At Springwater, we have clients who are over the age of 70, who have individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and who do not need additional income. However, the government requires those over 70 (technically 70 1/2) to take distributions from their IRAs regardless of whether they need or want the money. For those who have a […]
What is a Donor Advised Fund?
A few weeks ago, our Stream blog highlighted how you can give to charity by donating your appreciated investments. As the donor, you receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the securities. The charity receives your donated investments, sells them, pays no taxes and uses the proceeds to support its cause. Today we’re […]
Springwater featured in the OSCPA journal “The Accountant”
The December 2016/January 2017 edition of “The Accountant”, published by the Oregon Society of CPA’s, included our article on Core Financial Planning Areas for Your Clients. The article highlights a number of areas where CPAs can assist their clients, including: – financial statements – risk management – tax management – education planning – investment management […]
Springwater co-founder completes specialized program in divorce analysis
The Institute for Divorce Financial AnalystsTM (IDFATM) has announced that Springwater principal and co-founder Jim Corbeau, MBA, CFP®, CDFA® has completed a specialized educational program in professional divorce analysis and is now a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®. A CDFA® is an expert on the immediate and long-term financial implications of divorce. Certified Divorce Financial Analysts […]
Should you have a trust?
Forbes magazine recently featured a column addressing the question of whether most Americans should have a revocable living trust as part of their overall estate plan. In the author’s view, many estate planning attorneys suggest that everyone should have a trust, while most Americans don’t even have a simple will. Since there is an investment […]
Estate planning is more than just having a will
Most people know that having some sort of estate plan in place makes good sense, regardless of your net worth, so that your financial and family goals are met when you die. And having these documents in place can make the end of life a little less painful for those left behind. But which documents […]
Ten must-have estate planning documents
Forbes recently published a great post highlighting the most essential estate planning documents. You can view the post here.
An aging population means an increasing need for long-term care
The Associated Press recently published more sobering news about the impact that an aging population will have on the need for long-term care. Government figures show that about 70% of Americans will need some form of long-term care after they reach age 65, yet only 20% of Americans think they will need such care some […]
Avoid potential pitfalls with 401(k) beneficiary designations
Many people are unaware that the beneficiary designations defined in a will do not apply to retirement accounts. Instead, all retirement accounts – including IRAs, as well as employer-sponsored retirement accounts like 401(k)s and 403(b)s – have their own beneficiary designation forms. Not properly completing a beneficiary designation form, or not keeping your beneficiary designations […]
How to evaluate your financial advisor
In its December 16, 2013 wealth management section, the Wall Street Journal published a piece on evaluating your financial advisor, by focusing on selecting the right investment benchmark to measure the advisor’s relative performance. There are a number of significant problems with this, but we’ll focus on just two of the biggest ones here. Wrong […]