When do you rebalance your retirement accounts? You have chosen and implemented an asset allocation (the percentage of stocks and bonds in your portfolio) that matches your desired risk and reward level. But you just received your year-end retirement account statement. The weighting of each asset class in your portfolio has changed! What happened? Over […]
Author Archive | Michael Wroblewski, CFP®
Financial Goals – How Much By When?
I often advise clients on how to set financial goals. One technique I use is to ask “how much by when?” Answering this question is a good way to put meat on the bones. It makes your financial goal concrete. The technique also provides an easy way to check whether you achieved your goal. One […]
A Financial Planner’s New Rhythm
As 2015 comes to a close, I’m taking stock of my first calendar year as a self-employed, fee-only, Certified Financial Planner™ in Washington, DC. For me its been all about establishing a new “rhythm.” I needed a new rhythm because my daily activities changed. Gone was the structured environment of a government policy maker and […]
Year-End Financial Checklist
Try to do at least three things from this year-end financial checklist. Doing so will tidy up your 2015 finances and start your 2016 on the right financial foot. 1. Don’t leave money on the table. If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) for health care expenses or dependent care, and you haven’t used […]
Retirees Win With a Fiduciary Duty
The Obama Administration proposed this summer to impose a fiduciary duty on financial advisors that provide retirement advice. This duty includes the duties of due care, loyalty, and utmost good faith when advising a client. This proposal puts investors’ retirement interests first rather than the profit interest of the advisor selling a financial product that may […]
How to Shop for Medicare Plans
You often can find a better Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) Plan, a Part D Prescription Drug Plan, or a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plan if you shop every year. You don’t necessarily need to switch plans, but you can use these tips to ensure your current coverage is still appropriate at the lowest cost. Take […]
How to Repay and Forgive Student Loans
Direct Student Loan borrowers now have more flexibility to repay, and ultimately to have forgiven, their student loans. The Obama Administration recently finalized a new income-driven student loan repayment plan, called Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE). The rules allow all Direct Student Loan borrowers to be eligible for the repayment plan, provide an upper […]
Is a High-Deductible Health Plan Good?
Use these six tips to decide whether a high-deductible health plan is good for you. These plans have an accompanying Health Savings Account (HSA) that you can use to save for medical expenses that you will have to pay before the plan begins to pay its share. High-deductible health plans are worthy of consideration by the healthy […]
Phase Out of Social Security File-and-Suspend Strategy
Congress recently began to phase out file-and-suspend Social Security claiming strategies that married couples have used to maximize their lifetime benefits. The upshot is that married couples will be treated like singles: the combination claiming strategies are now generally eliminated. But if you are at least 62 in 2015 and you haven’t claimed Social Security […]
Maryland’s Prepaid College Trust Can Diversify Savings
Maryland offers both a prepaid 529 plan as well as an investment fund plan that, when used together, can diversify your college savings. In the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, you purchase semesters of tuition at today’s prices. No matter how much the cost of tuition increases, you have paid the tuition for the number of […]