Taxes

What Rising Interest Rates Mean for Retirement

June 29, 2022 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we continue our conversation with Morningstar’s director of personal finance, Christine Benz on the implications of rising interest rates on retirement. During this episode, Christine breaks down the impact of rising interest rates on pre-retirees, and what you can do to prepare in an inflationary environment. In particular, Christine lays out the history of bond valuations in 2022 and their price performance and durations during these inflationary times. Another consideration investors need to make are their time horizons.

As Christine mentioned, be mindful of your liquidity needs and your time horizons. When we develop a portfolio for a client, we keep these two constraints in mind, as well as other factors such as tax location and risk tolerance.

If you are wondering what kinds of risks are in your current portfolio, or where there may be an unforeseen risk you aren’t aware of, consider contacting us for a complimentary call or coffee. If it makes sense, we may perform a complimentary portfolio review for you so you can get an idea of the types and current risk level in your portfolio.

Schedule a short discovery call or meeting

We’ll be interviewing Christine on several podcasts regarding retirement strategies, passive investing, and diversification, so be sure to subscribe to our Intelligent Money Minute podcasts.

Christine Benz Bio

Christine Benz is Morningstar’s director of personal finance and author of 30-Minute Money Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances and the Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: 5-Star Strategies for Success. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian/East European studies from the University of Illinois. Christine lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Greg. She is an avid cook, a political junkie, and a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan. Follow Christine on Twitter.

The New Crypto Landscape for Investors

June 9, 2022 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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In this episode of Intelligent Money Minute, we interviewed Matt Hougan, Chairman of Inside ETFs on the new crypto landscape for investors. Matt Hougan returns to the Intelligent Money Minute podcast to talk about all things in the realm of crypto. During this episode, Matt Hougan pulls back the curtain on the ever-changing landscape of cryptocurrency and how investors ought to examine it. Matt understands the natural interest of investors but heeds a cautionary warning to those with little understanding of crypto’s risk.

Like any asset class or new investment, smart investors will not rush into it and ask questions later, but rather spend time in due diligence to understand the benefits, the risks, and the potential.

As a reminder, the views and opinions expressed on the Intelligent Money Minute podcast are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of Intelligent Investing, LLC. Intelligent Investing does not imply any endorsement or approval of any of the investments mentioned on the podcast. This podcast is to educate the public, and the investment strategy and themes discussed may not be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial situation.

We are excited to be interviewing Matt Hougan, and we have several more episodes where we explore the ins and outs of ETFs, bitcoin, and blockchain, so be sure to subscribe to our podcasts to hear all the interviews.

Matt Hougan Bio

Matt Hougan is one of the world’s leading experts on crypto, ETFs, and financial technology. He is Global Head of Research for Bitwise Asset Management, creator of the world’s first cryptocurrency index fund. Hougan is also Chairman of Inside ETFs, the world’s largest ETF conference. He was previously CEO of ETF.com, where he helped build the world’s first ETF data and analytics system. Hougan is co-author of the CFA Institute’s Monograph on ETFs. He’s also a crypto columnist for Forbes, and a three-time member of the Barron’s ETF Roundtable. For more resources from Matt Hougan click here.

Spending Money in Retirement with Christine Benz

August 26, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: < 1 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we continue our conversation with Morningstar’s director of personal finance, Christine Benz on spending money in retirement. During this episode, Christine about retirement distribution strategies and whether there’s truly a safe withdrawal rate. Interestingly enough, she mentions a study that more retirees were concerned about finances than death. She highlights this strategy of simply taking 4% and whether it’s still usable in today’s economy.

Many pre-retirees and retirees are concerned about running out of money. Having a written financial plan and having flexibility with withdrawals are some of the keys to having a good probability of success of not running out of money.

Are you are wondering whether you have enough money to outlast your lifetime? If you are, we’d love to have a complimentary call or coffee with you. We are fee-only fiduciaries that don’t sell other products, so you can rest assured, we want to have your best interest in mind. Please visit investedwithyou.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Schedule a short discovery call or meeting

We’ll be interviewing Christine on several podcasts regarding retirement strategies, passive investing, and diversification, so be sure to subscribe to our Intelligent Money Minute podcasts.

Christine Benz Bio

How Potential Higher Inflation and Taxes Impact Your Retirement Strategy

July 29, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: < 1 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we continue our conversation with Morningstar’s director of personal finance, Christine Benz on how potential higher inflation and taxes impact your retirement strategy. Christine believes we should be mindful of potential inflation and high taxes. A key point she makes is not waiting to implement tax-saving strategies. During this episode, she explains the value of tax-deferred accounts. Tax-deferred accounts blended with other financial vehicles could be beneficial to your financial strategy.

At Intelligent Investing, one of our unique factors is that we strive to minimize fees and that includes government fees. There are many planning opportunities, especially in the sweet spot years between retirement from an employer and when you start social security benefits. We love organizing our clients’ financial junk drawers, and we’d love to organize yours. To learn more about Intelligent Investing or to become our next intelligent investor, please visit investedwithyou.com.

Schedule a short discovery call or meeting

We’ll be interviewing Christine on several podcasts regarding retirement strategies, passive investing, and diversification, so be sure to subscribe to our Intelligent Money Minute podcasts.

Christine Benz Bio

President Biden’s Capital Gains Tax Planning

April 30, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

In Biden’s first congressional address, President Biden called for massive government spending including $2.3 trillion in infrastructure and $1.8 trillion in family and education programs. Of course, tax hikes follow significant federal spending. During this Intelligent Money Moment, we break down the facts and impact of this new proposal while offering some practical planning ideas in response.

Facts

Currently, ordinary income such as wages or business profits is taxed at a top rate of around 41% and capital gains have a top rate of around 24% when you factor in potential payroll or investment taxes.
This week, President Biden will meet with Congress to outline a plan to help pay for several social programs
Details of the plan are being worked out, but the plan could cost more than $1T with funding for child care, paid leave, universal pre-kindergarten education and tuition-free community college.

Impact

The plan may alter a tax provision that lets investors avoid capital-gains taxes on appreciated assets if they hold them until they die. Mr. Biden’s plan is to have gains on appreciated assets be taxed at the date of death (regardless of whether they are actually sold).
The plan could increase the top capital gains rates on taxable investors at the top of the income scale.
Republicans argue that stock prices and investments could suffer, especially as these changes could come atop corporate tax increases President Biden has proposed to pay for infrastructure spending.
With a 50-50 Senate and closely divided House, moderate democrats may have a significant say in the tax proposals.

Planning Ideas

If you are a high-net-worth individual in the top tax bracket or approaching, the recent news may impact you the most, and likely to provide tax planning strategies to perhaps spread out some of your long-term-capital gains in years when your low-earning years before Social Security benefits kick in.
If you have a taxable account (revocable trust, or large taxable brokerage account), you may want to consider a gifting strategy depending on your current tax bracket and time horizon and other factors.
As a CPA, tax efficiency has been a bedrock of Intelligent Investing and historically has been one of the biggest levers of value creation.
If you’d like to learn more, please visit investedwithyou.com and click on the “Get Started” button to become the next Intelligent Investor.

The Four Biggest Financial Problems a HENRY Faces

January 28, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

First of all, nobody likes to be labeled, and there are always exceptions to the rule, but HENRY is an acronym that stands for High Earner Not Rich Yet (coined by Fortune in 2003). HENRYs are young doctors, lawyers, engineers, or other top-earning professionals who have a high salary but don’t have time to manage investments. They are in the process or have finished paying off student loans and are beginning to accumulate a nest egg. They may have a young family and are becoming an expert in their professional field. Essentially HENRYs are young professionals who have a high salary but don’t have time to manage investments.

A couple of quick stats: Many HENRYs are Millennials who like control and technology, and make up the largest generation. They have the highest number of billionaires and are digital do-it-yourselfers. 25% aren’t sure how their retirement savings are invested, and 80% are concerned Social Security won’t be there for them when they retire.

People make money in many ways, but often don’t know what to do with it after they’ve made it. Some of the biggest financial problems a HENRY faces: The 4 Ds

The 4 Ds- Debt, Direction, Discipline, and Digital Dangers

First, they have insurmountable Debt–

The Federal Reserve estimates that Americans owe more than $1.7 trillion in student loans. In addition to student loans, HENRYs face ridiculous rents, or are living with their parents, as they have a hard time saving up enough for a down payment on a home. In addition, they can’t afford enough insurance for a health or disability event.

Second, they lack Direction–

63% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and if faced with a $500 emergency, 8 out of 10 couldn’t cover the cost. As a result, HENRYs haven’t created an Emergency Fund, a Budget, or retirement plan.

Third, they lack Discipline–

They often are unsure where to get sound financial advice and they are too busy developing their own career. They don’t have time, nor the accountability they need to keep them on the right path.
Instead of talking about their latest hot stocks at the water cooler as in prior generations, they are in Reddit chatrooms or Social media feeds convincing each other they know more about a company’s stock than anyone. This overconfidence bias will eventually get them into trouble.

Fourth, They face Digital Dangers–

We live in a digital world that is instantaneous. HENRYs prefer paying by digital wallets, and are comfortable throwing money at cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. They like the recent high returns of Bitcoin, and they think they are a long way off from retirement so they can afford to take some risks. They remember their parents complaining about the 2008 housing crisis which was the result of bankers and brokers playing fast and loose with “safe investments like stocks and houses.”
We are now seeing a repeat of those behavioral mistakes. By eliminating transaction fees, HENRYs are on the Robinhood app convinced that their stock, Bitcoin, or options purchases can only go up.
In the short run, they may be right as they gamble, but in the long-run, the house always wins.
Sometimes HENRYs fool themselves into thinking they can just “Google” their financial or investment questions. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Market conditions and economic forecasts change constantly. Technology can beat humans at computations, but I also believe it is best to receive wisdom from a human who understands investor behavior and who leverages integrated technologies.

Cryptocurrency & How It Works

January 27, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

On this episode of Intelligent Money Minute, we interview Matt Hougan, Chairman of Inside ETFs on cryptocurrency and how it works. During this episode, Matt pulls back the curtain and sheds light on the nuances of cryptocurrency. According to Matt, cryptocurrency is the first native way that money can move over the internet. For example, if you go online today and pay your internet bill, it could take multiple days for that money to transfer. Contrast that with a Bitcoin transaction. Matt gives an example of a billion-dollar transaction that settled in less than 10 minutes with a fee of .0007%. There are many misconceptions regarding cryptocurrency. Simply put, it’s a new rail for the modern transfer of money.

I recently read a quote, “Knowledge acquired by reason will dispel ignorance and thus destroy the greatest evil—fear.” As Matt points out, when you hear of something new, it is best to do some research in order to gain knowledge and a better understanding. We think the same holds true of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and alternative asset classes. Just because something is new, doesn’t make it wrong. At the same time, just because it is new, doesn’t mean it’s better. To learn more about our philosophies, go to our philosophy page.

Matt Hougan Bio

The Dangers of Commission-Free ETF Trading

January 14, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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On this episode of Intelligent Money Minute, we interview Matt Hougan, Chairman of Inside ETFs on the dangers of commission-free ETF trading. Recently, custodians have been offering commission-free trading on ETFs, but many believe this can encourage misbehaving. Matt lays out the big picture in regards to the market and the opportunity. During this episode, he highlights the benefit and the behavioral risk of commission-free trading. The benefit is that those paying commissions will experience a leveling of the playing field. On the flip side, the behavioral risk is resisting the temptation to trade more frequently. Just because you can trade something doesn’t mean you should.

The adage, “There’s no free lunch” continues to ring true today. Custodians will make money somehow, and it is important for you to understand that. Investors should be grateful for the recent drop in commissions, but there is a behavioral risk that is attached to commission-free trading. You can learn more about these dangers and the need for having an investor behavioral coach by visiting our philosophy page.