Finance – MD Update

Crisis and Cures

September 1, 2018September 10, 2018 Scott Neal available cash, can plan, circumstance, crisis, crisis mindset, cure, difficult situation, effect of a crisis, effect of crisis, emotional stress, emotional stress of a difficult situation, emotional turbulence, experience of crisis, hopelessness, imaginary crisis, intense difficulty, natural response, negative emotion, negative stress, non-anxious, non-anxious presence, outright panic, personal financial crisis, practice risk management, prolonged period of negative stress, pursue activity, Scott Neal, significant roadblock, sound financial plan, stress, stress of a crisis, stress-reducing activity, time of intense difficulty, time of personal crisis, value of a plan

What exactly constitutes a personal financial crisis? Chief among those crises we have heard about is experiencing an event that

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Three Steps to Clearing Financial Clutter

June 1, 2018September 10, 2018 Scott Neal accumulated paper statement, automatic deposit, automatic notice, bank 's bill, busyness, cascade of information, cash flow, check statement, cloud-based software solution, credit union account, declutter, designated account, digital file system, drawer full of paper, Dropbox, eliminate subscription, end of a busy day, expense side, finance app, financial clutter, financial flotsam, financial goal, financial plan, financial statement, fixed expense, income side, inexpensive desktop scanner, investment report, jetsam of bill, manage finance, manageable debt, old credit union account, paper statement, pay feature, personal finance app, privacy notice, redundant financial account, Sam, Scott Neal, smart financial choice, survival mindset

Busyness seems to be a way of life these days. There is much to do and remember as a cascade

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Rethinking HSAs and Retirement Planning

May 1, 2018July 2, 2018 Scott Neal care insurance, cobra continuation coverage, contribution, coverage, deductible, deduction, expense, family coverage, flexible spend account, HDHP, health save account basics, healthcare, healthcare expense, healthy couple, HSA, HSA account, HSAs, insurance, itemized deduction, long-term care insurance, medical expense, medical save account, Medicare, named beneficiary, qualify high deductible medical insurance plan, qualify medical expense, reach age 55, retirement, retirement account, Scott Neal, security benefit, self-only, self-only coverage, social security benefit, survive spouse 's HSA, tax-favored, tax-favored save account, tax-free, workplace-sponsored, workplace-sponsored health plan

LEXINGTON Perhaps you have seen the articles stating the rule-of-thumb that a 65-year-old healthy couple can expect to spend about

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The Game of Life

March 1, 2018May 8, 2018 Scott Neal 65-year-old, 65-year-old man, 65-year-old woman, actuarial standpoint, age point, average expected life span, average life expectancy, calculate life expectancy, calculator, care need, chance of risk, cohort, cohort life table, cohort method, continued cost, continued cost of healthcare, custom plan, D., default age, dwindle probability, expectancy, financial plan, game of life, great healthcare, happy old age, healthcare, historical standard, hospitalization, impact of longevity, life 's journey, life expectancy, life expectancy statistics, live active life, long-term care need, longevity, mortality rate, percentile, periodic life table, periodic method, plan process, population 's entire lifetime, real game, real game of life, retiree, retirement, reward, Scott Neal, security administration life expectancy calculator, social security administration life expectancy calculator, specific time period of a population, square offer reward, statistics show people, Wharton, young retiree

When you were a child, did you ever play a popular board game called The Game of Life? It simulates

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Taxes: A New Day Has Dawned, or Has It?

January 1, 2018March 23, 2018 Scott Neal $, $4, 000, 000 cap, 000 child tax credit double, 1, 10, 10% bracket remains, 15% bracket decline, 150, 150 personal exemption, 20% deduction, 25% go, 3.8% Medicare surtax, 35% hold, 39.6% slip, bracket, bracket decline, bracket remains, cherished deduction, child tax credit double, deduction, effective estate, employee business expense deduction, exemption, filer, gift tax exemption, hectic day, high exemption, investment fee, itemized deduction, law repeal rule, married filer, massive tax reform, MD-UPDATE, Medicare surtax, miscellaneous itemized deduction, new 22% bracket, new day, new law repeal rule, oft-stated goal, oft-stated goal of tax reform, postcard-size, postcard-size tax return, reader of MD-UPDATE, recharacterization, recharacterization of Roth conversion, Roth, Roth conversion, Scott Neal, simplification, single filer, tax code, tax policy center, tax preparation fee, tax rate, tax reform, traditional IRAs, version of tax reform, washington-

This past year, Halloween was barely over when House Republicans introduced their version of tax reform with the goal of

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How to Resolve 2017 and Move on

December 1, 2017March 23, 2018 Scott Neal 17.6% year-to-date, After-Action, After-Action report, assess interim progress, benefit of an After-Action report, big fan of new year 's resolution, Bitcoin, chance of corrective action, coach talk, corrective action, Dan Sullivan of strategic coach talk, disappointment, feel of dissatisfaction, good year, healthcare practice, honest look, interim progress, let 's figure, major life lesson, Michael 's new book, Michael Hyatt, mindset, mindset change, new year 's resolution, NYSE Bitcoin, NYSE Bitcoin index, opportunity principle, portfolio 's performance, resolution, S&P 500, S&P 500 total return, Scott Neal, slight inflation, so-so year, strategic coach talk, Sullivan caution, terrific year, year 's resolution, year go

What’s the first thing that pops into your mind as you look back on 2017? Was it a good year?

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College Affordability 101

October 1, 2017March 23, 2018 Scott Neal admission, admission pitch, asset, borrow money, child 's high education cost, college affordability 101, college choice decision, cost of high education, decision deadline approach, direct student loan, education fund goal, EFC, expected family contribution, expected quality, expected quality of life, expected total cost, expected total cost of education, FAFSA, FAFSA form, family 's overall long-range, family contribution, federal student aid, financial aid, financial plan, financial planner, free application, loan, parent 's asset, parent 's income, pay 1/3, planner, repayment, school 's rank, Scott Neal, significant financial decision, student 's income, student 's projected asset, student aid, student loan, task of the admission office, tax-exempt account

The college choice decision is one of the most stressful, and arguably, one of the most significant financial decisions that

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Parent Caregiving 2.0

August 1, 2017March 23, 2018 Scott Neal age client, age parent, area of successful age, boomer, burden, caregiver, Caregiving 2.0, D., elderhood, elderhood goal, family pay, fee-only, healthcare, healthcare power, healthcare power of attorney, insurance pay, mom, mom 's care, mother move, parent 's doctor, parent age, parent caregiving, planner, predictable predicament, preserve asset, president of D., prospect of parent caregiving, Scott Neal, set of issue, skilled care, successful age, thousand of boomer, Tim Prosch, whirlwind of the healthcare system

Nearly everywhere I turn these days, I run into someone who has either begun to care for their aging parent

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Fahrenheit 2017

July 1, 2017March 23, 2018 Scott Neal 20 % decline, Bradbury, burst of the house bubble, continued bullishness, conventional circle, correct investment call, debt, Donald trump 's withdrawal, Donald trump 's withdrawal of the US, Dr. Woody Brock, economic risk, economy improve, enormous amount of political uncertainty, exception of household income, excessive debt level, Fahrenheit, fundamentals, fundamentals of the economy, international uncertainty, investment, investment call, Lloyd Blankfein, market-watchers, mere noise, model uncertainty, News, non-combustible data, nonresidential fixed investment, one-day sell-off, Paris climate change agreement, possible list, presidential tweet, prevail story, risk of the market, riskiness standpoint, Scott Neal, slippery stuff, standard measure of economic risk, steady diet of headline, stock market bounce, true value of an investment, trump, trump bump, twitter stock, uncertainty, volatility, Y

“Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with

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Remember the IRA?

April 1, 2017March 23, 2018 Scott Neal completed tax return, contribution, CPA, deduction, form 8606, income limit, IRA, IRA contribution, IRAs, non-deductible, non-deductible contribution, nonwork spouse, old CPA, preparer, qualified plan restriction, qualified retirement plan, quick refresher, retirement, retirement account, retirement plan, Roth, Roth contribution, Roth IRAs, Scott Neal, spouse, tax basis, tax code, tax return, taxpayer, taxpayer relief act, traditional IRA, traditional IRAs

I once heard about an old CPA who, after presenting a completed tax return to his client, said, “Don’t read

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