Blog

CalHFA ADU Grants Explained

One of the most common questions we get about home remodels is regarding ADU’s, or Accessory Dwelling Units. Accessory Dwelling Units are separate dwelling areas that are on the same land as a detached house.

Would Your Spouse Be Able To Pick Up the Pieces?

QCD Your RMD?

529 Plans & Military Academies

How Credit Score is Established & Used for Young Adults

IRS Announces Increase in 2022 Retirement Account Contributions

The IRS recently announced an increase in retirement account contributions, allowing savers to put away extra money in 2022. This announcement was made public in a release about cost-of-living adjustments for retirement plans next year...

ROTH IRA's (For Children)

The earlier your children can start investing, the greater their opportunity to build a sizable nest egg for the future. A ROTH IRA is an individual tax-advantaged retirement account in which qualified withdrawals are tax-free, and...

401(k) Explained

A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement plan made to ensure that employees have dedicated funds in retirement. It allows employees to dedicate a certain percentage of their pre-tax salary into a retirement account. These funds are...

Questions You Should Ask Your Financial Advisor Regularly

Many individuals struggle to know how to find the right financial advisor for their needs. However, once they round up a list of screening questions and find an advisor that they pair well with, they forget to ask additional questions...

Tips for College Entrants - SMU

It has been decades since I entered college as a wide eyed freshman. I came across these helpful tips from Southern Methodist University for entering freshmen year and I wanted to share. These tips are applicable to any entering...

Bi-Weekly Mortgage Programs

A certainty after you refinance or get a new home loan is that your mailbox will be full of offers for bad products. First you will see offers for mortgage insurance. This is expensive term insurance and you are much better off buying...

CalSavers Retirement Savings Program Explained

Retirement savings is a common benefit offered to attract and retain employees. It can be a valuable benefit, especially with company contributions that can vest over time, retaining key employees. If you are business owner reading...

Factors that Influence Inflation

Rising prices are more technically known as inflation. It is one of the primary topics of conversation with clients currently. With higher prices comes increased cost for everyday goods and services as well as the need to earn a return...

First Time Car Buyer Guide

The first steps to buying your first car is to determine what car you can afford and you need that car to do for you. A rule of thumb is to not spend more than 20% of your monthly take-home income on transportation. Once you divide...

Investment Framework: U.S. Health Care Services

This week we had a call with Capital Groups Natalya Zeman out of London where we touched on ESG (environmental social and governance) investing. Since we focus on clients in the healthcare sector we wanted to highlight some of the...

Moving Past Poor Financial Decisions

What is the worst financial decision you've ever made? Everyone has one, including financial advisors. Those prior decisions should not preclude you from consulting with an advisor due to guilt or embarrassment. The proactive decision...

Reasons You May Want to Rent Instead of Buying a Home

For those people who are not quite ready to purchase a home, renting is a very viable option compared to buying. Renters can save on many expenses such as taxes, insurance, and maintenance which homeowners have to take into...

How to Increase Your Credit Score

Since credit scores have become such a large part of our financial lives, it pays to keep track and understand how your decisions affect your score. You can build and take advantage of great credit regardless of your age or income. If...

Practice Owner Security Check

As a practice owner, you should add controlling employee theft to your list of items to be concerned about. Over the last two decades, I have received numerous calls from physician and dentist clients informing me that they had to...

ETF's Explained

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) offer a relatively simple way to invest which makes it low cost, flexible, simple, and easy to trade. An ETF is a basket of securities that tracks the performance of a specific market index – like the...

Target Date Retirement Funds Explained

Target Date Retirement funds are a professionally managed collection of mutual funds designed to help you invest for retirement and meet your changing financial needs over time. Each fund is made up of a broad range of investments....

How a Corporate Tax Hike would Impact Economic Recovery

In anticipation of the upcoming election next month, I have produced a series of short videos explaining different topics How a Corporate Tax Hike Could Affect Economic Recovery Policy VS Politics Corporate Tax Rates Click the link...

Which Sectors Perform the Best During an Election

In anticipation of the upcoming election next month, I have produced a series of short videos explaining different topics Which Sectors Perform Best During an Election? Positioning Portfolio for Election Years Historical Sector...

How to Invest in an Election Year

In anticipation of the upcoming election next month, I have produced a series of short videos explaining different topics How to Invest in an Election Year Political Volatility Economic Conditions/Fundamentals Click the link below to...

How the Winner of the US Election is Determined

In anticipation of the upcoming election next month, I have produced a series of short videos explaining different topics How the Winner of the US Election is Determined Electoral vs Popular Vote Vote Tallies Click the link below to...

2021 Contribution Numbers

The IRS just announced the new maximum contribution numbers for 2021. The most common contribution is the 401k or 403B and remains at $19,500. If 50 or older, there is the catchup of an additional $6,500. The aggregate with the 401k...

MassMutual Health Bridge Life Insurance Program

As we enter the third quarter of a year in which we experienced a pandemic, many health care workers were confronted with their own mortality. Life insurance is not something you think about most days but does need to be addressed. In...

Disability Insurance Buying Guide for Physicians Entering Practice

Without receiving a paycheck, how long would you be able to make your mortgage/rent payment, buy groceries or pay your bills without feeling tight about money? If you are like most people, it would not be long. 7 in 10 working...

Decision Tree for Physician Student Loans

Creating a plan for Repayment or forgiveness of student loans is one of the most important financial decisions a physician will make. You will likely go down one of two roads, refinancing and aggressively paying down loans or...

Assisting with Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

One of the challenges to completing public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) is diligent record keeping and making sure that the loan servicers record the correct information. We have created an Excel workbook to assist you by...

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, a good time to consider the importance of including life insurance in your financial plan. While this is not a topic that is enjoyable to think about on a daily basis, it is necessary if you...

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program

The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (Nurse Corps LRP) continues to be one of the most effective Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Programs available today. It provides loan repayment assistance to registered nurses and advanced...

My Thoughts on FIRE | Financial Independence Retire Early

I love the idea of financial independence and we work towards this every day with clients. The retire early part of this acronym is the part that I think is a bit more nuanced. We work primarily with medical and dental professionals...

Credit Freeze | How to Protect your Credit

A credit freeze is designed to prevent your sensitive data in your credit files from being accessed without your consent. Credit freezes protect you against fraudulent credit applications, even if somebody has your social security...

Gifting of Appreciated Stocks for Fall

The last couple of years have been good for certain stocks, especially technology names. If you are fortunate enough to own some shares that have appreciated significantly AND are charitably inclined, a technique called gifting of...

Having Appropriate Cash Reserves

It is always important to have a sufficient rainy-day fund, but with the current low rates and effects of inflation, it can be a leave you feeling a little wet. Each household is going to be different but here are some general...

Financial Awareness Day | August 14th

With National Financial Awareness Day coming up on August 14, we celebrate business owners, consumers, and investors who aspire to inch closer to financial independence by learning how to make solid financial decisions year after year....

Estate Planning for when Children Turn 18

If you are a parent, its often a bittersweet feeling seeing your children finally age into adulthood. Every parent likes to view their child as their baby, but once they turn 18 the law sees it much differently. At the age of 18,...

How Government Pension Offset may affect Social Security Benefits

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) is a social security rule that affects workers with government pensions who also receive social security benefits. It reduces spousal or survivor benefits by an amount equal to two-thirds the amount...

The Role of a CDFA®

In addition to my designation as a certified financial planner practitioner (CFP), I also am a certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA). In the role of CFP we make projections decades out for couples. When there is a dissolution of...

Guaranteeing Spousal Support

Let us assume you just completed your divorce agreement and are pleased with the alimony and child support received. The ex-spouse has a good paying job, so you are not worried about the ability to make the payments. Have you...

Planning Concerns for Divorcing Couples

While divorce is certainly a time of emotional turmoil, it's a time of financial burden as well. The change brought about by divorce can be particularly devastating to families with children and to older couples who have assigned the...

Maximizing Your Retirement with Pension Income

If you are a participant in a pension plan, you will Before retirement have to decide how your benefits will be paid out for the rest of your life? It is a very daunting decision to make, and that is why it is so important to be...

Business of Medicine Online Lecture Next Week! July 29 @ 5:30PM PST

For the last 20 years I have been delivering a Business of Medicine lecture teaching the next generation of physicians about the basics of financial planning including student loans, contract types, retirement planning, and risk...

Planning for Marriage

Planning for marriage involves more than just deciding whether to serve dinner at the reception and whether you should take a honeymoon cruise. If you are planning for marriage, you are faced with enormous responsibility of combining...

CalSavers Retirement Plans

With many Americans having saved almost nothing for retirement, it is more essential than ever for businesses and employers to help their employees stay ahead of the curve. Employees are much more likely to save for retirement when...

SIMPLE IRA Plans

If you are looking for a retirement plan for your employees that is easy and inexpensive, you may want to look at a SIMPLE IRA plan. Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers, or SIMPLE IRA plans allow employees to...

The New Tax Filing Date for 2020 Is Around the Corner

July 15, the new filing date for 2020 is around the corner As the Covid-19 Pandemic spread earlier this year, the federal government delayed the regular April 15th tax filing deadline until July 15th. This decision provided some...

Impact Investing - Driving Social Change while Producing Financial Returns

Investors around the globe are continuing to make investments for reasons other than purely financial gain. Impact investing is an investment approach made with the intention of generating positive social impact AND solid financial...

FICA Taxes - Social Security & Medicare Taxes Explained

FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which is a federal tax that both employees and employers pay throughout the year. FICA includes two types of taxes: Social Security Tax and Medicare tax. The current tax rate for...

The US Government's Biggest Financial Asset - Student Loan Debt

We tend to hear lots of things about government debt, but why don’t we ever hear about government assets? Student loans make up the biggest financial asset held by the federal government, and by an enormous margin. The rapid...

Resident counts by specialty

ACGME data on the just completed academic year by # of On-Duty Residents. Primary care leads the way but probably not enough to meet demand. J-1 visas and the rise in DO programs should help meet some of the PCP demand. By # of...

How the SECURE Act might affect your Retirement Planning

The new SECURE Act brings changes to long term retirements savings and tax laws for both workers and retirees. As part of a large government spending package signed into law in late 2019, congress laid out provisions from the Setting...

5 Tips for Graduating Residents

Transitioning out of residency? Here are five things to consider for this next phase: #1 Cash is King - You have been used to getting paid every month like clockwork but your new job might not start in July or could be based on...

Business of Medicine Resident lectures for 20-21 Academic Year

For the last 20 years I have been delivering a Business of Medicine lecture teaching the next generation of physicians about the basics of financial planning including student loans, contract types, retirement planning, and risk...

The Importance of Disability Insurance

Without receiving your paycheck, how long would you be able to make your mortgage/rent payment, buy groceries or pay your bills without feeling tight about money? If you’re like most people, it wouldn’t be long: 7 in 10...

Health Savings Account Plans

Let's say you're relatively young, healthy and are interested in saving taxes. A health savings account could be just what the doctor ordered to reduce current tax as well setting aside money for a future need. A health savings account...

Student Loan Strategies

Recent medical school graduates are entering residency with approximately $251,600 1 in loans, which is likely to top $300,000 by the time residency is completed. Developing a plan is one of the most important financial decisions a...

If you are seeking Public Service Loan Forgiveness you should fill out this form (ECF)

Medical Residents – Before you finish your academic year, now is the time to complete the Employment Certification Form (ECF) if you are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). In order to ensure you’re on the...

Lost your Job or Changing Jobs? Know your 401(k) Options

Lost your Job or Changing Jobs? Know your 401(k) Options If you have recently lost your job or are changing jobs due to the recent coronavirus pandemic, you may be wondering what to do with your 401(k) account. It is important to stay...

Married Filing Separate | Loan Repayment

Married filing separately rarely makes sense from an income tax perspective when considering student loans, but there is a scenario where it should get a second look. The two popular income driven repayment plans, PAYE (Pay As You Earn...

How Do I Return a Stimulus Check if the Payee is Deceased?

Payments from the multi trillion dollar coronavirus relief package have gone out across the United States, and while some Americans are still waiting for their checks to arrive, there are possibly millions of people who have received...

Foodbanks: a way to help at this time

Recently we have had many discussions with clients about how to help those in need during the Covis-19 crisis. With unemployment spiking and the government response taking more time than we would like, food banks are a much-needed part...

Who owns my mortgage?

While we hope that this economic slowdown will be short-lived, we realize many will have difficulty paying their mortgages. Fortunately the Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUB) has implemented a temporary moratorium on...

Corona Virus and the markets

If you’re following the news, you already know that financial markets across the globe have experienced increased volatility over the last several weeks, and particularly in the last several days. This bumpy performance is driven...

Accessing national student loan data systems (NSLDS) file

For anyone pursuing federal loan forgiveness, you should access your federal loan file with the Department of Education. Surprisingly it comes as a text file and contains a history of all federal loans including months counted towards...

Residency lecture series for 2019-2020 class year

If you are reading this entry there's a good chance you have attended one of my Business of Medicine lectures in the past. While the rest of this year is booked, there are few available times before the June graduation. The topics we...

I have completed the certified divorce financial analyst designation

It has been 15 years since I was studying for the CFP exam that I have been buried in textbooks. I just completed the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst designation. Why? Recently I had received several referrals from estate planning...

Balancing a First Time Home Purchase with a Mountain of Students Loans

Today's graduating resident or fellow faces a daunting challenge of managing an average of $157,944 in student loan debt according to the College Board, with saving for a down payment on a home. In today's lending world a minimum 20%...

Sitting tight: Why electing a lump sum payout may not make sense

One of the most difficult analysis that a financial advisors can be asked to make is whether a client should take a lump sum or a monthly pension. Most pensions are covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) which aims to...

Where is your index Putin its money?

In July, MSCI the creator of many popular indices created two new indices that invest globally while excluding Russian companies. This highlights the difficult nature of an index fund which includes multiple countries. In a global...

Social Security Planning for the Same-Sex Couple Post DOMA

In California where my office is located, same sex couples have the same rights to Social Security Benefits as any other married couple. With this new benefit available, which claiming strategy is best? Opposite sex couples may have...

Where are the Billionaires

A recent report by Forbes mapped out the worlds billionaires. This exclusive club has 1,587 members of which 512 are in the US and Canada. Asia has grown to #2 with 403 and Europe third with 343. Latin America, Russia, and other...

Hank Williams and Fayed

Writing from 30,000 feet on my way home from Nashville I wanted to share an interesting observation. There are a noticeable amount of Egyptians in Music City. Time and time again at my hotel, I would see a name tag and it would give...

Columbia, Egypt, and Indonesia: Oh my!

With approximately half the stock market value being concentrated in the US, it is no surprise that we Americans tend to invest the majority of our assets in our home country. This is called "home country bias" and occurs in most...

Scotland: If had a vote it would be NO

Today Scotish nationalists are asking their voting population(as young as 16 years old) to vote for separation from England. While I don't normally chime in with my political opinion I think it is rather obvious what a destabilizing...

Vertical integration of affordable care organizations (ACOs)

The consolidation of hospitals owning private physician practices is not showing a reduction in the price and actually increased costs for the privately insured according to researchers at Stanford University(2001-2007). There is a...

Conrad 30: Opportunity for foreign medical graduates

The Conrad 30 program, named for Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota is meant to address physician's shortages in primary care in rural and urban areas by granting visa waivers. There are many parallels to the technology industry where...

Calculated risk and the Royals in the World Series

In reflecting on the last two weeks in the market which have been quite volatile, we are reminded how much uncertainty there is in the world. At the beginning of the season the Royals were about a 50 to 1 shot to win the World Series...

Managing Your Assets In Retirement-Strategies

There are several income producing strategies that can be used in combination with the underlying investments. There is no guarantee any of these strategies will be successful. Speak with a financial professional to determine which...

Risks to Consider in Retirement Defined

There are several risks to consider when developing a plan for managing your assets in retirement. Not all people will have equal exposure to these risks, yet it is important to keep these risks in mind when developing a retirement...

Can you spell EFC on the FAFSA?

We are entering the season when parents of college age parents start completing the FAFSA form with the hope of catching a small amount of money from the murky pond of financial .aid. This is no small task with over 100 inputs.(105 to...

Interest rates - Look out not up

As I write this, the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve is speaking on policy and painfully answering the partisan questions of the Senators in front of her. The dual mandate of the Federal Reserve is to encourage full employment in the...

529 plan distributions to lower your golf handicap

In the unfortunate circumstance where your 18-year-old child who you have groomed to go to college decides to take a shot at being in a band instead of attending your alma mater what you do with their 529 plan? You can of course...

Facebook lets you choose an executor for your digital estate

We often think about putting our houses in the trust or providing a safety deposit box key to a loved one but who will handle your digital assets after death. To name a legacy contacts at Facebook, go to your security settings and edit...

Time well spent

I can't even remember one gift I got for my 12th birthday but I have vivid memories of what I did. My parents had some semi pro skaters that I am sure could use some spending cash stop by for a demonstration for me and my friends. All...

3-2-1 Heloc timebomb

Did you remember that the home equity life of credit you took out before the hosing market imploded was set to amortize in ten years instead of the current interest only requirement? No? Well you are not alone. According to Equifax and...

Impact investing - a new buzzword for the greater good

The difference between socially responsible and impacting investing at first was lost on me. Socially responsible investments are often difficult to define as investors often have different values and beliefs so one investment that is...

Cap Rate - basic lingo for the real estate investor

If you don't know the term cap rate, consider yourself a real estate beginner. A basic way of measuring the profitability and price of a property is through a term called cap rate. It is basically dividing the annual income produced by...

Economics of Home Solar

I finally took the plunge and decided to install solar on my house. Panels are continually improving but I figured they had advanced dramatically and future improvements would be more incremental in terms of the efficiency. As a...

Comparison of individual and group long-term disability

Group long-term disability provided by your employer is a helpful benefit but this post will point out key differences. Ownership - coverage is individually owned as opposed to being leased from employerRates and renewal - typically...

Modeling a future without Social Security

When we create retirement income models, often the response when mentioning Social Security is something like "if it still exists." While we don't believe those in or close to retirement will see any reduction, there have been...

Credit Report Monitoring

There are a host of sites offering free credit reports. While these companies for a fee will give you access to your credit report and monitor changes, if you just want access to the report the website set up by the three providers www...