SECURE Act 2.0: What You Need to Know

Here is an update on some significant changes designed to help Americans save more for retirement. You may have heard of the SECURE Act 2.0, which Congress passed as part of a larger federal spending bill last week.1 This legislation builds upon the 2019 Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act and includes several provisions that may be beneficial to savers and investors. Here are some of the key points to be aware of: While the SECURE Act 2.0 may not solve the broader issue of inadequate retirement savings for all Americans, it’s still a significant development that could benefit savvy savers and investors. We’re here to help you understand how these changes may impact your financial strategy, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or want to discuss these updates further. 1 Forbes.com, Jan 3, 2023

January 4, 2023 No Comments

How Women Can Prepare for Retirement

When our parents retired, living to 75 amounted to a nice long life, and Social Security was often supplemented by a pension. The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that today’s average 65-year-old woman will live to age 86½. Given these projections, it appears that a retirement of 20 years or longer might be in your future.1 Are you prepared for a 20-year retirement? How about a 30-year or even 40-year retirement? Don’t laugh; it could happen. The Society of Actuaries predicts that an average healthy woman that reaches age 65 has a 44% chance of living past 90, and a 22% chance of living to be older than 95.2 Start with good questions. How can you draw retirement income from what you’ve saved? How might you create other income streams to complement Social Security? And what are some ways you can protect your retirement savings and other financial assets? Enlist a financial professional. The right person can give you some good ideas, especially one who understands the challenges women face in saving for retirement. These may include income inequality or time out of the workforce due to childcare or eldercare. It could also mean helping you maintain financial equilibrium in

December 2, 2022 No Comments

Four year-end tax strategies to consider

It’s hard to believe we’re fast approaching the end of 2019, but it’s true. Here are four things to consider as you weigh potential tax moves between now and the end of the year. 1. Be smart about your charitable giving If you’re already inclined to donate to charity, then consider donating appreciated securities rather than cash to your favorite charity or to a donor advised fund. Donors who can afford to put away more than $100,000 may want to consider starting a charitable lead trust (CLT). Charitable lead trusts are designed to provide income payments to at least one qualified charitable organization for a period measured by a fixed term of years, the lives of one or more individuals, or a combination of the two; after that, trust assets are paid to either the grantor or to one or more noncharitable beneficiaries named in the trust instrument. 2. Maximize retirement savings Deductible contributions to a traditional IRA and pre-tax contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k) can reduce your taxable income. If you haven’t already contributed the maximum amount allowed, consider doing so by year-end. If you’re a business owner, consider opening a traditional 401(k) profit

December 10, 2019 No Comments

Financial planning in a nutshell

You may have noticed in last month’s newsletter that Azzad was named in Financial Advisor magazine’s 2019 RIA Ranking. It’s a premier industry ranking of investment advisors based on assets under management. Azzad moved up the list from last year, which is great news. More important than that, however, are the relationships that our advisors have with our clients. As a wealth management firm, we pride ourselves on taking the time to understand the unique needs of each client and crafting responsible, appropriate financial solutions. The way we do that is through the financial planning process. We’ve gotten some questions about it, so here’s a walk-through of our five-step program: 1) Identify goals: We start with listening and learning what is important to you and identifying and prioritizing your financial goals. At what age would you like to retire? Do you want to buy a home? 2) Collect financial data: We gather and organize your financial information such as assets, income and expenses. Figuring out your net worth (assets minus liabilities) get incorporated into your plan. 3) Put it all together: We develop recommendations to optimize your goals and meet with you to go over them. Unlike other advisors you

September 3, 2019 No Comments