1. Review Your Budget and Spending

With the end of the year approaching, now is a perfect time to review your budget. We  recommend analyzing your spending patterns to identify any areas where you might be overspending or where you can cut back. This process allows you to adjust your budget to ensure that your spending aligns with your  financial goals. The money you save can be applied to your savings plan, tax bill if needed, or your business plans.

Financial Budgeting Steps to take:

• Use budgeting apps like Mint or YNAB (You Need A Budget) to track your expenses.
• Compare your actual spending to your budgeted amounts. When you find discrepancies, identify whether they are one offs or consistent occurrences. Are they avoidable or should you adjust your budget to allow the real amount needed for those expenditures?
• Adjust your budget for any seasonal expenses, such as holiday shopping or travel.  For most of us, spending during the last quarter of the year increases, yet many still forget to allow for this. Face the reality of what you will need to spend and then stay in budget.

2. Evaluate Your Savings Goals

As the year winds down, take the time to evaluate your savings goals. Whether it’s building an emergency fund, saving for a vacation, or contributing to retirement, it’s essential to assess your progress.

Savings Steps:

• Review your savings accounts to ensure you’re on track to meet your goals.
• Consider setting up automatic transfers to your savings account to make saving easier.
• If you haven’t already, establish an emergency fund that covers three to six months’ worth of expenses.

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, approximately 37% of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency. This statistic underscores the importance of a robust savings plan (Federal Reserve).

3. Check Your Investment Portfolio

Fall is an ideal time to review your investment portfolio and make any necessary adjustments. The markets can be volatile, and your investment strategy should align with your overall goals and risk tolerance.

Investing Steps:

• Assess your asset allocation and ensure it matches your risk tolerance and investment objectives.
• Rebalance your portfolio if any asset classes have deviated significantly from your target allocation.
• Consider consulting a professional like Americore Group for guidance on optimizing your portfolio.

Americore is proud to bring wall street to your street, educating and sharing investment strategies.  If you prefer to DIY investments, Investopedia provides valuable insights into investment strategies and portfolio management, which can help you make informed decisions (Investopedia).

4. Evaluate Insurance Coverage

As seasons change, so may your insurance needs. Whether it’s health, auto, home, or life insurance, reviewing your policies ensures you have adequate coverage for your current circumstances.

Insurance Steps:

• Compare your current policies with others available in the market to see if you can find better coverage or lower premiums.
• Assess whether your coverage limits align with your current assets and liabilities.
• Don’t forget about additional coverage for seasonal activities, such as winter sports or holiday travel.

The Insurance Information Institute offers comprehensive resources to help you understand various types of insurance and the importance of adequate coverage (III).

5. Prepare for Tax Season

With tax season just around the corner, fall is an excellent time to start preparing your tax documents. Gathering your financial records and organizing your paperwork can save you time and stress when filing.

Tax Steps:

• Collect all relevant documents, including W-2s, 1099s, and receipts for deductions.
• Consider adjusting your withholding if you received a large tax refund or owed money last year.
• Consult a tax professional to discuss tax-saving strategies and ensure you take advantage of available deductions and credits.

The IRS provides an array of resources to help taxpayers prepare for tax season, including information on deductions, credits, and filing requirements (IRS). When the tax code overwhelms you, we can refer you to a savvy tax professional known for reducing your tax liability.

6. Set Financial Goals for Next Year

As you tie up loose ends this fall, it’s also an opportune time to look ahead and set financial goals for the upcoming year. Establishing clear, actionable goals can provide motivation and direction.

Goal Setting Steps:

• Write down your financial goals, whether they’re short-term (saving for a vacation) or long-term (buying a home).
• Create a plan that outlines the steps you need to take to achieve these goals.
• Regularly review and adjust your goals as needed throughout the year.

The Financial Planning Association offers resources and tools to help you set and achieve your monetary goals (FPA).

Conclusion

Fall is more than just a change of seasons; it’s a pivotal time to reassess your financial situation and make necessary adjustments. By reviewing your budget, evaluating savings goals, checking your investments, assessing insurance coverage, preparing for tax season, and setting future goals, you can ensure that you’re financially prepared for the months ahead. By taking these steps, you can enjoy the beauty of fall without the stress of financial loose ends weighing you down. Embrace this season of change as an opportunity to secure your fiscal future.

There is a crucial principal in retirement planning called paying your future self first.  The idea, if you’re not familiar with it, is to prioritize saving and investing for your retirement before allocating money to other expenses and fun.  This approach makes sure you build a sufficient nest egg to support your needs in retirement.

Americore can help with several under used programs to help you build up your retirement plan, but the principal of paying your future self first, still holds.  Here are some basics principals to follow, before we help clients enhance their future.

Set Clear Retirement Goals

No goal is reached until it is set.  Figure out your retirement goals and estimate the amount you will need to live comfortably during your retirement years.  If you aren’t sure how much you will need to live, look at your current income and take 80% of that number, then multiply for inflation and taxes and you at least have an estimate. Consider allowing for new factors too, like lifestyle, healthcare, travel and hobbies you always wanted to pursue when you had time.

Create a Budget

Once you know the goals, the next step to making them happen is to create a comprehensive budget.  The budget should outline your current income, expenses, savings and retirement savings. 

Make Your Contributions to Retirement Accounts.

You made the plan, now make sure you make the contributions just like you planned. Speak to your financial advisor to check whether the tax advantage program now is better than pre paid tax on your retirement draws.  If now is better, take advantage of tax-advantaged retirement accounts available to you. These may be 401(k) s or IRAs (individual Retirement Accounts) or other similar accounts.  If you can contribute more than budgeted,it might make sense to contribute as much as allowed to use the employer matching benefit and tax advantages. Talk to a professional to see if this is right for you.

Automate Your Savings

You can make the process of paying your future self easier. One way to more easily pay today’s money to your future self is to automate the transfers from your paycheck or bank account to your retirement planning accounts.  Automated transfers make sure the contributions get made before you spend it somewhere else.  This way, you don’t short your future self.

Pay Off High Interest Debt

This is a good approach for most of us with debt.  Though it may not be your highest monthly payment, it is costing you more than the low interest debt over time.  During that time, you could be putting that money into your retirement planning account.

Diversify Your Investments and Risk

Your retirement savings should already be in a diversified portfolio aligned with your risk tolerance. This is likely to change over time based on the time frame until retirement.  A mix of stocks, bonds, insurance and other assets can help you achieve long-term growth while managing risk.

Regularly Review and Adjust

As we mentioned in a July Americore article, It is important to periodically review your retirement plan and make adjustments as needed.  Your life, your goals and your priorities change with life events.  Your retirement planning for paying your future self should be reviewed and adjusted accordingly.  Reassess your financial situation too, your retirement goals and risk tolerance to make sure your plan stays on track.

Avoid Early Withdrawals

Tapping into your retirement savings before retirement can leave you with penalties and those taxes you previously avoided paying.  Early withdrawals can also significantly impact the growth of your future self’s nest egg.

Get Informed

Learn about retirement planning strategies.  At Americore, we love to share information on programs designed to enhance or protect your retirement savings.  Knowledge is empowering and can help you make informed decisions about your retirement savings.

Talk to a Professional

If you are uncertain about retirement planning or want to learn how to improve your plan, talk to a professional like those at Americore.  We’d like to hear your goals. Call our office at 747-224-8110 in a free, no obligation call to discuss ways to improve the lifestyle of your future self or contact us here. Tell your Americore representativewhat you’re looking for, and we’ll tell you how we think we can help you make that happen.

Sometimes this is just about focus.  When you spend every day making sure your own clients enjoy a great customer experience, you lose track of things like retirement planning, exit strategies and legacy planning.  Or maybe you did all of that…15 years ago.  What you think about, what you needs constantly changes and if you haven’t updated your retirement and legacy planning, it time to review your plan.

The Need to Review the Plan

Your business value has changed in fifteen years.  It is possible that your health needs have changed too.  Was your exit strategy in the original retirement plan you conceived? With all of those changes, retirement planning needs to be periodically reviewed and renewed.

It is natural, even when you make a good plan, that changes will need to be integrated into the plan years later.  We show you ways to enhance your plan using uniquely designed legitimate programs that many business owners never realize they qualify for. 

Before you can know which programs would make sense for your situation, assess where you and your business stand today.  We can help with this, and save you some time.  It is essential to step back and evaluate your situation, lifestyle, and progress made on achieving your retirement goals.  Next, let’s put the financial assessment in writing. It will become your starting point, useful for navigating the journey toward your financial destination.

Enhance Your Retirement Planning

Mellody Hobson, known for her TED Talks series, said: “…about understanding money regardless of the amount. It’s about how you treat it and how you maximize opportunities.” At Americore, we have spent decades on finding additional ways to help you maximize your financial opportunities.  We call those opportunities blue apple programs, because you rarely see them, but they are incredibly valuable, nonetheless.  We access programs offering tax breaks, credits, rebates and other incentive programs that help grow business and personal wealth today. 

Using Programs To Build and/or Protect Wealth

There are many programs available, and we have learned how to best match them to our clients’ needs.  Just a few include employee reimbursement programs, telehealth employee program incentives, travel reward bonus plans, R&D programs available to most businesses for product development, as well as other programs that add millions of dollars to your cash flow. 

But each of these opportunities works as part of a comprehensive retirement plan and exit strategy. And each plan starts by opening a conversation on how we can collaborate with you and your team to enhance your vision.

Acting on the Plan

Regardless of your age, retirement is not the vague someday event people often see it as.  There are real time frames that you can use to develop a great plan for retirement, business exit and legacy creation.  We can help you choose the programs right for you, make sense of the process,  and set up realistic goals to achieve.

Call our office at 747-224-8110 or contact us here to open the conversation.  Tell your Americore Group representative  what you’re looking for, and we’ll tell you how we think we can help you make that happen.

We’re more than halfway through the year, and if you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to review your progress on financial goals for 2022. Checking on your progress to your saving, business, and retirement goals now gives you time to adjust your approach if needed.  No worries: we’ve got a few short steps to help you with your mid-summer financial checkup.

Step 1. Review Your Annual Goals

At the beginning of the year, when you set all those new year’s resolutions, did you also set your financial goals for the year?  In a first step of your midyear financial checkup, review the budget and goals you set.  Is your spending on track or below it?  Taking into consideration this year’s markets, are your investments delivering the results you realistically looked for?  Are your income streams where they should be? 

If you aren’t satisfied with your progress on your financial goals, make some changes. When a business project is only generating losses, and they are beyond your expectations, it’s time to look at methodology.  If your personal expenses are out of line, look at what you can change to bring them back into range.

Americore has programs that can help you free up funds and make the necessary changes.  While the first half of 2022 markets were dismal, there may still be some ways to improve on your returns. If you have questions on strategies and opportunities, talk to the advisor you can trust.  It costs you nothing to start a conversation with Dennis Bays, but it could save you a lot.

Step 2. Review Your Retirement Savings

No matter how far or close retirement is, a review of your retirement accounts is never amiss.  Check the goals you set and compare them with your retirement savings.  See if you are on target to meet or exceed those goals.  This review is more about how much your contributions are, not the balances of those accounts. Given this year’s market performance, your balances may be frustrating, but think in terms of maxing out contributions.  Then set attainable increases for each year, like one or two percent higher contributions.  Though it rarely destabilizes the rest of your budget, it feels good to see your contributions rise.  

And don’t forget to improve your contributions by making realistic, reachable savings goals using Blue Apple programs wherever possible. Americore programs that can make early retirement a reality.  Ask us about ways to make that happen.

Step 3. Make Some Tax Reduction Moves

Americore  Blue Apple financial solutions can help you with often missed tax credit and rebate programs.  Programs, such as the Blue Apple health care benefit program is a government sponsored plan that not only saves money, but actually offers rebates. If you aren’t using at least one Blue Apple tax credit program, you’re leaving overlooked money on the table. This collection of opportunities contain legitimate government developed program to assist the growth of small and mid-sized businesses in America.  Other incentives are designed to funnel more of a certain type of behavior.  When you can save taxes through activities you’re already engaged in, it’s rash to bypass those savings.

Making your Financial Checkup Easier

Some financial advisors love to speak over their clients to as a way to act superior.  At the Americore Group, we want to share our investment and savings knowledge so you can benefit.  Period.  We don’t want to make it mysterious or complex.  At Americore, we want to show you new ways to benefit more from your investments.

Let us help, without replacing your own advisors or costing you more.  We work with your team  to use often missed tax credit and tax reduction opportunities.  If your midyear financial checkup revealed you’re off course, call our office at 747-224-8110 or contact us here.  Tell your Americore Group representative  what you’re looking for, and we’ll tell you how we think we can help you make that happen.

Here we’ll highlight some basic tax sheltered investments. Contact your Americore Representative for specific, in depth tax sheltered investments ideas.

1. Municipal Bonds are Tax Sheltered Investments

The purchase of a municipal bond essentially is lending money to a state or local government.  There are a set number of interest payments over a preset period of time. Once the bond reaches the maturity date, the full original bond amount is repaid to the buyer.

Interest from municipal bonds is exempt from federal taxes. Depending on where you live, it may be tax exempt at the state and local levels too. Municipal bonds pay lower interest rates.  However, the tax benefits combined with lower than corporate bonds default rates make them attractive to investors.

2. Long-Term Capital Gains With Favorable Tax Rates

Long-term capital gains from investments like real estate mutual funds, offer favorable tax rates compared to short-term capital gains. Patient investors reap the rewards of preferential tax treatments  that just improved with new thresholds in 2022.   

3. Business Tax Savings

Besides deducting a percentage of the home expenses, business owners can enjoy other tax advantages.  Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, (SECURE), was enacted in 2019 to facilitate employer participation in retirement plans.  SECURE reformed retirement savings protocols, offering incentives to employers who join multiple employer plans and offer them to their employees.

4. Max Out Tax Sheltered Retirement Accounts

According to a Northwestern Mutual 2018 study, 21 percent of Americans have NO retirement savings.  The Study also revealed a third of the nearly retirement age group have less than $25,000 in retirement savings.  In spite of these dire statistics, 75 percent of Americans believe social security won’t be able to add to their retirement. 

The government is concerned about the lack of savings.  The SECURE act was drafted to encourage employers and employees to save for retirement. It created incentives using tax sheltered investments.  Learn the current caps so you can max out your contributions. Today, RMD (required minimum distributions) aren’t mandatory until age 72, and IRA contributions now have no maximum age.   If you’re a wage earner with a 401(k) contribute as much as you can into your retirement account.  There’s an extra free money bonus if your employer matches your retirement contributions.

5. Use a Health Savings Account

If you have an Employee  insurance plan with a high deductible, a health savings account (HSA) to save enough to cover the high deductible can be valuable.  Some HAS contributions are matched by employers, so it is worth considering.  Keep in mind, withdrawals for non-medical expenses may be taxed, but withdrawals for medical expense aren’t.

6. Claim Tax Credits Available

Americore can help you find more tax credits and incentives than you thought possible.  Many people know about the earned income tax credit, and the American rescue plan.  Also familiar is the American Opportunity Tax Credit.  It offers a maximum of $2500 per year for eligible students for the first four year of higher education.  The Lifetime Learning Credit allows up to 20% credit for as much as $2000 per return climaxing at $10,000 of qualified expenses.  

Are you already saving for retirement?  Maybe the ABLE account is the right one for you. Individuals can receive a credit of up to half their contributions to a plan, like an IRA, or an ABLE account.  The Child and Dependent Care Credit, depending on income, can help offset qualified child and dependent adult care expenses.  But don’t stop there. 

Americore unique Blue Apple programs, offer favorable features to enhance small business growth and improve cash flow.  The programs are underused, mainly because other advisors have little experience with them.  Americore representatives are exceptionally familiar with every nuance of the programs.  In fact, we work with existing business advisors regularly to leverage the programs that are most valuable to their clients. 

One of the many blue apple program is the Research Tax Credit.  This Federal Research and Development Tax Credit (FRDTC) is a wage based tax reduction that rewards companies for investing in eligible research.  Sadly, many believe this credit is only for technology and pharmaceutical companies, and miss potential benefits. In reality, the FRDTC can be used by engineers, architects, manufacturers and other types of businesses that qualify. 

The key to using the programs is understanding when and how to best implement them.  For information on programs, contact your Blue Apple professional at Americore and start the conversation. You could save millions.

As you near the date, knowing which retirement mistakes to avoid will make a more enjoyable lifestyle in retirement.  With retirement funds in various accounts, how you withdraw your assets matters. Ignoring tax implications or taking your benefits at the wrong age can cost you money and lifestyle options. Information is king, however, and you can get more out of your retirement by learning retirement mistakes to avoid.

Don’t Claim Your Social Security Benefits Too Soon.

One of the more common retirement mistakes to avoid is under-analyzing when you should start drawing social security benefits. There are different benefit levels at different ages.  The benefits you claim at 62, 66 or 67 aren’t the maximum available.  If you have multiple accounts, you can choose to withdraw from other accounts until your benefits maximize out.  At 70, after using the other benefits for several years, you can claim your full Social Security entitlement.  Note: there are time when it is necessary to draw SSI benefits sooner.  Talk to an Americore Advisor or your own financial advisor to learn when it’s the right time for you.

Don’t Withdraw From Your 401(k) Before RMD’s

Currently individuals must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from qualified retirement accounts at age seventy two.  This age deadline applies to those who turned 70 ½ in 2020 or later. Previously, the deadline was seventy ½ years old.  RMDs withdrawn from retirement accounts are taxable.  Accounts with RMDs include traditional IRA, simple IRA, SEP IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) accounts. Roth IRA withdrawals are non-taxable.  Some roll other retirement account balances into their ROTH IRA to turn tax deferred into tax free assets. Check with your Americore Representative or your own financial advisor to learn more about this option.

Avoid Benefits Until You Leverage Your Investments. 

The first places to withdraw funds from are your taxable brokerage accounts.  Choose your least tax efficient accounts that are subject to capital gains and dividend taxes.  Meanwhile, you are giving your tax advantaged accounts more time to grow and the interest more time to compound.

Don’t Assume The Same Formula Works for Everyone

Roth IRA is the last account most retirees choose to access, but the order isn’t a straight formula. Assumption of a 1-2-3 step order is another one of the retirement mistakes to avoid.  Keep from accessing your other IRAs too long, and they can grow large enough to subject you to higher taxes. Every dollar you take from your traditional IRA is taxable income. That means If you deplete your brokerage accounts to live off your IRA, you may find taxes cut deep into cash flow.  Keep in mind that you will still need to handle any RMDs, and the tax bracket they create as well.

Don’t Delay Talking to Your Professional Advisor

An Americore Group Advisor can help you understand the retirement steps that work best for you.  Retirement and investment accounts are not the only tools you need for a more comfortable lifestyle.  Americore Blue Apple programs can enhance your retirement and investment accounts value.  Get details on the right opportunities for your situation by scheduling your Americore Consultation here. Even if you have an advisor in place, Americore can bring added value to your retirement plans without extra cost.

Americore Group
Project Blue Partner/Founder
5750 Lindero Canyon RD #1019
Westlake Village, CA 91362
DIrect: 805-300-2800 | Office: 747-224-8110

I’m not talking about deciding which stocks to dump as Wall Street takes us on its wild ride with all the dips and climbs. I’m referring to a deeper look at how you planned for your retirement, and what you can do to improve your position without a large investment. The answer lies in what blue apple means to your finances in any market conditions. Before you look at new programs, start with some basic steps in spring cleaning your finances. It will give you a fresh starting point.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Situation

Before you make any plans about which programs would be effective in freeing cash flow, it’s time to review and evaluate your finances. There are several apps for this or you can simply list your assets and your debt. Add each column. How do they compare? If the debt is close to or more than your assets, take the next step. Next to each account’s outstanding balance, enter its interest rate, including mortgages, consumer loans, and credit cards.

Step 2: Reduce Your Debt

If the interest rates are higher than current available rates, debt consolidation might be a good tool for debt reduction. Regardless of how you do it, paying down debt is well worth the struggle because it gives you incredible freedom. To do this, you’ll have to watch your spending habits. So keep the good and work on the bad ones. For instance, during the pandemic, many of us revised several expensive habits, like eating at home instead of going out. If you enjoy it, keep your home dinners and invite friends over, even as businesses open back up. The money you’ll save adds up quickly.

Step 3: Cut spending to Save More for Retirement

With oil prices skyrocketing, then dipping before rising even higher, now is a good time to curb your spending habits. Take a good look at your budget. Revise it, cutting where you can in spite of raising the fuel budget. It is tempting to go out again and spend, but focus on the long term. See if you can trim a little more off your expenses and add that first to your emergency savings and then to your retirement accounts. Americore blue apple meaning offers creative ways to help you free up money for earlier retirement. Contact Dennis Bays here to learn more.

Step 4: Check Your Coverage

In spite of devastating loss of life during the pandemic, just over half of Americans own life insurance according to LIMRA. Perhaps because people perceive life insurance as being expensive and unaffordable, they leave this to their employer. Since the employer isn’t the beneficiary, it’s a good idea to do your own research. With information so accessible today, make sure your insurance is enough to protect your family.

Step 5: Automate Your Bills

Until you can pay off your debt, you have a tool available to keep your bills current. Set up automatic bill pay. Most creditors will voluntarily set this up for you, but if not, your financial institution can set it up. Either way, the bills get paid, as long as you have the funds in your account.

Step 6: Enjoy Yourself – at Least a Little

You’ve been through a pandemic, lockdown, skyrocketing inflation, and now world unrest over Russia’s military action. Give yourself a little break now and then. Without going overboard on spending, go out once in a while and enjoy yourself. You need to stick with your budget, but you can still spend a little on things that make you happy.

The Value of Spring Cleaning Your Finances

The effort you put into spring cleaning your finances will improve your future for years to come. That alone is worth a little work, but you don’t have to go it alone. Let Americore share the blue apple meaning with you. We love revealing its unique programs that save money, improve cash flow and open financial opportunities for your vision.

Financial services for your business are not just about loans, customer payment processing, or tax planning.  Managing Cash position and growth can change your business opportunities, both today and in your future.  And because we are confident that we can make a difference, we don’t charge until you are benefiting from our services.

In this era of pandemic shutdowns and limitations, perhaps the biggest question we should ask is…

Are the funds available to cover your current costs of operation? 

Can you remit vendor invoice payments by the due dates? Have you got the capability of making seasonal buys long before you need those items on shelves to fulfill customer purchases?  Does your business have enough cash flow so that you can invest or cover emergencies?

Do you have access to funding for growth? 

Americore can help guide you toward sources of funds for well planned growth.  Do you need cash to launch a new product line, enhance technology for marketing, monitoring or fulfilling demand? Do you need funds to expand within existing or new market areas?  Do you have a plan in place for those funds?  Can your current plan be improved or altered for a more favorable pipeline?  There are changes that can help put your business in a better position for growth.

Is there the Support in place that you need? 

Would your business benefit from third parties that handle invoices, payroll, financial reporting or other financial and accounting duties?  While your neighborhood bank may provide all of the financial services your business requires, such as a small business bank account and charge card, a full analysis may reveal a new set of options.   This is where your business could benefit from our services. 

One of the strengths of Americore is our ability to pair business characteristics with a combination of services and programs that best improve its standing.  For instance, if your business is international, you may do better with a treasury management and other international bank services, or you may benefit from a basic bank account and third party services that more closely fit your needs.  Americore is intimately familiar with a comprehensive array of third party services and can work with you and your team to take advantage of the best service matchup in order to achieve your goals.  Surprisingly, we often help businesses realize goals they didn’t know they wanted to attain.

At Americore, we feel the difference from other service providers, is our experience and knowledge.  We excel at knowing which programs your business is eligible to benefit from, that traditional banks may rarely use.  And no, these financial services and programs are not audit inducing plans.  These packages are legitimate opportunities for small and midsize businesses, that due to lack of exposure, go largely untouched by businesses of this size.

There is no need to completely restructure to take advantage of these opportunities.  We don’t want to replace your team of professionals; we want to work with you and your team to organize financial services that can put your business in a great position.  Visit us at Americore.com or call us at (747) 224-8110 to for more specific information about how we could help your business.  We should have a conversation.  You’ll be glad we did.