John Nowak, CFP, RMA, CPA

12/11/2024

On Thursday, 12/12, at 12:00 CT, we are hosting a webinar on Taxes In Retirement: Maximizing Income while Minimizing Taxes.
You can register here:

Minimize taxes while maximizing income. It's not what you earn but what you keep. Become educated and empowered for your taxes in retirement by learning about: - 7-step process called The Tax Management Journey - 5 (at least) ways to reduce taxes in retirement - 4 hidden traps that can catch retiree...

12/06/2024

It's the Giving Season! My two favorite tax-wise charitable giving ideas are Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions. Which one might be good for you? Watch the video to learn more.

Hi there, this is John Nowak. In this video, I discuss gifting strategies as part of our tax management journey to maximize income and reduce taxes. I cover donor advised funds and qualified charitable distributions, explaining when and how to use them based on age, donation amounts, and tax implica...

06/07/2024

When should someone file for Social Security? How do you receive income if you delay until age 70? We share some ideas in this article.

Learn more about a four-piece framework to decide when to file for Social Security based on someone's marital status and work history. We also discuss how the Social Security Bridge can be a great source for retirement income.

02/06/2024

A new rule allows 529 owners to transfer residual funds to their child's Roth. There are 5 big things to remember...

1 - Account must be open for 15 years
2 - Excludes contributions + their earnings from the previous 5 years
3 - $35k limit per beneficiary
4 - Subject to annual Roth contribution limit ($7k)
5 - And here's a surprise for Illinois residents (and maybe others)
***Is a nonqualified withdrawal, subject to recapture of state tax benefits***

12/30/2023

Happy New Year and Aloha 2023/2024!

The spirit of January is to reflect on your past to be intentional about your future.

I write more about it here in Alo Financial Insights...

By understanding the past, you can prioritize the good things for next year and minimize or eliminate what doesn't work for you.

12/22/2023

Our latest Insights post - 5 Financial Lessons from Die Hard

1 - Discover what is most important to you
2 - Bonds can be important
3 - Life is precious and our health is not guaranteed
4 - Have good passwords, but don't forget them
5 - Have a plan, but also some rugged flexibility

BONUS: Yes, Die Hard is a holiday movie!

Is Die Hard a holiday movie or not? I think it is, but it also has some great lessons related to financial planning. Enjoy these 5 Financial Planning lessons from Die Hard. Then, decide for yourself if it is, in fact, a classic Christmas movie.

08/28/2023

Quick but good read on 7 things people lose when they walk away from work.

WHEN WE RETIRE, we win back control over our daily life. Gone is the boss, the expectation that we’ll be at work at a certain hour, the worry about what the next office email will bring. We have a degree of freedom that, in many cases, we last knew when we were students contemplating a long summer...

08/15/2023

This perspective really resonates with me. As we work with dozens of clients and their financial planning, you realize that it is not necessarily the amount of money someone makes or has but rather the impact on yourself and others that matters. Growing and protecting wealth is important, but making an impact and having independence is meaningful.

Dimensional Founder David Booth on finding the integration between wealth and worth.

10/05/2022

The shift from saving to spending is a big one as mentioned in this article. The fear of outliving one's assets is profound.

Interestingly, the article does not mention the enhanced value of secure income from pensions, Social Security, and annuities as some of the best ways to address this fear and give permission for retirees to spend. Perhaps retirees should evaluate if they would value more secure income in exchange for probable income from a portfolio.

You've been working and saving for decades for just this moment: retirement. But many retirees have a very hard time psychologically tapping those savings.

08/29/2022

Love this take on “retirement”….

⬇️⬇️⬇️

“I have never liked the word ‘retirement,‘” Williams wrote. “Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is ‘evolution.’ I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Tennis legend Serena Williams announced her retirement in a Vogue article published Tuesday.

08/22/2022

While I think the Inflation Reduction Act took a step backwards with the EV tax credits, home improvements are enhanced for the next decade with the new law.

However, I expect pre-credit prices to increase with demand. So the Inflation Reduction Act name is more tongue in cheek 😏

Tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements are extended and expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act.