On the journey to reach your ideal retirement, stock options can be a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.
However, it’s easy to make mistakes given most people don’t have a class in high school that provides pointers on how to handle when they vest.
There are many things to consider with stock options: the different types, timing deadlines, tax consequences, and the leverage involved.
Since it is such a complex topic, they’re often put on the back burner and can easily be forgotten about causing you to miss out on a valuable opportunity to increase your wealth.
If you have been offered stock options with your company, you’ll want to hear these 8 common mistakes to avoid when managing your stock options.
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There’s so much we can overlook with retirement plans. Here at Financial Symmetry, we are constantly finding ways to help you be aware of retirement opportunities and rules and improve your wealth.
On this special Halloween-themed episode of Financial Symmetry, Allison has come up with some retirement plan horror stories to spook you. Listen in to ensure that these horrors don’t ruin your retirement plans.
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If you are a long-time listener you know that we like to go through the nuances of financial planning that may be valuable to you.
In this episode, Allison and I take a look at net unrealized appreciation (NUA). Listen in to learn what it is, who could benefit from it, and the benefits and pitfalls of using NUA. You won’t want to miss out on hearing one of our classic fictional case studies involving Freddie Krueger. Press play to hear if you could benefit from using NUA.
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When it comes to the question of rolling over a 401K or 403B to an IRA, many people fear making mistakes. It’s true, that retirement account mistakes can be costly. On this episode, we’ll explore the options you have, the factors to consider, and the reasons you should and the reasons you shouldn’t roll over your employer-sponsored retirement account.
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Investing is simple but not easy. To that end, what are the impacts if you do a poor job managing your investments?
Several studies from Vanguard and Morningstar have attempted to quantify how behavioral coaching can impact your savings. The numbers settle around 1.5-2%/yr. That may not sound like much, but could equate to millions of difference over 30+ years of savings.
On this episode, we continue to explore the benefits of the wealth management relationship. If you haven’t listened to the first part you can find it here.
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If you're a Modern Family fan, you should enjoy today's episode.
Today, we're diving in the mistakes made when we make assumptions about our IRA beneficiary forms.
Many people don’t realize this but their IRA has the opportunity to be the star player of their estate plan. In this episode, we walk through real world examples, to help you take steps now to avoid similar pitfalls in your own lives.
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The behavioral and emotional side of financial planning takes precedence when planning for our future.
I see this play out frequently in the form of anchoring to a perceived value we’ve grown accustomed to, based on prior experience.
This “value”; however, can unfortunately lead to decisions that damage the success of our financial plan.
Summer is here! That means it’s time to brush off the bookshelf and get reading. We have a few book ideas to enhance your reading list. If you are looking to improve your financial life or even just enjoy a light beach-read you won’t want to miss this list.
Are you the type of person who loves surprises? One surprise you probably don’t enjoy is having to pay more taxes than you anticipated.
Unfortunately, taxes are a necessary part of life. The best thing you can do to ensure that you aren’t caught off guard at the end of the tax year is to prepare throughout the year.
On this episode of Financial Symmetry, Allison Berger and I review 9 ways to prevent taxes from catching you off guard. Don’t let the next tax season take you by surprise. Listen in to hear how you can improve your tax situation so that you can rest easy come tax time.
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As you plan to live your ideal retirement, you may want to share your good fortune with others who are less fortunate.
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Giving is incentivized through the tax code, so being charitably inclined can also help to reduce your tax liability.
In retirement, there are many ways to map out your charitable giving to take full advantage of the tax benefits. This is why, we discuss ways to capitalize on those opportunities while meeting your charitable goals.
Listen in to learn how to enhance your today and enrich your tomorrow while giving intentionally.
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If you have been watching the news lately you may be wondering if your cash is safe. Watching the country’s 16th largest bank collapse causes people to question whether the banking system is set up to ensure that funds are accessible.
On this episode of Financial Symmetry, we’ll discuss what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, examine how much cash you really need, and explore options for managing your emergency fund. Listen in to learn how to safely manage your emergency fund.
As International Women’s Day approaches, we wanted to get together to explore ways to improve the financial outcome for women across the globe.
In this episode, Allison Berger, Grace Kvantas, Haley Modlin and Darian Billingsley, break down the four Cs of women’s personal finance.
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Retirement is one of the most significant changes that you will manage in your life. It takes not just careful financial planning, but also careful life planning as well.
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Our guest today, Susan Bradley, is the author of Sudden Money and the founder of the Sudden Money Institute. She is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a Certified Financial Transitionist (CFT). We discuss how best to prepare for the retirement transition
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In today’s video, we discuss several questions of what we can learn from last year’s investing experience and what we could expect for 2023.
Listen in to see how lessons from last year can help you move forward with confidence.
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The Secure Act 2.0 was recently passed bringing in hundreds of new retirement and investment account changes.
In this episode, we detail some of the most impactful changes for you. We’ll break down these changes to explore planning opportunities for your retirement planning strategies.
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As we come to the end of 2022, we reflect on some of our favorite reads and podcasts that we have highlighted in our monthly newsletter. If you’d like to check out what we’ve been reading or listening to on a more regular basis, sign up for our monthly newsletter to get the information delivered straight to your inbox.
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How often do you go back and question your retirement and investment decisions?
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When thinking through your personal financial decisions, it is common to be swayed by emotions rather than rational thoughts. However, your emotions could derail your wealth-building journey.
Today, we explore five of the most common behavioral financial biases and ways to combat them. If you are ready to get serious about making better financial decisions to build wealth, you won’t want to miss this episode.
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📬 Tips each month to help you reach your Ideal Retirement. Subscribe to the Financial Symmetry newsletter and receive a free Mega-backdoor Roth guide.
What if one of these ten tax tools could be the tax opportunity that you’ve been missing?
If you are looking to increase your wealth over your lifetime, you’ll want to ensure that you have the best tax planning strategies in place for long-term success.
Paying more taxes now to lower your lifetime tax rate may seem unconventional, but if you are serious about building wealth, this episode could include steps to help you get there.
From donor-advised funds, QCDs to Roth conversions and more. See if any of these 10 could benefit you.
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So many conversations today are tied to the news. Hard to not find someone talking about the troubled economy, inflation, and the tumbling stock market.
How should you change your investments in light of all these issues? You may be wondering if you are invested too aggressively, or you might even be considering pulling out of the market and waiting out the storm.
Before you rush in to change your investment tactics, listen to this episode to compare our 10 investing principles to your investing blueprint.
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None of us know how long we will live, so it is important to prepare for the inevitable. Unfortunately, all that we have earned in this life won’t transfer into the next, so it is important that we have our wishes laid out appropriately.
An estate plan is a critical component of the retirement planning journey.
Estate attorney, Adam Tarsitano joins the Financial Symmetry podcast again today to discuss spooky estate planning tales from the crypt that he has seen in his experience.
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How do you deal with a major financial transitions?
Video recap: https://youtu.be/2tWrduVAS14
When this happens there can be many choices that you need to make. Without the right decision-making framework, navigating these choices can lead to analysis paralysis.
Allison Berger joins me today to share some of what she has learned while studying for the CFT designation (Certified Financial Transitionist). The coursework for this professional title combines financial planning with cutting-edge research in neurology, sociology, and psychology. With her newfound knowledge, Allison will help us learn how to navigate the technical and personal side of major life decisions.
Listen in to learn how to build a framework that can help you navigate major financial decisions.
In a bear market, it can be easy to panic and forget that investor behavior drives results more than choosing the right investments. People tend to be their own worst enemy during these trying times. That’s why it is important to learn from those that have gone before you.
Video Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VePid5UlQ1Y
Your Playbook to Market Volatility: https://www.financialsymmetry.com/staying-the-course-even-during-volatile-markets/
Check out this episode to discover the 4 typical investors that we encounter during market declines. As you listen consider who you have been like in the past. Which one are you feeling like now? Which one do you want to be in the future?
Most of us believe we’ll always have more time with our spouse, but when that time is cut short, we’re often left with too many questions and not enough answers.
Video recap: https://youtu.be/2jFmLDB3Xks
On today’s show, we tackle the emotionally challenging subject of losing a spouse.
Between planning a funeral, notifying people, and taking calls, it’s hard to find time to grieve, much less think about the financial consequences and tax changes you have to deal with in the coming weeks. Part of our responsibility during this difficult time is to walk you through the steps of navigating the administrative part of handling a loved one’s resources.
Listen to this episode to learn about the tax changes to consider when dealing with the death of a spouse.
Read more in the show notes here: https://www.financialsymmetry.com/tax-changes-to-consider-after-the-death-of-a-spouse-ep-166/
Do you have an estate plan?
Is it up to date?
Was it prepared by an estate planning professional?
Video link: https://youtu.be/c7XO462BOcg
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, this episode is for you.
On the show this week, we welcome Adam Tarsitano, an estate planning attorney in Raleigh, NC, to discuss why it is so important to have a professionally prepared estate plan in place.
Listen in to hear the difference between a professional estate plan and a DIY estate plan and what could happen to your assets if the state decides what to do with them.
Video recap: https://youtu.be/4FjSIJw8a6A
Listen in to discover how you can accelerate women’s equality by overcoming or breaking through these biases.
This first bias is simply untrue. Actually, women are more likely to take calculated risks than men. Women are also more likely to hold an appropriate amount of investments when compared with their cash savings.
Men and women are equally fearful at the beginning of their investing journeys. However, since women are more cautious about things that they are unfamiliar with they often become more educated about investing so that they feel more comfortable.
In the long term, women’s investments often outperform those of men. This could be due to women having more intentionality, self-control, and a higher savings rate than men. Since women are often playing catch up with their investing, they are usually excited to get started. Investment and retirement planning is especially important for women since there are so many preconceived notions that surround women and money.
On average, women make about $0.84 to a man’s dollar. This is often due to the way compensation is structured. Women often ask for less, negotiate less, or don’t negotiate at all. This means that women have less to contribute to their retirement savings.
Knowledge is the power to overcome this bias. To improve your salary it is important to understand the average salaries for your area of the country and, specifically, for your field. Use websites like Glassdoor or Salary.com to help you research. Don’t be ashamed to discuss this topic with friends, family, and colleagues to learn more.
Once you’ve done your research, consider your next salary negotiation. Set a range that works well for you and shoot for the top of that range. Remember that you are selling yourself, so consider the value that you have added to your role. Come up with a list of your accomplishments. Listen in to hear all the tips that this bright group of women brings to the table. With a bit of preparation, you may be pleasantly surprised by your next salary negotiation.
We’ve all heard this myth perpetuated; however, spending doesn’t have a gender. Either partner in a relationship can be the big spender, but since women are often the ones buying for the family, it can seem like they spend more than men.
Budgets are an important part of the financial health of any relationship so that both partners understand how much they can safely spend. Typically, one partner is more of a saver and the other is more of a spender, but the ideal is to strike a balance between the two.
Since women have been shut out of the financial conversation for so long, they often don’t know where to begin the conversation. Here at Financial Symmetry, we encourage both partners to come to the table, even if it takes an extra conversation to understand and address all of the issues or concerns.
As you approach International Women’s Day, consider whether any of these financial biases have come up in your life. You can research more biases surrounding women by using the hashtag #BreakTheBias.