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.
It is always a good time to enhance online security and know what to do if you are a victim of tax fraud. In recognition of “Identity Theft Awareness Week”, held February 3rd – 7th, we thought it was particularly timely to re-post this blog, originally posted Jan 25th, 2018.
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.
Because we have personally seen several recent phishing emails claiming to be from Amazon, Chase Bank, Capital One, the IRS, among others, we felt it was important to remind everyone to be aware of fraudulent emails and phone calls asking for personally identifiable information. It is key to remember that you will never receive an email or a phone call, from the IRS or your bank, asking for your social security number or account number. Always assume this is a fraudulent call or email and do not give out any sensitive information.
The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Five Star Professional, recognizes professionals in the financial services industry who are committed to excellence. Baron Financial Group is proud to announce that Advisors Anthony Benante and Victor Cannillo, are recognized as 2020 Five Star Wealth Managers in New Jersey.
The penalty for not taking one’s Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA, according to the IRS, can be 50% of the amount that was not distributed. For example, if one is required to take $1,000 of RMD this year, failing to do so may cause a $500 tax bill.
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.).
If you began taking Social Security before full-retirement age and are looking to postpone payments until a later time, there is a solution: the 1-year payback rule.
Baron Financial Group is an institutional investor. As an independent RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) with no allegiance to any investment company, we use a process to identify investments for both our clients, as well as our own investment portfolios. One of the filters in the process is cost. This comes in to play mostly with mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. When institutionally-priced mutual funds make sense, we take advantage of the opportunity. In the world of mutual funds (which are pools of assets such as stocks and/or bonds), there can be different pricing for the same underlying investments.
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.
Phone scams and particularly Social Security phone scams have been in the news recently. If you are looking for ways to protect your information, here is a list of some common red flags and what to do from AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons). To learn more, read AARP’s article on Social Security Scams.
Warren Buffett said, “Investing is simple, but not easy.” You would think that if something were simple that it would be easy. Not so. Take losing weight. Burn more calories than you take in. The surefire way to invest is to buy low and sell high. Both are very simple, but extremely difficult.