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Avoiding Costly Mistakes with Your IRA Distributions

Posted By Lineweaver Financial Group
February 21, 2018 Category: RMD, IRA, Distribution, Taxes

At age 70 you need to be aware of these rules.  If you have retirement accounts, the IRS has allowed you to have assets growing in those accounts without paying income taxes on the income or gains. At age 70 ½, the IRS wants to begin taxing those accounts by making you take money out, whether you want to or not. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are one of those facts of life that many dread, and that make life even more confusing and complicated. Let’s try and reduce the confusion. For retirement account owners, the RMD rules apply to Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, qualified plans like 401ks, 403(b)  and governmental 457(b) accounts. The RMD rules do not apply to Roth IRA owners, but they do apply to Roth IRA beneficiaries. If a non-spouse inherits a Roth IRA, they are required to take RMDs no matter what their age is, just like the non-spouse beneficiary of all retirement accounts. A word of caution: if you inherit an IRA from someone other than your spouse, you must begin taking RMDs the year after the death of the owner, not when you reach 70 ½. Penalty for non-compliance, 50% of the amount you should have withdrawn! Generally, your first RMD is due for the year you reach age 70.5. However, you need not start receiving distributions from your retirement account until your required beginning date (RBD). Generally, your RBD is April 1 of the year following the year you reach age 70.5. If you are still employed at age 70.5 and you parti

How We Help Protect Your Portfolio in a Market Pullback

Posted By Lineweaver Financial Group
February 07, 2018 Category: Market, Market Pullback, Reallocation

What Happened in the Markets This Past Week? After a period of historic market tranquility in 2017, a few weeks ago we reallocated and rebalanced our portfolios in order to provide greater opportunities and to help reduce risk going forward into 2018. With the rapidly changing market conditions of the last week, it’s more important than ever to be sure you are diversified, and properly balanced and allocated. Because we took a pro-active approach to managing our clients' accounts, they are in a better position to weather the volatility that has been generally absent from the markets for the past year. On Monday, February 5th, the S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) both fell more than 4%, marking the worst one-day percentage decline since August 2011. When combined with declines from last Friday, the last two trading sessions resulted in these indices falling more than 6%, bringing the indices back to levels as of mid-December 2017. Remarkably, the recent sell-off ends a streak of more than 400 trading sessions since the last time the S&P 500 Index had experienced a 5% pullback (dating back to the Brexit vote of June 2016). Asset Class Index January Return February Return (through Feb 5th) YTD-2018 Return (through Feb 5th) U.S. Large Cap S&P 500 5.7% -6.1% -0.8% U.S. Large Cap Dow Jones Ind Avg 5.8% -6.9% -1.5% U.S. Small

The Top Financial Strategies of the Wealthy

Posted By Lineweaver Financial Group
February 01, 2018 Category: Top Financial Strategies Of The Wealthy

"One of the reasons that millionaires are economically successful is that they think differently," according to Thomas J. Stanley, author of the well-known book The Millionaire Next Door. And, in our experience, it’s true - their advantage in life is not a rare financial privilege, but rather basic values, discipline, and a couple of key principles and strategies that we want to share with you today. 1. Delay Gratification Many financially successful individuals will create a “waiting period” before they make a major purchase. 2. Don’t Live Beyond Your Means One way to think about wealth is that it’s not what you make, it’s what you spend. If you’re living beneath your means and saving and investing a significant portion of your income, that will grow over time. A good number to start with is 20%. 3. Pay Yourself First Twenty percent is a great starting point, but your goals may dictate more or less. Many people use the 50/30/20 rule – 50% to necessities, 30% flexible spending, and 20% toward your financial goals. 4. Set Goals Financially successful people tend to view all their financial decisions through the lens of their long-term goals. 5. Debt is A Tool If used correctly, debt can help you build wealth. We all know that high interest credit cards that we don’t pay off each month are considered bad debt. But, purchasing a rental property, and then using the monthly rent paym