PFA Ponderings

Last week, Congress passed, and the President signed the most sweeping fiscal stimulus bill in history, The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), aimed at cushioning the economic impact that has come from the virtual shutdown of the majority of the country.  To call this Act…

I was on a finance committee meeting the other day with a non-profit board I sit on, when one of the other committee members looked at the investment portfolio and declared:  “Why are they invested 25% in international stocks?”  My retort was: “Is there a reason they shouldn’t be?”   His…

IRAs and Roth IRAs are similar in a lot of ways.  First, there are limits to how much you can contribute to each (for 2020, that limit is the greater of earned income or $6,000 – or $7,000 if you’re over 50.). There is no taxation on growth or income…

You’ve hired a professional to provide services for you.  Hopefully, you have some idea of what these services will cost.  Most contractors, it’s said, will finish their work in twice the time and at twice the cost that’s quoted.  But, hey, if you factor that in at the start, you…

Any firm that works as extensively with a higher education clientele as we do needs to become familiar with one of the most interesting life insurance and annuity companies out there, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, or TIAA. THE HISTORY TIAA traces its roots back to 1918, when Andrew…

If you ask this question online, you’re going to receive a litany of web articles, many from banks and insurance companies, some from the IRS.  I noted recently that they all basically say the same thing, so I’ll certainly pass along the following: Keep tax records for 3 years (the…

If you’re like me, you’ve accumulated a tidy stack of those cool-looking Series EE bonds over time.  Mine came from occasional gifts from my grandparents, and payroll deduction programs from my first couple jobs.  And, if you’re like me, those bonds are long-gone, used to purchase a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba…

Happy 2020!  All of us here at PFA pass along our best wishes for you in the coming decade.  May the 20’s really be ‘roaring’ (and may they not end like the 1920s did!)  Right off the bat, we’ve got an interesting new set of tax rules to learn.  In…