Understanding SECURE Act 2.0 for Tax and Retirement Planning
Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Understanding SECURE Act 2.0 for Tax and Retirement Planning

The SECURE Act 2.0, a recent legislative update, ushers in substantial alterations to the landscape of retirement planning. This new law is aimed at bolstering retirement security for Americans and addressing the challenges inherent in the current retirement system. In this article, we'll delve into the key changes brought about by the SECURE Act 2.0 and their potential impact on retirement planning and tax planning strategies.

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Maximizing Your Charitable Giving: 5 Expert Tips
Charitable Planning, Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Charitable Planning, Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Maximizing Your Charitable Giving: 5 Expert Tips

Charitable giving is one of the most common goals for households with wealth, both pre and post-retirement. A thoughtful charitable giving strategy couples charitable giving desires with a plan around giving that takes into account tax efficiencies, the timing of donations, and the impact of these contributions. To help you plan better in fulfilling your charitable giving desires, we will discuss a few tips to help achieve these goals.

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Tax Planning for a Smart Retirement - The Top 5 Accounts
Tax Planning, Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Tax Planning, Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Tax Planning for a Smart Retirement - The Top 5 Accounts

In the world of retirement planning, it's not just about saving for your golden years; it's about saving intelligently. The key to ensuring a tax-efficient retirement lies in understanding the various types of accounts at your disposal.

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Potential for a Prolonged Recession and Implications for Investment Planning 
Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Potential for a Prolonged Recession and Implications for Investment Planning 

In this ever-changing economic landscape, the need for sound investment planning is more crucial than ever. This article delves into the potential for a prolonged recession and its implications for your investment strategy. We will explore key economic indicators and strategies to safeguard your financial future.

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Student Loan Forgiveness: A Tax Planning Perspective
Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

Student Loan Forgiveness: A Tax Planning Perspective

Education is a powerful tool, enhancing your quality of life and unlocking countless opportunities, from valuable social connections to better career prospects with higher salaries. You've dedicated years to your education, driven by the belief that it's a path to success.

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The Inflation Reduction Proposal: Can Congress Reduce Inflation?
Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

The Inflation Reduction Proposal: Can Congress Reduce Inflation?

If you're anything like me, you've been staying indoors as much as possible this summer to avoid the record-breaking heat wave. Unfortunately, if this applies to you, it also means you may be unable to avoid a news channel or two. Likely, you may have heard about the latest game of political football being played: the new Inflation Reduction Act that Congress is trying to pass to address the current financial situation.

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The New Look of Retirement: The Changing Landscape
Estate Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Estate Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

The New Look of Retirement: The Changing Landscape

Retirement is often perceived as the culmination of one's working life, ushering in an era of leisure and relaxation. However, the landscape of retirement is undergoing a profound transformation, primarily due to increasing life expectancy.

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Avoiding Poor Financial Decisions in Retirement – 5 Trends Retirees Should Avoid
Estate Planning, Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Estate Planning, Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Avoiding Poor Financial Decisions in Retirement – 5 Trends Retirees Should Avoid

This article covers some patterns and behaviors that may result in poor financial decisions and reduce the overall probability of achieving goals during retirement, such as enjoyment, flexibility, and control.

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Divorce Steps to Know Before the Dance
Estate Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Estate Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

Divorce Steps to Know Before the Dance

How do they divide their assets, memories, and life between the two of them in an equitable fashion? Who gets custody of the kids and who pays for what? These are the contentious questions asked during a divorce. It is an unpleasant experience but if it must happen, thankfully, there is a smarter way to proceed for all parties involved.

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Market Commentary; The Persistence of Volatility
Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Market Commentary; The Persistence of Volatility

In this month’s newsletter, I hope to address key parts of our investment strategy, as well as highlight some definite wins and some areas that are still challenging. Seeing losses for the first time in the last 6 years can be challenging. Rest assured that our risk management process is helping to limit those losses.

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A Few Words Before You Go; Estate Thinking and Planning
Estate Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Estate Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

A Few Words Before You Go; Estate Thinking and Planning

I wanted to talk with you about a topic most people don’t want to discuss, planning for death…more politely known as Estate Planning. It’s a troublesome subject because most of us don’t know when it will happen. But it will happen to all of us, and when it does, you can’t ask the Grim Reaper for ten more minutes while you make quick arrangements.

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Cyberattacks Specifically Targeting Seniors
Estate Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Estate Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Cyberattacks Specifically Targeting Seniors

In this post, we will walk through a couple of the key action items seniors can be taking to be safer in a digital world, especially when it comes to your online financial accounts. We are not experts but by working with our technology partners and through resources from Schwab and Fidelity, we have organized these best practices.

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Staying Focused During Times of Conflict
Estate Planning, Investment Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Estate Planning, Investment Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

Staying Focused During Times of Conflict

When something “big” happens in the global universe, our natural tendency is to ask, “What happens next?” The markets ask the same question and they usually have an adverse initial reaction because the markets don’t like uncertainty. However, the ultimate effect on the marketplace may not be what you might think.

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Risk of Recession
Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Investment Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Risk of Recession

It’s normal to be concerned about your investments given the current situation of the world right now. Over the past few weeks, I have received a few questions around risk that I believe merit further exploration.

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Don’t Tax Yourself
Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Tax Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

Don’t Tax Yourself

Tax season is here again. Whether you have filed already or not for this year is immaterial at this point. Why? Because around 250 years ago, Ben Franklin was quoted as saying- “…nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

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Understanding Market Volatility
Investment Planning Tom Lawson, Director of Military Outreach Investment Planning Tom Lawson, Director of Military Outreach

Understanding Market Volatility

By understanding how volatility works, you can put yourself in a better position to understand the current stock market conditions as a whole, analyze the risk involved with any particular security, and construct a stock portfolio that is a great fit for your growth objectives and risk tolerance.

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The Long Game
Estate Planning, Investment Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager Estate Planning, Investment Planning Loren Bailey, Senior Wealth Manager

The Long Game

We all know that life can throw the unexpected at us…just look at the past few years for example…who could have predicted? You’ve reviewed your plan dozens of times and see nothing wrong. Then you read an article which stokes your concerns…one that states that 70% of people over age 65 will have some sort of disabling event that will require assistance of 2 months or longer.

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Changes to Required Minimum Distributions
Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital Tax Planning Amar Shah, CFA, CFP® Founder & CIO, Client First Capital

Changes to Required Minimum Distributions

This year, we have already received several questions regarding the updated RMD table and distributions. So, I thought I’d answer two commonly confusing aspects of taking RMDs through this article.

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