Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (Governing Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans) What is Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 409A? IRC Section 409A, added by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, is the first comprehensive legislation aimed squarely at employer nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans. Section 409A requires that NQDC plans satisfy specific deferral election, distribution, [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Custom Benefit Plans for Key Personnel   A top-hat plan is a type of nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan that is established to provide unfunded (employers don’t formally set aside funds for these benefits; instead, they use their general assets) deferred compensation benefits only to a select group of management or highly compensated employees. A [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

The Internal Revenue Service has raised the income-tax deduction limit for Long Term Care (LTC) policy premiums that are paid in 2012. As in the past, the deduction varies by age of the insured person— for example, someone who is between 50 and 60 years old will see the deduction limit increase by $40. But [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Calculating Cost Basis Gets Easier This Year Brokers must track and report cost basis to both you and the IRS Anyone who has ever been baffled by calculating the net proceeds from the sale of an investment will find some relief, starting with the 2011 tax return due April 17. If you bought any stocks [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Aptly Named: “Emancipation Day” Taxpayers will have until Tuesday, April 17, to file their 2011 tax returns and pay any tax due because April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Monday, April 16. According to federal law, District of Columbia holidays [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

You might be surprised to hear that the Securities and Exchange Commission has published one of the most helpful articles on asset allocation. As you probably know, asset allocation is one of, or perhaps the most important determinants of long-term investing success. Entitled “The Beginner’s Guide to Asset Allocation”, this well-written piece is not just [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Every year brings some financial change, so here are some relevant changes relating to investment, tax and estate planning for 2012. Retirement plans. 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plan annual contribution limits rise slightly to $17,000, and you can contribute an additional $5,500 to these accounts if you are 50 or older this year. IRA contribution [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) are all personal health accounts that may help you control your health-care costs. But trying to figure out what’s what can be confusing. Here’s a brief description of each type of account, including some of their major [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Life Insurance Policy Loans: Tax and Other Implications As the owner of a life insurance policy, you can generally borrow the policy’s cash surrender value and use the proceeds for any purpose. Before you take a policy loan, be sure you understand the implications of the loan on the policy itself as well as any [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

U.S. STOCKS HELD UP RELATIVELY WELL IN 2011 It was a weak year for equities, but foreign markets had it worse. 2011 had a definite downside. Statistically, 2011 may end up being characterized as the year stocks stood still: the S&P 500 lost .003%, its smallest year-over-year change of any kind since 1947. Yet it [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Making Financial Resolutions? Look Back at Last Year Each new year brings the chance for a fresh start, and the opportunity to improve your financial picture. As you make financial resolutions for 2012, looking back at what happened last year can help you make some positive changes this year. Automate your retirement savings In 2011: [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

2011 was a mixed bag for market returns. The S&P was flat, the Dow Blue Chips were up, and the NASDAQ was down for the year. Here are some highlights from the Wall Street Journal1: The [S&P 500] full-year decline of 0.04 point, or 0.0028%, was the smallest annual move since at least 1947, according [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

You should become familiar with the terms of your employer's 401(k) plan to understand your particular withdrawal rights (more...)

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

THE CROSS PURCHASE BUY-SELL AGREEMENT Taking Care of Your Business After You’re Gone Business owners are builders. They spend their lives building a business that provides goods and services to their clients and provides themselves a living. But nothing can tear down that lifetime work faster than their own death, or the death of a [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Transferring Your Business Interest with a Buy-Sell Agreement What is a buy-sell agreement? Business succession tool Events like the death, disability, or retirement of an owner don’t have to mean the end of the business. Business succession planning can provide for an orderly transition of ownership and business management, during lifetime or at death. One [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

The prospect of paying costly premiums for long-term care insurance that you might never use might discourage you. Enter the long-term care annuity. An advantage of stand-alone long-term care insurance over a long-term care annuity is the fact that the medical expense deduction is not allowed for long-term care charges within an annuity, while premiums [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

Just because a self-directed IRA allows you to choose certain investments, it doesn’t mean that you should. Some investment choices aren’t suitable for all investors. Certain risks are involved in investing in real estate. Changes in real estate values and economic downturns can have a significant negative effect on real estate investments, including REITs, mutual [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION Rolling the dice on returns. When someone walks into a casino in Monte Carlo and rolls a pair of dice at the craps table, he or she has a 1 in 36 chance (62=36) of the dice lying face up in any particular combination. He or she knows this because each of the [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

“GOLDEN HANDCUFFS” FOR KEY EMPLOYEES A way to “sweeten the pot” and retain executives and managers. A job that is simply too good to leave. Businesses arrange “golden handcuffs” or “golden handshakes” agreements with key managers to reward loyalty and promote retention. A golden handcuffs strategy can make a management position so attractive that it [more...]

Latest news and information from Affinity Wealth Advisors, including timely updates on financial planning, investing, retirement, and estate planning.

HEALTH CARE REFORM – THE NEXT 3 YEARS A look at the changes coming in 2012, 2013 & 2014.    Companies sponsoring group health plans should be aware of the changes coming to the health insurance industry as part of the “second stage” of health care reform. An ongoing relationship with a licensed insurance and [more...]