For Mark Roberts' Use: Throughout the busy holiday season, Congress and the new tax plan remained hot topics in the news. Yes, they did finally reach an agreement, and our income tax structure will undergo a significant renovation. It can often be difficult to ascertain exactly how these events will play out for individuals, but [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Now that the new year has begun, you might be informed that you have earned a raise. Perhaps you’re even still holding onto that year-end bonus you received last month. Or, with the economy continuing to improve, maybe you just expect to earn higher commissions this year. Whatever the reason for [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Part of retirement planning also involves planning for your spouse's (or other heirs') needs in the event that something happens to you. If you pass away sooner than you had imagined, you might leave a considerable amount of money in your retirement account. And of course, most of us have other [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: December has arrived, and with it we receive holiday cheer, crowded shopping malls, sparkling decorations everywhere we look, and fake charity scams. Wait, what? Yes, you unfortunately read that correctly. While most of us are feeling joyful and generous, a few unscrupulous sorts are feeling greedy and manipulative. And if we [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: We often tell our clients that retirement is a marathon, not a sprint. So yes, it is important to establish a retirement savings goal, and work steadily toward meeting it over a number of years (or decades, even). However, that doesn’t mean you should never sit down and re-evaluate your strategy. [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Those of us who consider ourselves to be rational people, well educated on financial issues, tend to believe that we could never fall for a fraudulent money scam. Maybe it’s because we think these things aren’t all that common, and they mostly just happen on TV. Or perhaps it’s because we [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Who thinks about their federal income taxes during the summer? Probably not many people, but that would be a mistake. Planning for taxes throughout the year is one of the best ways to make filing your taxes easier and faster next spring. It can also save you some money. In particular, planning [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Have you been solicited by a con artist lately? And would you recognize a fraudulent money scam, if it happened to you? According to a recent report by FINRA Investor Education Foundation, odds are high that you have already been approached by at least one fraudster. In fact, 84 percent of Americans [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Now that April has ended, most of us have finished filing our income taxes for 2016. Or, at the very least, you filed an extension and bought yourself some breathing room until October. Whew! So you’re done with tax concerns until next spring, right? Unfortunately, no, you’re never really “finished” with taxes! [...]