRA. You could then withdraw the money at a savings of $1,000.00. This is because money used for a first home, up to $10,000, is penalty-free when taken from an IRA, but NOT a 401K.
Would you be pleased by that move? I’d guess "yes", especially if you knew about other clients I know of who failed to plan. This couple just learned of the $41,000.00 penalty they had to pay for doing the same thing, but from their 401k.
Ouch.
There is no guarantee that you will save by speaking to us in advance. But this I CAN guarantee: If you don’t speak with us, we won’t be able to save you a dime.
We’re a phone call (or email) away: (618) 532-7223
To You and Your Family’s Peace of Mind!