Archives

Home News

9 Financial Moves to Make Before You Ring in 2023

Nine takeaways:

Amid a great deal of uncertainty, we should all be looking for ways to prepare our finances for the year ahead. This article provides 9 tactics you can take to do so:

  1. Update Your Budget – New market conditions call for a new, and possibly more conservative, budget. A disciplined approach to spending can alleviate the burden of stress that comes from spending more than you earn.
  2. Make a Plan for Your Student Loans – For those with student debt, note that federal student loan payments are still paused. That said, do not anticipate that pause being indefinite; be careful with any money saved. Be ready for the payment pause to come to an end. MAP suggests continuing paying down any student debt that you may have as deferred interest will offer advantageous benefits to pay down principal faster.
  3. Open a high-yield savings account – Banks like Capital One are offering yields as high as 3% (be weary of fees). MAP encourages buying low-risk fixed income investments with cash reserves to enhance yield on your cash.
  4. Prioritize paying down high-interest debt – Rising interest rates are good for savers but can make your debt more expensive. If interest rates keep rising, consider consolidating CC debt with a personal loan, which can be more cost-effective if the loan has a lower APR. Analyze your debt, and find a deal that best aligns with your goals.
  5. Save a little extra in retirement accounts – In 2023, the contribution limit for 401(k)s increases to $22,500 (and to $30,000 for those over 50 years of age). Even if you can’t max out retirement contributions, try increasing them slightly. Even a small amount can add up generously over time. In lieu of employer-sponsored retirement accounts don’t forget about your Traditional and Roth IRA accounts which have contribution limits up to $6,000.
  6. Spend down your FSA – If you have a Flexible Spending Account through your health insurance, you likely lose unspent money when midnight strikes on December 31st. Check out FSAstore.com or Amazon’s FSA store to easily find products and services eligible for your remaining funds.
  7. Check Your credit report – Now is the time for a check of your credit report for inaccuracies or possible fraud, or just to see what adjustments are needed to bring up your score. Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ where you can access Equifax, Transunion, and Experian for free.
  8. Evaluate tax loss harvesting opportunities – It has been a turbulent year in the markets. Tax loss harvesting is a strategy that reduces capital gains taxes. It may be worth asking your financial advisor about this strategy.
  9. Consider a Roth Conversion – A down market can be favorable when converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA as it can potentially result in a lower tax bill at conversion. Also, any market rebound that might occur will grow tax-free in a Roth Account. While this strategy sounds attractive and is potentially viable for some, it warrants further conversation with your advisor and/or CPA.

From Alicia Adamczyk for Fortune
Read the whole story.

Note: At the time of this posting Fortune requires subscription to view their articles.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC and MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors are not responsible for and do not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third party website. The information and material contained in linked articles is of a general nature and is intended for educational purposes only. Links to articles do not constitute a recommendation or a solicitation or offer of the purchase or sale of securities.

Nine Nonobvious Ways to Have Deeper Conversations

Five takeaways:

  1. Deeper conversations help people become explicable to each other and themselves. They are tools of building self awareness and greater, more compassionate understanding of the world around us.
  2. Remember to approach conversations with a sense of awe. C.S. Lewis once wrote that if you’d never met a human and suddenly encountered one, “you’d be inclined to worship this creature.”
  3. Asking “elevating” questions (What crossroads are you at? Who do you feel most grateful to have in your life?) can spur deeper answers.
  4. Avoid questions that have a clear yes or no answer. Open ended questions allow for deeper, flowing answers. Starting questions with “What was it like. …” or “Tell me about a time. …” is a great starting point.
  5. Treat attention as “all or nothing.” Full, undivided attention will unlock deeper questions and greater conversational flow, and have a magnetic effect on your conversation partner.

From David Brooks at The New York Times:

Read the whole story.

Note: You will need a free account with The New York Times to view this article. At the time of this posting The Times offers ten free article views per month.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC and MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors are not responsible for and do not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third party website. The information and material contained in linked articles is of a general nature and is intended for educational purposes only. Links to articles do not constitute a recommendation or a solicitation or offer of the purchase or sale of securities.

A Profession Is Not a Personality

Five takeaways:

  1. In today’s fast-paced work culture, too many of us “self-objectify” in the workplace, striving past our own physical or mental comfort zones to become “work machines” and “tools of performance.”
  2. If work conditions give us the feeling of “being used as a tool,” rather than feeling recognized and valuable in a work environment, and not being recognized as an agent in the working environment, we are more likely to experience burnout, depression, and other workplace issues.
  3. Brooks wants readers to ask themselves: Is your job the biggest part of your identity? Do you find yourself sacrificing love relationships for work? Do you have trouble imagining being happy if you were to lose your job or career? If you answer in the affirmative, to any or all of these, you might accidentally be self-objectifying in the workplace.
  4. Brooks offers two helpful tactics to self-objectifying in the workplace: 1) enforcing a strict work/life boundary on weekends and on vacations and 2) Spend time with people who have no connection to your work.
  5. Brooks notes that it takes courage to experience your full life and true self when work demands so much of us, but that we must!

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:

Read the whole story.

Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC and MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors are not responsible for and do not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third party website. The information and material contained in linked articles is of a general nature and is intended for educational purposes only. Links to articles do not constitute a recommendation or a solicitation or offer of the purchase or sale of securities.

Persuading the Unpersuadable

Takeaways:

  1. Grant studies Steve Jobs as an example of someone who was famously willing to be persuaded by those around him– and points to multiple world-changing Apple successes that he had initially opposed, including the Iphone and AppleTV.
  2. He points to four tactics for persuading someone to reconsider their positions:
    • Ask them to explain their positions in extreme depth, which shows them that they may not know a topic as well as they think they do
    • Make them feel that they are in control of the conversation, then turn persuasion into a gradual “a game of catch,” chipping away at holes in their positions and displaying the merits of yours.
    • Praise a narcissist – earn their trust by praising those who believe that their correctness is a part of their personal worth.
    • Disagree with people who tend to be Disagreeable– politely fight for your ideas to show your conviction in them.
  3. Persuasion is an important part of progress, Grant argues that, “When leaders lack the wisdom to question their convictions, followers need the courage to persuade them to change their minds.”

From Adam Grant at Harvard Business Review:

Read the whole story.

Note: At the time of this posting Harvard Business Review offers four free article views per month.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC and MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors are not responsible for and do not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third party website. The information and material contained in linked articles is of a general nature and is intended for educational purposes only. Links to articles do not constitute a recommendation or a solicitation or offer of the purchase or sale of securities.
Wealth Advisors | A Member of Advisory Services Network, LLC
Address: 10345 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 110, Los Angeles, CA 90064
Telephone: 310-601-4095

© Copyright 2024 MAP STRATEGIC WEALTH ADVISORS