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Financial planning guides
Tax planning, retirement income, investing, estate planning, insurance, and equity compensation, written plainly by a fee-only CFP® and Enrolled Agent.
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Retiring to Florida: The Financial Checklist Before You Move
The move to Florida saves state income tax and changes a dozen other things: the homestead exemption, property and flood insurance, the estate plan that was drafted under another state's law, the timing of income around the move, and the documents that prove you actually left. The checklist we use with clients relocating here.
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation: The Election Windows That Matter
A nonqualified deferred compensation plan lets an executive push salary and bonus into future years, deferring tax and often landing the income in a lower bracket in retirement. It also makes the executive an unsecured creditor of the employer, and the elections are locked a year in advance. How to decide how much to defer and when to take it.
The New $6,000 Senior Deduction: Who Gets It and How It Phases Out
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a $6,000 deduction per person for taxpayers 65 and older, available for 2025 through 2028 whether or not you itemize, and phased out above $75,000 of income for singles and $150,000 for couples. Who qualifies, how it interacts with Social Security taxation, and how Roth conversions and gains can cost it.
Reviewing Homeowners Insurance in Florida: Coverage Gaps Worth Closing
Florida homeowners policies have deductibles, exclusions, and limits that most owners have never read, and the cost of the policy has made cutting coverage tempting. What to check in the declarations page, which gaps matter for a wealthy household, and where the premium can be reduced without taking on the wrong risk.
How Working With a Virtual Financial Advisor Actually Works
A virtual advisory relationship runs on video meetings, a shared planning portal, secure document exchange, and a custodian that holds the accounts. What the first ninety days look like, how meetings and questions happen after that, and what a client gives up and gains compared with an office down the street.
Leaving Money to Adult Children: Outright, in Trust, or Something Between
A large inheritance left outright to a 45-year-old is simple and usually fine. Left in trust, it is protected from divorce, creditors, and the child's own mistakes, at the cost of complexity. How to decide, and the middle-ground designs that give protection without control from the grave.
Browse guides by topic
Tax planning20 guides
- The New $6,000 Senior Deduction: Who Gets It and How It Phases Out
- The Roth Conversion Ladder for Early Retirees
- Year-End Tax Planning Checklist for High-Income Households
- 529 Plans for Florida Families: Prepaid, Savings, and the New Uses
- How Your S Corporation Salary Sets Payroll Tax, Your 401(k) and the QBI Deduction
- The HSA Is the Best Retirement Account You Own. Here Is How to Use It
- The Wash Sale Rule: What It Blocks and How to Harvest Around It
- Tax Planning vs. Tax Preparation: Why the Difference Costs You Money
- Filling the Bracket: The Retirement Tax Strategy Most People Miss
- Solo 401(k) vs. SEP IRA: Which Self-Employed Plan Shelters More
- Roth Conversions in 2026: How to Decide How Much, and When
- Qualified Charitable Distributions: Giving From Your IRA Without Adding to Your Income
- QSBS After the 2025 Law Change: The $15 Million Exclusion Explained
- The 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax: Who Pays It and How to Plan Around It
- Mega Backdoor Roth: How After-Tax 401(k) Contributions Become Roth Dollars
- IRMAA in 2026: The Medicare Surcharge Cliffs and How to Plan Around Them
- No State Income Tax in Florida: What It Changes, and What It Does Not
- Charitable Giving in 2026: Bunching, Donor-Advised Funds, and the New Floor
- Capital Gains Tax in 2026: The 0%, 15%, and 20% Brackets and How to Use Them
- The Backdoor Roth IRA in 2026: Steps, the Pro-Rata Rule, and Where People Go Wrong
Investment management12 guides
- Where Cash Should Live: Treasuries, Money Markets, and What Is Enough
- Do You Need International Stocks? The Case for Global Diversification
- Factor Investing: Why We Tilt Toward Small and Value Stocks
- Direct Indexing: Who It Helps, Who It Does Not, and What It Costs
- What a Fee-Only Fiduciary Actually Means (and How to Check)
- Tax-Loss Harvesting: What It Is, What It Is Worth, and When It Backfires
- Rebalancing: How Often, How Much, and Why a Rule Beats Instinct
- Why We Do Not Time the Market: The Evidence in Plain Terms
- Fund Expenses: Why Fifty Basis Points Is a Six-Figure Decision
- Evidence-Based Investing, in Practice
- Bond Ladder or Bond Fund: What Actually Matters for Retirement Income
- Asset Location, Account by Account
Retirement income16 guides
- Retiring to Florida: The Financial Checklist Before You Move
- What a Retirement Income Plan Looks Like, Step by Step
- Medicare Enrollment: The Deadlines and Penalties That Catch Retirees
- Spousal and Survivor Benefits: The Social Security Rules Couples Get Wrong
- The Retirement Tax Torpedo: When Social Security and IRA Withdrawals Collide
- Pension Lump Sum or Monthly Payments: How to Compare Them Honestly
- Does the 4% Rule Still Work? What the Research Says in 2026
- Spending Guardrails: A Retirement Income Plan That Adjusts Instead of Breaks
- How Social Security Is Taxed, and the Provisional Income Math That Drives It
- When to Claim Social Security: The Math Behind 62, 67, and 70
- Sequence of Returns Risk: Why the First Five Years of Retirement Matter Most
- Roth or Traditional 401(k): The Question Is Your Tax Rate Later, Not Now
- Which Account Do You Draw From First in Retirement? The Withdrawal Order That Lowers Lifetime Tax
- Retiring Before 65: Health Insurance Options and the ACA Subsidy Math
- RMDs in 2026: Ages, Deadlines, and the Planning Window Before They Start
- The Bucket Strategy for Retirement Income: What Works and What Is Theater
Estate planning12 guides
- Leaving Money to Adult Children: Outright, in Trust, or Something Between
- Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan: Passwords, Crypto, and the Accounts No One Knows About
- ILITs: When an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust Still Makes Sense
- Portability: Why Surviving Spouses Should File Form 706 Even With No Tax Due
- Inherited IRAs and the 10-Year Rule: The Distribution Plan That Avoids a Tax Spike
- Step-Up in Basis: Why Some Assets Should Never Be Sold Before Death
- Revocable Trust or Will in Florida: What Probate Actually Costs You
- Annual Gifting in 2026: The $19,000 Exclusion and Smarter Ways to Use It
- The $15 Million Estate Exemption Is Permanent. Here Is What Still Needs Planning
- Estate Planning for Blended Families: Protecting a Spouse and Children From a First Marriage
- Charitable Remainder Trusts: Income Now, Charity Later, Deduction Today
- Beneficiary Designations: The Seven Mistakes That Override Your Will
Risk and insurance9 guides
- Reviewing Homeowners Insurance in Florida: Coverage Gaps Worth Closing
- Term or Whole Life: The Answer Is Usually Simpler Than the Pitch
- Disability Insurance for High Earners: The Coverage Gap in Group Plans
- Do You Still Need Life Insurance in Retirement?
- Annuities: What They Solve, What They Cost, and What a Fee-Only Advisor Says
- Long-Term Care Insurance: When It Is Worth It and What the Alternatives Are
- Umbrella Insurance: The Cheapest Protection Most Wealthy Families Skip
- Indexed Universal Life as a Retirement Plan: What the Illustration Does Not Show
- How Much Life Insurance You Actually Need (A Fee-Only View)
Equity compensation10 guides
- Nonqualified Deferred Compensation: The Election Windows That Matter
- RSUs vs. Stock Options: How to Value What Your Employer Offers
- Employee Stock Purchase Plans: The 15% Discount and the Tax Rules Around It
- Before the Liquidity Event: A Planning Checklist for Startup Equity
- RSUs Are Taxed Like a Bonus: A Planning Guide for Vesting Years
- NSOs vs. ISOs: The Tax Difference and What It Means for Your Exercise Plan
- Incentive Stock Options and the AMT: The Exercise Strategy That Avoids the Trap
- Concentrated Stock: How to Unwind a Position Without a Tax Disaster
- The 83(b) Election: Thirty Days That Can Change Your Tax Bill
- 10b5-1 Plans: Selling Company Stock on a Schedule You Set in Advance
How we work7 guides
- How Working With a Virtual Financial Advisor Actually Works
- Financial Planning in Miami: What Local Families Ask Us First
- Financial Planning for Physicians: Late Start, High Income, Specific Traps
- Financial Planning for Business Owners: Retirement Plans, Entity Choice, and the Exit
- What a Virtual Family Office Is, and Who It Is For
- How to Choose a Financial Advisor: Twelve Questions Worth Asking
- How Financial Advisors Get Paid, and Why It Changes the Advice