Over the course of the past 6+ years, I’ve blathered on and on at this blog, pretty much based upon what I wanted to share with all of you, dear readers. I’ve based some of the topics on what I hear from my clients, and other topics just based on what I found interesting about the primary areas that I cover: IRAs, income taxes, and Social Security. But now it’s your turn.
I haven’t run out of topics to write about – I can go on forever, believe me. I just want to hear from you, the readers of this blog, as to what topics you’d like me to cover. It might be an area that I haven’t touched on at all, or maybe it’s a new take on a topic that I’ve already written about. Don’t be afraid to hit me up with whatever ideas, questions, or situations you have. It’s up to you to help me out with new ideas to write about so that Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row is as useful and valuable to you as possible.
So – give me your suggestions. You can use any of the communication methods available, leave a comment, or use the communication form (on the right), or just send me an email (also over on the right). If you’re reading this through an RSS feed, you’ll need to visit the blog proper in order to get at these communication methods (try clicking on the title of the post in your reader, that should take you to the native blog, or click on this link – Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row).
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I can learn from you, you can learn from me - please leave your comments and links!Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA, is an expert in personal retirement, IRAs, and tax issues, with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. Read more from this author
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Hi Jim, thanks for your column and the opportunity to suggest topics.
I guess what is getting more daunting from my perspective is the complications and inter-dependencies coming into every aspect of finances. Each subject has its own set of rules: charitable contributions, 401-k, IRA rollover, Roth IRA conversion, 529 plan, 30% energy tax credit to name just a few. But when I put it all together, it’s very complicated to figure out what the best direction might be. So the topic I’m suggesting is the process to sort all this out (other than hire a financial advisor, that is!).
For example, suppose I get, say, a $5000 bonus before the end of the year, would I be better off giving it away or putting it in 401k to avoid tax consequences, putting some in Roth IRA (if I still qualify), paying the tax bill on a conversion of some rollover IRA $$ to a Roth, paying my child’s tuition bill (too late for 529 now) to avoid debt, or replacing the 10-year old heating and A/C system to lower ongoing utility costs?
Each choice stands on its own merits but has its own potentially complicated analysis, but I’ll only have enough unallocated cash to do one of them, the rest have to wait. Can you suggest a process to figure out the best options in time to do it before the rules change again at the end of the year?
Thanks for the suggestion, Jim. That’s a pretty tall order, as I think you’re aware.
Part of the problem is that each individual’s situation is going to be different – where one person may put a greater emphasis on retirement savings, another may prefer to go for the furnace/air conditioner for a longer-term “bang for the buck”. The only way to address this in a manner that would be useful to a broad audience is to take the personal, emotional, considerations out of the picture and look at each available option from a financial perspective only.
I’ll see what I can pull together to address your question – a process to help determine the best course of action.
Thanks again for the suggestion!
jb
Do you have a favorite website/resource that you would recommend for someone wanting to know how well they are prepared for retirement?