Mountain River Financial

11/01/2024

- Under 50?
- In either the 24%, 32% or 35% marginal tax bracket?
- Roth Curious?

If yes, check out my newest blog post on on why you should strongly consider loading up your Roth accounts right now!

Younger high-earners have a limited window with which they can take advantage of a powerful tax-reduction and wealth building strategy.

08/01/2024

Feeling thankful here at Mountain River for being included in this great piece in the WSJ from Veronica Dagher about Umbrella insurance, and why it is so important. If you have built up wealth and you don't know what Umbrella insurance is, or you just don't have any coverage in place yet, this is a super quick and easy read that is well worth your time! I'm especially talking to you younger high-earners! Overlook this inexpensive and important coverage at your own peril... Note, I don't sell any products, most certainly not insurance. This is educational purposes, as risk management is a very important part of a comprehensive long-term plan.

While insurance premiums surged with inflation, coverage limits haven’t.

02/04/2024

Getting some much needed help in the office this morning!

07/21/2023

Re-posting this piece on why even high income earners should love their Roth 401k/403b. This post is, by far, the most visited page on the Mountain River Financial website. Despite being nearly 2 years old, in most months it still represents more than 50% of my site visits. Check it out and see if you might need to reconsider your contribution type.

Depsite the allure of reducing taxes today, for many younger high-earners, making Roth 401k contributions might just be the smarter approach.

06/12/2023

New MRF Post: 6 Steps to Navigating a Windfall in Your 30s

You’ve received a windfall in your 30s and you don’t want to screw it up! Follow these 6 basic steps to get started.

As a professional in your 30s, you most likely have a lot of goals and objectives that are competing for those dollars and you likely have access to a variety of savings and investment options like a 401k or 403b, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, maybe an HSA, potentially a 457 plan, and definitely regular brokerage accounts.

In this post, we’ll provide you with 6 basic steps you can follow with your windfall to ensure you’re making the most out of these dollars.

Congratulations! You just received a substantial windfall in your 30s and want to ensure you don’t blow the opportunity to set yourself up.

05/30/2023

NEW MRF BLOG: HSAs for Young High-Income Earners: Unleash The Power

Are you a young high-income earner looking to reduce taxes and build long-term wealth? Look no further than the Health Savings Account (HSA), an exceptional financial tool. HSAs offer triple tax advantages and the potential for substantial growth, making them an attractive option for those aiming to maximize their wealth in an extremely tax-efficient manner.

In this post, we’ll dive into why HSAs are so appealing for young high earners and provide concrete examples to illustrate their benefits.

HSAs boast three remarkable tax advantages, making them an extremely powerful tax reduction & wealth accumulation tool for young high earners

03/17/2021

Happy to see that the researchers at Willis Towers Watson and the editors at Barron's agree with my last Blog Post - Are You Saving in the Right Retirement Accounts? - when recommending how young savers should priortize their retirement savings accounts!

Maybe they read my post. 😉

A new research paper argues that employees who are eligible for health savings accounts should consider parking extra savings there over 401(k)s, after garnering any company match, thanks to their better tax benefits.

03/10/2021

NEW FROM THE MRF BLOG:

Life is full of tough decisions. Picking the right retirement accounts shouldn’t be one of them.

Are you unsure if you’re saving in the right retirement accounts? In my last post, A Mega Backdoor Roth for Mega Long-Term Wealth, I described a complex saving strategy that’s extremely effective for younger high-earners who are looking for a tax-efficient way to save and invest after having maxed out eligible contributions to their 401k/403b, IRA, and HSA (if available) accounts. This post is for those savers who aren’t yet maxing out all of those aforementioned accounts and who need help figuring out how to most effectively split their savings among their available retirement accounts. If this describes your situation, read on...

Should you only use your employer 401k or 403b? What about your HSA or a Roth IRA? Or maybe you should split evenly between all three?

02/17/2021

NEW FROM THE MRF BLOG:

Are you ignoring a game-changing way to build tax-free wealth with a Mega Backdoor Roth?

5 QUESTIONS

1. Are you a high-earner under 50?

2. Do you have your Emergency Fund established & enough cash for your short-term needs?

3. Do you have savings to invest after maxing out contributions to your 401K ($19,500), IRA ($6,000), & HSA ($3,550-single/$7,100-family)?

4. Does your employer’s 401k plan have a Roth option, allow "after-tax contributions” (different from Roth contributions), & allow in-plan conversions?

5. Are you looking for a way to supercharge your long-term wealth?

If you answered yes to all five questions, great job! You’re making some savvy financial moves. As a reward, I’m going to tell you how you can put rocket boosters on your ship to financial independence by implementing a Mega Backdoor Roth strategy. In a previous post, I described the benefits of a Roth 401k for certain high-earners. You can check it out here. In this post I’ll give you a breakdown of the incredible power of the Mega Backdoor Roth, and why all younger high-earners should be considering this. So, what’s a Mega Backdoor Roth?4.

A Mega Backdoor Roth strategy is an extremely effective and tax-efficient approach to rapidly build up your tax-free retirement portfolio.

09/15/2020

Its been a while, but here's a great 3-minute read addressing the stock market's apparent divorce from reality from DFA's Weston Wellington.

It's an excellent read for those financially-curious folks wondering what the heck is going on in their 401k/403b accounts!

This year’s turmoil has inflicted hardships on some firms while presenting opportunities for others—and the stock market is behaving as we might expect.

05/07/2020

This article might be a little bit niche, but on the off chance you happen to be a real person, this piece is for you!!

Jokes aside, I enjoyed the chance to share some tips that everyone can benefit from. Quality financial advice nearly always involves starting with the words, "It depends...". Not so much with this piece from Nerdwallet. Check it out!

Knowing where to get your investment advice can be a tricky business. Always be sure to verify a potential financial advisor's qualifications.

04/23/2020

NEW POST FROM THE MOUNTAIN RIVER BLOG!

Attention High-Earners! If you're using Traditional 401k contributions so you can reduce your taxes, it's likely you're being penny-wise and pound-foolish with your money.

Conventional financial advice says you should reduce your current tax bill as much as you can and then defer paying your tax bill for as long as possible. However, here are 6 reasons why even high-income earners should consider ignoring this advice when it comes to choosing between making Traditional contributions or Roth contributions to their 401k.

The primary difference between making Roth 401k contributions & Traditional 401k contributions is when you owe federal income tax on the amount contributed.