BFSG Blog

Financial Resources & News

Explore the Types of Retirement Accounts and What is Best for You?

Pretend for a while that you are 40 years old and about to make an additional $10,000 per year with your new job that just started today, January 2, 2024. You are ecstatic about your future, and you go into your new HR manager’s office with all smiles ready to discuss details of your benefits package. You sit down and see that you have a 401(k) available with a Roth option and the ability to...

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There’s Still Time to Fund an IRA for 2023

The tax filing deadline is fast approaching, which means time is running out to fund an IRA for 2023. If you had earned income last year, you may be able to contribute up to $6,500 for 2023 ($7,500 for those age 50 or older by December 31, 2023) up until your tax return due date, excluding extensions. For most people, that date is Monday, April 15, 2024. You can contribute to a traditional IRA,...

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Tax Planning Strategies to Reduce Your Tax Burden Now (2023 Update)

By:  Arash Navi, CFP®, CPA, Controller & Wealth Manager Our goal is to help our clients build and grow their wealth and tax planning plays an important role in this process. We recommend that you mark your calendar to review your finances in the first week of October, annually. Take this time to review your income for the year from employment, businesses, investments, or any other...

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There’s Still Time to Fund an IRA for 2022

The tax filing deadline is fast approaching, which means time is running out to fund an IRA for 2022. If you had earned income last year, you may be able to contribute up to $6,000 for 2022 ($7,000 for those age 50 or older by December 31, 2022) up until your tax return due date, excluding extensions. For most people, that date is Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The IRS has postponed the deadline to...

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Federal Income Tax Returns Due for Most Individuals

The federal income tax filing deadline for individuals is generally Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The IRS has postponed the deadline to file federal income tax returns and make tax payments for certain New York storm victims until May 15, 2023, and to July 31, 2023, for certain Mississippi storm victims. The deadline has been postponed for disaster-area taxpayers in most of California and parts of...

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Potential Long-Term Benefits of Utilizing Backdoor Roth Conversions

By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager “Who can it be knocking at my door?” It’s the Men at Work and Women at Work in Congress(1) with new retirement legislation, SECURE Act 2.0. While this new legislation has many positive changes, many of those changes come with added complexity to how the Traditional IRA and Roth IRA contribution limits and catch-up contribution amounts are...

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Financial Misadvise: Common mistakes and assumptions made by Financial Advisors (Part 3: Roth Conversions)

(This is the third article in a four-part series. Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2.) By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager Mr. Hill arrived in Texas and is eager to talk to his parents about the Roth Conversion idea that he overheard his boss talking about at work last week. Mr. Hill does not know his parents’ finances and just believes that a Roth Conversion will be a good idea...

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Best Account to Open for Your Kids Future

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner As parents we always want to see our kids succeed and do better than we did. This means many times we want to invest in their future for various things. Most of the time parents want to save for education, but there could be other reasons to save.  For example, helping them buy their first home, seed money to start their business venture, or...

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Types of Investment Accounts for each Stage of Life

By:  Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager Investing is a broad concept that has a wide array of definitions that differ depending on whom you ask.  If you ask a recent college graduate, parents in their early 40s with two young children, and an elderly retired couple to define what investing means to them, you will probably get three wildly different answers. They all have different...

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Now Might Be a Good Time for a Roth Conversion

One silver lining in the current bear market is that this could be a good time to convert assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Converted assets are subject to federal income tax in the year of conversion, which might be a substantial tax bill. However, if assets in your traditional IRA have lost value, you will pay taxes on a lower asset base when you convert. If all conditions are met,...

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Emergency Reserves Can Help You Stick to Your Goals

By:  Michael Allbee, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager Volatility or down markets only become a problem if you’re forced to liquidate at the wrong time. If you have enough cash to get you through, you’re going to come out fine on the other side most of the time. We generally recommend setting aside funds to cover 3-6 months’ (6-12 months’ if retired) worth of non-discretionary living expenses...

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What is the Roth 5-Year Rule?

Actually, there are three five-year rules you need to know about. The first five-year rule determines when you can begin receiving tax-free qualified distributions from your Roth IRA.  Withdrawals from your Roth IRA — including both your contributions and any investment earnings — are completely tax- and penalty-free if you satisfy a five-year holding period and one of the following...

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Tax-Free Investing with In-Plan Roth’s and Roth IRAs

By:  Crystal Kessler, CFP®, Wealth Advisor/Financial Planner There is a lot of confusion when it comes to In-Plan Roth’s (i.e., Roth 401k or Roth 403b) and a Roth IRA. Throughout this article we will refer to just Roth 401ks but know the rules we refer to for Roth 401ks apply to other In-Plan Roth’s like 403bs. It is important to realize that these are two completely different investment...

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IRS Announces 2022 Retirement Account Contribution Limits

The Treasury Department has announced inflation-adjusted figures for retirement account savings for 2022. While contribution limits are up for workplace plans, contribution limits for Individual Retirement Accounts are stuck at 2019 levels. Inflation means you can—and probably should—contribute more to your workplace retirement account in 2022. Check out the new limits here. Disclosure: BFSG...

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Mega Back Door Roth Conversions

There may be potentially a way for you to put up to $37,500 in a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) this year. The goal here is to put as much money as possible into a Roth account to take full advantage of the tax-free growth. This is a wonderful strategy for the lucky few who qualify and can take advantage of it. The reality is that your employer-sponsored plan may not allow it. Let us take a closer look...

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