As the old saying goes, the only constants in life are death and taxes. However, while you can’t avoid paying your share to the government, you may be able to lower your tax burden. Income shifting is a well-known tactic for moving money around so that you don’t have to pay as much in taxes. Today, we’re going to dive into this strategy and see how income shifting might be able to lower your taxes. 

What is Income Shifting?

The name of this tactic kind of gives it away. To reduce the amount you owe, you simply shift your income to another person. Let’s say that you’re in a relatively high tax bracket (i.e., 35 percent). So, instead of paying all of your income at that rate, you give part of it to a relative in a lower tax bracket (i.e., 10 percent). 

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start thinking about retirement. Although you will want to put money away in a variety of different accounts, one of the most reliable is an IRA. You may already be familiar with Traditional and Roth IRAs, but the fact is there is a way to move money from a Traditional to a Roth, which is considered a Backdoor Roth IRA or a Roth Conversion.

Both actually do the same thing in a slightly different way. A Backdoor Roth IRA is typically in relation to converting a Traditional non-deductible contribution to a Roth IRA. A Roth Conversion is normally in relation to a larger amount being converted from a Traditional to a Roth. Again, they both do the same thing but just have different names. Today, we’re going to focus on the Backdoor Roth IRA.

For many individuals, the primary concern is to save as much money as they can before retirement. After all, the bigger your nest egg, the less likely you’ll run out. 

However, even if your retirement accounts are bursting at the seams, budgeting is still a necessity. In many cases, without a budget, you could wind up having to dust off the old resume because your funds are starting to run low. 

As a financial advisor, I meet with individuals and couples who hope to retire early all the time - I mean, who doesn’t. Once I sit down with them for some basic number-crunching, we work together to create a long-term financial plan that will guide many of their decisions. 

This can include how much to invest, when and where to invest, and ways to increase cash flow and returns while keeping long-term costs and taxes to a minimum. 

Do you have a 529 plan? Do you work with a financial advisor? Do you have a 529 plan that’s managed directly through your financial advisor?

If you answered yes to the first question, then that’s perfectly fine. If you answered yes to the second question, that’s great as well. However, if you answered yes to the third question, well, that’s where I tend to differ from a lot of financial advisors… and yes, that’s coming from a financial advisor.

First of all, congratulations that you are able to max out your 401k. Whether it’s $18,000 if you are under 50 years old or $24,000 if you’re over 50, that is a lot of money to sock away on an annual basis.

Now that we have established you're contributing the max, the next question I ask is do you receive matching contributions from your employer? If the answer is yes, another congratulations are in order because not all employers provide a company match.

Whether you’re a first-time real estate investor or an experienced veteran, you can always do a little bit more to maximize profit in your investment properties. Here’s how you can get the most bang for your buck. 

Fix-and-Flip for Cheap

One of the most common types of investment properties are fix-and-flip properties. For the uninitiated, a fix-and-flip investment is when you buy a house that’s undervalued, most of the time because it’s old and run-down. You purchase it at a cheap price, fix it up and make it nice—thus improving its value—and then you sell it to make a profit.

Organizing your financial life is a fundamental, critical step for wealth building. Establishing a budget, planning your savings and ensuring you are preparing for retirement now secures your future and ensures you stay on track to meet your personal financial goals. Given the plethora of financial advice available, it can be difficult to find and develop the right plan for you. 

There are some fundamentals that can be applied to anyone’s financial situation though, and creating an efficient financial life is as much about getting started as it is maintaining smart financial planning and decisions. Here is our brief guide to creating an efficient financial life that meets your needs.

Have you ever thought about what financial freedom looks like? Or, has it never even crossed your mind simply because you’re just trying to make it to the next day. 

Regardless of whether you’ve actually thought about it or not, it’s something most people can’t even fathom but would love to achieve. However, the main issue lies in how to actually get there.

Once we graduate college and get our first job, it seems like our next unwritten goal in life is to buy a new home. Right or wrong, that seems to be how life goes. I’m by no means saying it’s the wrong choice to make – heck I did it and still own a home – but should it really still be called the “American Dream?”

In my humble and probably subjective opinion, the answer is no. While home ownership can be an incredible feeling and certainly a feeling of “growing up,” it’s definitely not for everyone. There are plenty of pros and cons to owning a home just as there are plenty of pros and cons to renting. It’s up to each individual to determine what’s right for them.

When I got into this industry over 16 years ago, I’ll be honest and admit I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I started the Monday after I graduated from college and was thrown into the “bullpen” and told to start studying for my exams that I was to take over the next 4 months—I won’t bore you with the details.

Once I passed those, I then went through some really terrible sales training. When I returned back to the office, I was basically told to start bringing in new clients and good luck. Seriously, that was it.

Ever thought somebody owed you something, but you just can’t remember what? Well, guess what, maybe someone does, and it might just be waiting for you in a state where you once lived. And, it’s actually not out of the ordinary to find your name on a state's unclaimed property list.

Believe it or not, states are holding onto BILLIONS of dollars in unclaimed property. And, because of unclaimed property laws, this money has to be returned to you if you ever come looking for it. In 2015 alone, over $3 billion was returned! Crazier than that, though, almost $8 billion was collected leaving another $5 billion uncollected. Trust me, there is a lot of it out there.

The budget. To many, it is simply known as the “b” word. The budget has turned into this scary thing that few people dare to discuss.

I’m not sure if it’s just overwhelming to think about tracking or if people fear seeing where they’re spending their money. Regardless of the reason, the budget is the foundation to anyone’s personal financial situation.