Bruce Starks, CPA, CFP® – Page 7

Millennials Financial Milestone Survey

CFP® Certificants in the News Let’s face it, millennials get a bad rap at times in the popular press over their financial discipline. But couldn’t most of us do better at this discipline? Is everything we read on the internet true and unbiased? After reading this article, we encourage you to consider that, just like…

Dependent Care Assistance Plan

Course: Retirement PlanningLesson 9: Building Retirement Wealth by Maximizing Fringe Benefits Student Question: Is a Dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCAP) funded by an Flexible Spending Account the same thing as a Dependent Care FSA? If not, could you provide some additional info as to how the two would work together (could an individual utilize both…

Women’s Guide to Social Security Retirement Benefits

Good to Know This article is the first in a series of Social Security retirement topics for women, including guides for: Married Women, Divorcees, and Single Women. We begin with retirement benefits for married women. Spousal Retirement Benefits We don’t have to like certain demographic facts to help our clients plan around them. Here’s a…

Custodial Accounts and Gifting

Course: Estate PlanningLesson 13: Case Study Online Student Question: If a check given by Mary to Peter was deposited into a custodial acct where Mary was the custodian, doesn’t that mean that Mary didn’t give up ALL control, so it’s not a complete gift? Instructor Response: That’s a great way to approach completed gift questions!…

Government Debt Part 3: How Much is Too Much?

Good to Know How Much Government Debt Is Too Much? In this, our final article in the series, we’ll review what experts and economists believe is an economically sustainable level of government debt. Government Debt to GDP Ratio A nation’s government debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio puts government debt into context. Implicit in…

Value of Life Insurance in Buy-Sell Agreements

Course: Insurance PlanningLesson 17: Business Uses of Life Insurance Student Question: Do buy sell agreements accounts for projected growth of the company? Do the life insurance benefits increase over time to account for projected growth, or perhaps can they invest and grow conservatively to keep up with inflation (or COLA on the plan)? Instructor Response:…

Financial Advisor vs. Do-It-Yourself Investing

CFP® Certificants in the News There’s an old pilot’s joke about the increasing automation of the cockpit that goes something like this: The ideal flight crew is one pilot and a dog. The pilot’s role is to feed the dog. The dog’s role is to bite the pilot if they try to touch any of…

Interest Rate Risk in a Bond

Course: Investment PlanningLesson 10: Fixed Income Securities Analysis Student Question: I’m not clear why holders of long-term bonds are subject to interest rate risk. If a 20-year bond is purchased at par with a coupon rate of 6.25% ($62.50/year), it seems to me that the investor would still receive $62.50 a year regardless of interest rate changes. What…

National Debt Part 2: Private Sector Perspectives

Good to Know This blog article is the second in a three-part series, including: Federal agency perspectives, Private sector perspectives, and Summary comparison. How does our national debt impact the private sector in the United States? Unsurprisingly, economic experts do not unanimously agree that our rising national debt to gross domestic product ratio is cause…

Equitable Distributions

Course: Investment PlanningLesson 9: Fixed Income Securities Student Question: This page explains how the basis for inherited property is affected for common-law states and community property states. How is it affected for equitable distribution states like Florida? Instructor Response: Only marital property is subject to equitable distribution in most common law property states. The purpose…