If you are like many working Americans, you are in the middle stages of your journey towards financial independence. This is the time to redefine your financial path to ensure the steps you are taking are leading towards your desired destination. Although you may have several more years to go, it's time to begin coming up with specific and measurable retirement goals.
The most important thing in your life is your child. And for parents with a special needs child that requires specialized care, the most significant concern is what happens to my child when I am gone or can no longer advocate for them. How would your child be financially taken care of? Watch our 85-second video to learn about how we help families with special needs.
Start the new decade with a fresh look at your financials. Here is a checklist to get you started:
Victor Cannillo of Baron Financial Group recently spoke to the senior residents of the New York Medical College Pediatric Residency Program in Valhalla, NY about financial planning.
There are important questions at certain ages that you should keep in mind on your journey. Your options for Retirement and Financial Planning need to be given very serious thought and examination. You need to identify your goals, explore your options, and test for the unexpected.
You want to put your emergency funds in an account where the funds are easily accessible and not exposed to risk. Examples include traditional bank accounts that carry FDIC insurance (savings, checking, etc.).
Whether you are making a plan to travel or planning for retirement, determining an appropriate strategy ahead of time will provide guidance for a path to success and for actions to take when things might not go as smoothly as expected.
1. Turning wealth into income – creating a total return strategy that produces a continuous paycheck just like you had when you were employed 2. Revising your investment strategy – which was successful for the accumulation phase but may not work as well now during the distribution phase 3. Protecting against new risks and concerns...
A 60-second read by Anthony Benante, CFA: What value does a Comprehensive Financial Advisor offer? There is the obvious – offering expertise in investment management and financial planning, and then there is the not-so-obvious.
A 45-second read by Victor Cannillo: If you want to help a relative pay for college, you can pay the money to the college directly without incurring any gift taxes. However, you need to ask the school if this would affect the need-based aid eligibility of the student because each school handles this differently. For example, if the school views the money as a payment of the student’s account, then most likely it would not affect financial aid. But if the money is treated as a resource, then it will reduce the student’s aid “dollar-for dollar.”
A 90-second read by Anthony Benante: The first thing you need to do to see if you qualify for financial aid is fill out the FAFSA form: In order to apply for financial aid, you must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. There are certain criteria to first apply for financial aid – Go to the Federal Student Aid website – https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa to see that you meet all required criteria to apply.
You will receive a form 1099-R if any money has been moved out of a retirement account. How much you will pay in taxes will depend on how the money is moved. You want to make sure any movement out of a retirement account is done properly, and the correct code is applied when you file your taxes. The code will appear in box 7 of the 1099-R.