Posts by Patrick Villanova:
How much cash do you have in your portfolio? While conventional wisdom suggests limiting the size of your cash position, a recent study from Dalbar calls for holding enough cash and cash equivalents to cover five years’ worth of expenses. Read more
Social Security benefits and housing expenses are two of the most important elements of a successful financial plan in retirement. While Social Security is the primary source of income for many retirees, housing can be their biggest monthly expense. Read more
The IRS has good news for retirees starting in 2022: you can now keep more money in your tax-deferred retirement accounts thanks to lower required minimum distributions (RMDs). Read more
How much will you need to save before you can retire? It’s a simple question at the root of most people’s plans for their golden years. Answering it, however, can be far more complicated. Read more
When selecting a financial advisor, there are a number of things you should consider, including an advisor’s professional credentials, fee structure and investing philosophy, not to mention your… Read more
Not all couples can afford to buy a home and have the wedding of their dreams. Some must choose between the two or postpone one in favor of the other. The Netflix reality series “Marriage or Mortgage… Read more
A workplace 401(k) can be a great tool for retirement savings, but it isn’t the only way to build a nest egg for the future. If you don’t have access to a 401(k), there are a variety of alternatives… Read more
Buying and selling stocks involves paying capital gains taxes. How much you’ll owe depends on the amount of your earnings and how long you hold the stocks. While high-earners can pay as much as 37%… Read more
The HEMS standard is used in estate planning to guide trustees in how and when they should release funds to a beneficiary. By including HEMS language in a trust, you can exert greater control over… Read more
Retirement savers are no longer limited to traditional assets like stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Instead, they can now invest in cryptocurrency through self-directed individual retirement accounts… Read more
When a person uses a will to leave property to their family, friends or the causes they support, the act is known as a bequest. A bequest can be the cash, investments, jewelry or other items that a… Read more
Cash dividends are so last year. A blockchain infrastructure company will break new ground in March when it issues its first Bitcoin dividend to shareholders. BTCS Inc. announced Wednesday that it… Read more
A self-proving affidavit is a sworn document that attests to the validity of a will. While not required, a self-proving affidavit can speed up the probate process and render the court testimony of… Read more
An inter-vivos trust or living trust is a legal arrangement that allows a person to transfer ownership of assets to a trust while they are still alive. Inter-vivos trusts distribute property to… Read more
An AB trust is a legal arrangement for married couples that can minimize estate taxes by splitting assets between two separate trusts when one spouse dies. While a federal provision that went into… Read more
In 2021, millions of Americans voluntarily left their jobs every month in what is now called the “Great Resignation.” Some were burnt out, while others quit to look for better pay or new careers. A… Read more
Money can’t buy happiness directly, but it seems like paying a financial advisor sure can help. A new survey found people with more than $1.2 million in household assets report higher levels of… Read more
How much will you spend in retirement? This is a vital question to ponder as you approach your golden years. After all, a successful retirement plan not only focuses on the accumulation of money and… Read more
When it comes to claiming Social Security, most retirees can’t wait to start collecting those checks. A 2020 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that more than 70% of Social Security… Read more
John Bogle, the father of index investing and founder of the Vanguard Group, revolutionized the investment industry when his company rolled out the world’s first index mutual fund in 1976. Read more
Investors looking to add an income boost to their portfolios now have a new option. John Hancock Investment Management announced this week the launch of its Preferred Income ETF (JHPI), an exchange… Read more
The era of easy money is coming to a close and value investing may be due for a comeback. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its plan to cool off red hot inflation by curtailing monthly bond… Read more
Layoffs and unemployment were early economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. But 20 months after the pandemic shut down large swathes of the economy, businesses are contending with a new… Read more
Rampant inflation and rising consumer prices aren’t just impacting Americans’ finances today, it’s worrying them about tomorrow. Americans now view inflation as the biggest financial threat to their… Read more
2021 offered investors a robust recovery from the early economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic. But will it hold in 2022? A survey of 500 institutional investors from around the world by Natixis… Read more
