Create Wealth Financial Planning

09/03/2026

Your paycheck isn't covering all your taxes anymore 🚨

Once your income picture gets more complex, the IRS expects you to pay them directly throughout the year, not just at filing time.

These 3 income events are the most common triggers:

Side income or full self-employment. No employer means no automatic withholding. Self-employment tax can run as high as 15.3% on top of your regular income tax rate, and skipping quarterly payments can mean IRS underpayment penalties on your April return.

A big bonus or equity payout. Your employer withholds at a flat supplemental rate, which often falls short of your real tax bracket. That shortfall is yours to make up, ideally before year-end.

Capital gains from selling investments, property, or a business interest. Nothing is withheld on these transactions, but the IRS still expects payment, and they have a timeline in mind.

The good news: there's a safe harbor rule that shields you from penalties if you plan ahead.

The penalty for missing it isn't enormous. The missed planning window is.

If any of these situations sound familiar, reach out and let's figure out exactly where you stand.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals Executives and Directors, Business Owners, Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, and individuals starting to build wealth.

09/01/2026

Wrong account = silent tax drag every year 👀

Most investors focus on what they own. Fewer think carefully about where they hold it.

But the account you place an investment in can quietly work against you every tax season, or quietly work in your favor.

It's a strategy called tax location, and research suggests getting it right can add meaningful value over time, purely from being thoughtful about which assets go where.

Some investments generate income that gets taxed at the highest rates. Others grow quietly and efficiently. And some have the potential to grow the most of all.

Each type belongs in a different kind of account, and knowing the difference doesn't require changing your investments at all.

Watch to see the full breakdown of what goes where, and why it can matter more than you'd expect.

Have you thought about your asset location? Drop a comment below! 👇

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals, Executives and Directors, Business Owners. Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, individuals starting to build wealth.

08/28/2026

Your fund is up. Your returns aren't. Here's why 👀

A major industry study found that the average fund investor earned more than a full percentage point less per year than their own funds over the last decade.

The funds weren't the problem. The investors were.

Three behaviors keep showing up as the culprits:

Buying in after a fund's big run, right at the peak, then watching it come back down to earth.

Selling during a downturn, locking in losses, and missing the rebound entirely.

Overreacting to market noise in general, constantly repositioning based on emotion rather than strategy.

The data on crypto ETF investors is a striking example. The funds themselves returned around 8.5% annually. The investors in those same funds? They averaged a loss of roughly 5.8% per year. A nearly 14-point gap, created entirely by timing decisions.

Meanwhile, investors in U.S. equity funds who simply stayed the course had a gap of less than half a percentage point.

Your behavior in volatile moments may be costing you more than any fee or fund selection ever could.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Jeff McDermott is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals, Executives, Business Owners, and rising professionals.

08/25/2026

Saving for college without a target? You're guessing. 🎯

Most families are putting money aside for their kids' education without ever working backward from an actual number, and that's a problem.

The gap between what a public in-state school costs versus a private university right now might surprise you. And costs are still rising.

But here's what matters more than the sticker price: deciding intentionally how much of it you want to cover, and how.

There's a three-step process that takes the guesswork out of college savings. It starts with the type of school you're planning for, moves into what percentage you actually want to fund, and lands on a monthly savings number your family can realistically sustain without putting everything else on hold.

Because a good plan lets you take the family trip AND still build toward tuition.

What kind of college experience are you planning for? Drop a comment and share how you're approaching college savings for your kids.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals, Executives and Directors, Business Owners, Gen X and Gen Y young families, and rising career professionals.

08/21/2026

Most parents pick one of these and miss out. 💸

If you're covering childcare costs so both you and your spouse can work, the IRS gives you two separate ways to recover some of that money.

The Dependent Care FSA shelters up to $7,500 from federal income tax and payroll tax before it ever hits your paycheck. For a family in a higher bracket, that's a meaningful chunk of change back.

The Dependent Care Credit reduces your actual tax bill directly, based on up to $6,000 in qualified expenses for two or more kids. But the benefit rate phases down as your income climbs, so higher earners typically see a much smaller return than lower-income families.

The answer to which one is better isn't one-size-fits-all. Income level, number of dependents, and a few other factors all play a role. There's also a limited scenario where using both is possible, just not on the same dollars.

Knowing the difference could change how much your family keeps this year.

If you'd like help thinking through which option makes sense for your situation, reach out and let's talk.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals, Executives and Directors, Business Owners, Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, individuals starting to build wealth.

08/18/2026

52% of Gen Z drained investments for sports bets 👀

And about 1 in 4 actually consider sports betting part of their long-term financial plan.

Here's why that's a problem the math makes clear:

A study following over 700,000 online gamblers across five years found that 96% lost money. Only 4% came out ahead. And at standard betting odds, you need to win more than half your bets just to avoid losing ground.

On top of that, recent reporting uncovered platforms paying creators to post fake winning-bet videos with staged bets and hidden payments, making it all look far easier than it actually is.

The real damage isn't just what's lost on the bet itself. It's the compounding growth that money could have been generating inside an investment account instead.

Markets don't go up every single day, but a diversified long-term plan puts the odds in your favor. Sports betting doesn't.

If it's entertainment, treat it like entertainment. Budget for it the way you would a concert ticket or a round of golf. Just don't mistake it for a strategy.

Leave a comment and join the discussion.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving mid career professionals, Executives and Directors, Business Owners, Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, individuals starting to build wealth.

08/13/2026

"Index fund" doesn't mean what most people think 👀

The label sounds simple, but two index funds can look completely different under the hood.

An S&P 500 fund tracks 500 large U.S. companies. A Nasdaq fund leans heavily into tech. A Dow fund holds just 30 stocks. Same word on the label, very different exposure.

Venture into growth or value funds, and it gets even more nuanced. Different fund providers define those categories differently, and stocks can shift classifications mid-year, which quietly changes the characteristics of what you hold.

The question worth asking isn't whether you own index funds. It's whether you actually know what's inside them, and whether that mix lines up with where you're trying to go.

Hit follow for more on building a portfolio with purpose.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Mid-Career Professionals, Executives and Directors, Business Owners. Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, individuals starting to build wealth.

08/12/2026

Thinking of starting a business? Or already have one and thinking of making with switch to S Corp! Watch this before you make the final decision!

✅ Wondering if an S corp is the right move for your business? Let's...

08/06/2026

Turning 30 and still winging it? 👀

Most Gen Z high earners are skipping one of the easiest wins in personal finance, and it's costing them more than they realize.

There are 4 specific money moves that matter most right now, and the window to get them right won't stay open forever.

From a retirement contribution decision you need to make before your income climbs any higher, to a savings baseline that keeps debt from quietly taking over, to a smarter way of thinking about the different types of debt on your plate... each one builds on the next.

These aren't generic tips. They're the moves that actually shift your financial trajectory in your 30s.

Watch the full video to see which ones apply to your situation.

If this was helpful, follow the page for more financial moves that actually move the needle.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving Executives and Directors, Business Owners, Gen X and Gen Y (35-55 years old), young families, rising career professionals with growing income, those with student loans or other debt, and individuals starting to build wealth.

08/04/2026

Selling stock this year? Your rate may not be 15% 👀

High earners often don't realize how quickly their effective capital gains rate can climb once income crosses certain thresholds. A hidden surtax, a poorly timed sale, or even selling just a few weeks too early can push what you owe far beyond what you expected.

There are three specific mistakes that show up repeatedly for executives and high-income professionals. And the frustrating part is that most of them are avoidable with a little planning before you make a move.

Watch to see if any of these apply to your situation before you sell anything this year.

Create Wealth Financial Planning, LLC (CWFP) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of FL and in other jurisdictions where exempted. All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Portions of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI tools.

Investing involves risk and the potential for loss. Please speak with a financial professional to evaluate your personal situation before taking action on any items discussed on this page.

Comments and reactions by viewers are not a guarantee of future investment outcomes and are beyond the control of Jeff McDermott and Create Wealth Financial Planning. Public comments are not selected, amended, deleted, or sorted by CWFP, although personally identifiable information, scam or fraud messages, and misinformation may be removed.

Create Wealth Financial Planning is a financial advisor serving executives, business owners, and rising professionals building wealth.