It is still close enough to the start of the year to step back and be intentional about how to approach:
It starts with slowing down. There are a handful of truly wise books written on the topic. Two come to mind: Continue reading “Speeding Up & Slowing Down in Financial Decision Making”
Taxes matter, sadly, all year long. With this said, there are a handful of tax related items that matter more heavily at the very beginning of the year (read: important to “action” as early as possible in the new year).
In the world of IRA and 401(k) savings, maximum contributions have increased!
Here are the “data points” to get 2026 started on a positive note:
The countdown to year-end will begin soon. With nearly four (4) months remaining in 2025, consider the following Year-End Tax Planning Checklist.* Several of these items, if addressed now, could make a meaningful difference come tax filing season AND add to savings.
The One Big Beautiful Bill, now OBBB Act, was…. big. TGIF 2 Minutes is all about giving as complete and concise a message as possible. There will be follow-ups to the OBBBA, and as one analyst concluded, the “2026 Surprise” will come with “patches” to various wordings and actual applications of parts of the OBBBA, similar to the Secure Act – in particular referencing “patches” that came over time to the Secure Act for required minimum distributions from Inherited IRAs.
The OBBBA is far too BIG to be summarized by any one person. Although several nuggets can be highlighted, followed up by more highlights and so on. Here are a handful of major topics, with brief explanations. These are meant to spur questions and conversations that are relevant and unique to each client and each person.* Also, important – please keep in mind that due to the relatively higher wealth and income of most folks reading today, income phase-outs of lots of these provisions make a number of them less impactful (perhaps a “quality problem” to have?).
Continue reading “TGIF Meets OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) Inbox”
Mid-Year is an important time to review several significant saving and spending decisions, possibly affecting taxes too. With just under 6 months remaining in the tax year – there’s still time to make a meaningful difference. Consider:
These and other important decisions can be evaluated or adjusted – think of the process as forming goals or “mini-goals”.
Keeping up with developments in Bitcoin and the world of cryptocurrency is challenging, but not impossible. Especially with AI assistants (like Grok or Chat GPT) answers can be attained – literally instantly – to basic and complex questions. Having dedicated crypto experts and research teams on hand is helpful as well!* “Keeping up with crypto” is a relative term. Merely dipping a toe into the water to learn more is a form of keeping up with this evolving space, so go for it.
Here is a term that helps define how different the various cryptocurrencies are from one another: ecosystems. Cryptocurrency is not a single, big chunk of one “thing”. Rather, there are multiple ecosystems and thousands of interconnected cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is the best-known cryptocurrency, most dominant and most widely accepted for making purchases at this time. Ethereum is another well-known cryptocurrency. Solana is another. Each operates in its own ecosystem and has extremely different qualities.
The calendar is about to turn to June – and that means nearing the halfway point of 2025. For those contributing to 401k, 403b and TSP accounts, adjustments or tweaks at this time can make a real difference overall for the current tax year and future savings overall.
The most basic considerations are in the dollar amount and tax classification of how 401k/403b/TSP contributions are made.
Part of me needs to admit that today’s title was an attention grabber. The deeper questions are:
In reading the title of today’s edition, many a reader while sipping a cup of morning coffee or tea – with a grimace – may say,
Today’s edition will be brief but contains a critical message with more in-depth information to follow next week.
