News & Updates
How To Be a Successful Long-Term Investor
It is easy to focus on what the markets have done over the last week, month, or year. However, we often hear less talk about how investments have performed during the last 10, 20, or 30 years. In our view, the shorter the time frame you focus on, the harder it is to say what markets will do. By looking at a longer time horizon, we can use lessons from history to have more confidence around how various investments may perform. We can also take specific steps to improve our odds of a successful investment out and achieving our long-term financial goals. In this article, we will discuss some of the key tenets of being a successful long-term investor.
How Inflation Impacts Your Tax Bill
Inflation has been making many parts of our lives more expensive – cars, food, and home prices are a couple of areas that immediately come to mind. However, there may a be a small silver lining. The IRS sets tax brackets, tax deductions and retirement account contribution limits based on inflation. Depending on all the moving pieces in your financial picture, this could result in a lower tax bill. In this article, we will look at the impact of inflation on taxes this year and some planning opportunities resulting from it.
Investment Lessons from Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is known as one of the greatest investors of all time and his annual letters are considered a “must read”. Besides sharing the details of how his company Berkshire Hathaway operates, Warren often includes some wisdom that applies to the everyday...
Are Taxes Your Biggest Lifetime Expense?
Around tax time, it can be surprising to see how much you pay in taxes each year. It could be because you focused on the after-tax amount deposited in your bank account or its not until you pull all your information together at the end of the year that you see the...
Five Ways the SECURE Act 2.0 Impacts Your Retirement Planning
Near the end of the year, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was passed. This large spending bill included a retirement bill known as the SECURE Act 2.0. This retirement bill is wide-ranging, covering areas such as retirement account contributions, education savings, and charitable giving, to name a few. In this post, we highlight five key parts of the bill that may present opportunities for your retirement planning.
Should a Trust be Part of Your Estate Plan?
As you’ve worked to build up your wealth, it is important to consider how you are going to pass down any remaining assets to your family, friends or charities. Often the first thing that comes to mind when you think about your estate plan is a will. However, many...
Are You Being Intentional with Your Money?
As you think about the financial side of your life, it is worth asking if your money has been going toward things that are important to you. Some things areas of spending are inevitable, like food, housing, and healthcare. Other areas you may have more control over such as trips or a house project.
Should a Spousal IRA be Part of Your Savings Strategy?
If you and your spouse both have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k), retirement saving is as easy as specifying the contribution amount to be deducted from your paycheck. However, for some couples, both spouses do not have access to a...
Planning for Five Key Tax Challenges in Retirement
Developing a paycheck in retirement that generates the income you need while also keeping your taxes low is not an easy task. All the planning you did while working – saving diligently, using tax-deferred accounts – can turn into unwelcome tax surprises as you move through retirement. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there are some multi-year tax planning strategies that can lower your lifetime tax burden.
Retiring in a Rollercoaster Market
Retiring in the face of a volatile stock market can be concerning. Whether you just retired or are planning to make the jump in a few years, seeing your account balances decline could make you question the timing of this decision. While some factors are out of your control, there are steps you can take to ensure a successful retirement.
Is Now the Time To Do a Roth Conversion?
If you could choose any retirement account to have your assets in, a Roth IRA would likely be at the top of the list. Tax-free growth and a lack of required minimum distributions are a couple of the reasons we have previously highlighted for why to invest in this type...
What to Do in a Bear Market
For investors in the stock market, one of the challenges is experiencing the market drops that are bound to happen. A number that the media focuses on is a 20% decline in the stock market, defined as a bear market. Each time this happens, some of the characteristics are the same even though the details are always different. In this post, we talk about how to invest through a bear market and what investors can do to prepare.
Could a Donor-Advised Fund Help Lower Your Tax Bill?
For those looking to use their wealth to support charitable causes, a donor-advised fund (DAF) can be an effective tool. Donor-advised funds may allow you to optimize the tax benefits of your gift, grow contributions tax-free and simplify your giving. In this post, we describe how donor-advised funds work and some of the potential tax benefits they can provide.
Does a Second Act Make Sense for Your Career?
Retirement is one of the most important financial decisions you can make in your life. Not only are you traditionally leaving behind a consistent income, but you’re deciding to leave a career you built for 15-25+ years. However, times are changing and so is...
Are You Covering Your Risks with an Umbrella Policy?
As you think about insurance, areas like healthcare, auto, homeowners, and life insurance are often the first areas to come to mind. However, a missing piece for many insurance plans is umbrella insurance. This typically affordable insurance can protect your assets from an unexpected event that may severely damage your finances. In this article we will discuss what umbrella insurance is and whether you should have one.
Planning for 2022: Key Deduction, Exemption, and Contribution Limits Increased by the IRS
The spike in inflation we’ve seen this year has impacts beyond having to pay more for goods and services. The IRS uses consumer price inflation (CPI) to determine certain increases to exemptions and deductions for federal tax purposes. These are automatic and...
Are Health Savings Accounts the Ultimate Retirement Savings Vehicle?
For thoughtful retirement savers, minimizing your lifetime tax bill is a key consideration. This is why we see so many savers utilize accounts like traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and 401(k) accounts. However, there is another account that has the most favorable tax...
Should You Use the Michigan 529 Plan to Save for College?
Over recent years, direct investing in rental properties has been a popular topic. One of the key attractions of rental properties is the idea of passive income – another source of income to complement your salary or business income that doesn’t involve a lot of extra work.
Should You Own a Rental Property?
Over recent years, direct investing in rental properties has been a popular topic. One of the key attractions of rental properties is the idea of passive income – another source of income to complement your salary or business income that doesn’t involve a lot of extra work.
5 Mistakes Stryker Employees Make with Their Stock Options
Employee stock options can be a valuable part of a Stryker employee’s total compensation. They enable employees to benefit from the company’s upside and can create meaningful wealth. However, stock options are more complicated than just owning company stock and they have unique tax treatment.
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