Wolff Financial

Tax diversification: A spin on ‘don’t put your eggs all in one basket’

By saving in more than one of the tax buckets you allow yourself great flexibility down the road.

Yes, we do what we can with the information we have, but we do not know what the tax code will look like in 30+ years. Keep in mind the whole picture.

If you are looking for financial planning that encompasses more than an occasional call about the stock market, then reach out for a chat.



This is not tax advice. Just education.

What does it look like to work with me? 👇🏼

Whether you want ongoing planning and accountability or want a one time plan to DIY we will go over the same onboarding steps to ensure any recommendations take into account your full financial picture.

The Wolff Process
1. Discovery Meeting
2. Organization Meeting
3. Values, Goals, and Mindset Meeting
4. Cash Flow Meeting
5. Embark Meeting
6. Check In

DM me the word DISCOVERY to see how you could benefit from this process.

What does it look like to work with me? 👇🏼

Whether you want ongoing planning and accountability or want a one time plan to DIY we will go over the same onboarding steps to ensure any recommendations take into account your full financial picture.

The Wolff Process
1. Discovery Meeting
2. Organization Meeting
3. Values, Goals, and Mindset Meeting
4. Cash Flow Meeting
5. Embark Meeting
6. Check In

DM me the word CHAT to see how you could benefit from this process.

🎁 Giving in a tax advantaged way

Today is Giving Tuesday. A day created to take a breather from consumer spending and remind us of the reason of the season.

If you choose to give this season, keep in mind the following tax tips.

1) You can deduct your donations if you itemize so keep a receipt of your gifts.
2) Gift appreciated stock. Maybe you have done well on an investment or maybe have some stock that was gifted to you as a child. Instead of selling and having to pay capital gains, you can gift that stock to a charity.
3) Donor-Advised Fund. If you know you will give every year, you can use a DAFs to put a large sum, get a large tax deduction, but still control the account to gift to the charity overtime.

Plug any specific charities you love 👇🏼

All of your savings should not be invested.

Why? The goal of investing is to grow your money over time and risk and reward go hand in hand. Investing is great for long term goals such as retirement, but not so great for funds you might need to access in the near term like an emergency fund.

Let me know below what savings goals you have.

Mine are ✈️ travel and 🏡 home downpayment.

✨ Reach your goals by picking one of the following

It’s doesn’t matter which cash flow method (aka budget) you use, as long as you stick to it.

📊Category based
0️⃣Zero based
🪣50/30/20
🌊Flow based

Let me know which one you use👇🏼

It’s the season, for open enrollment. 🚑

For most, this is the time of year you need to choose your health insurance coverage for the next year.

There are several considerations. Some based purely on math and some on comfort level.

Also, during this time many employers allow you to choose from other benefits such as dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and legal assistance.

💌 Share this with a friend.

🤨 Let me know what you find most frustrating about navigating open enrollment.

Investing into a fund can be a great way to easily diversify your money, but which one do you choose?

The reality is that it depends what you are trying to achieve. ETFs and Mutual Funds can be used for both active and passive investing. Active meaning choosing the individual holdings. Passive usually meaning tracking an index, such as the S&P.

Make sure to understand the goal of the fund before you click “buy”.

Almost everything you see in personal finance says, “Get the free money.” But what does that even mean? Take a few minutes looking through your employer’s retirement plan summary document to find out how you can get the most of that “free money”!

What’s your employer retirement match?

You’ve gotten a new job, congrats! But what to do about that old 401(k). Make sure to consider all the pros and cons before making a decision.

I always recommend discussing your options with your accountant and financial planner.

👇🏼How many old 401(k)s do you have out there?

Kudos to you for maxing out your 401(k)! But if you max out early, you could be missing out on the full employer match. Some employers base the match on pay period versus annually. Check with HR to make sure you’re not missing out.

Happy 1 year for Wolff Financial!

June 1, 2021 I officially took the leap to launch my financial planning firm. I wanted to create a place where financial planning meant education and collaboration, not sales. I have truly enjoyed working with the many women and couples nationwide by helping them align their money to their goals and values.

Thank you for all the support this past year! Cheers to many many more 🥂

Earth Day 2022

Did you know that you can choose investments that have a positive impact on the environment?

Environmental, Social, and Governance investing strategy allows you to put your money to work with companies that strive to make the world a better place. ESG investing relies on independent ratings that help you assess a company’s behavior and policies when it comes to environmental performance, social impact and governance issues.

Do you make too much to contribute to a Roth IRA?
For 2022 the income limit is $144,000 for a single filer and $214,000 for married filing jointly. The following are two ways to continue to make Roth contributions.

1) Check out your 401k and see if there is a Roth option. Yes, you still get the match it will just put in the traditional (pre-tax) bucket.

OR

2) Backdoor Roth Strategy:
The easiest way to do this is make sure you do not have any existing investments in an IRA (inherited IRA excluded). Make a non-deductible contribution to your IRA. Then convert those non-deducted funds into a Roth IRA. Now the money is ready to be invested.

Some people love Zumba, while others prefer weight lifting. Of course there are pros and cons to each, but what does it matter if you don't stick with it?

Same goes for budgeting. It doesn't matter what method or system you use, just that it's something you will stick with.

What's your favorite system?

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a tax-advantaged way for individuals to save for healthcare expenses. An individual with coverage under a qualifying high deductible health plan (HDHP) can contribute $3,650 (family can contribute $7,300) for 2022. Contributions reduce your taxable income, any investment earnings within the account are tax-free, and qualified withdrawals (medical expenses) are tax-free.

Other advantages of the HSA are that there are no limits to how much can roll over year to year AND you can take your HSA with you if you change employers. Because of these two benefits, you should consider the role an HSA could play in your retirement savings picture.

I often hear that I don't look like the typical financial advisor. I firmly believe that this shouldn't be the case. People often seek out professionals who look like them because they feel like they will be understood. However, when looking for a financial advisor, it can be difficult to find someone who looks like you. I had a great conversation with Justin Mack from Financial Planning about improving diversity in the industry. Check out the article attached for a few ideas on making this happen.

Why not pursuing a CFP first may be the key to a more diverse crop of financial planners A College for Financial Planning analysis suggests encouraging aspiring planners to pursue financial designations other than the CFP could lead to more women and people of color entering the industry.

I recently had a wonderful conversation with Anne Tergesen from the Wall Street Journal about ways to reduce stress around money, particularly with couples. We discussed a few strategies that I recommend to clients.

1) Money Dates – Set aside time every month with your partner to discuss goals and money. “Try to make it fun, or at least fun-ish.” Grab a pizza or get a glass of wine. Do what you can to remove the anxiety of talking about money.
2) Separate fun money budgets – Set an amount that each of you can spend on whatever you choose. This can simply be a line item in your budget or you can create separate spending accounts. Each person can decide what they want to spend the funds on, or they can even choose to save their amount. “It’s a statement that each has the freedom to be their own individual as well as part of the relationship.”

Remember money is just a tool and finding out how to reduce anxiety around it will greatly benefit you and your relationships.

How to Make Your Financial Life Happier in 2022 After two years in which many have been under pandemic stress and strain, consider making your money goals focus on happiness.

What if I told you that it was ok to set aside funds for life today? What if I told you that the whole point of life wasn't retirement?

Unfortunately, all the financial industry talks about is retirement. Of course you want to think and plan for you future, but how about we be ok living today as well?

What are some of your goals?

What does it mean to invest?

In simple terms, you can either use your money to own something or you can loan your money.

You can own an asset such as real estate or crypto or you can own all or a portion of a company. This company can be anything from your best friend's new sock company to a large publicly traded company. When you own a portion of a company it is generally referred to as owning shares, stocks, or equity in that company. The goal of ownership is to participate in the growth of the that asset or entity.

You can also loan your money to an entity. The entity can be a company or it can be the government. Generally this is referred to as fixed income and can come in products such as notes, bills, bonds, or CDs. The goal of this type of investing is to have the principal (amount you loaned) returned back to you along with interest.

Keep in mind that there are risks associated with any type of investment. It's important to understand the purpose of the money you have invested along with the risks.

We all know what intentional means, but the question remains are we being intentional? Intentional in our daily habits, our relationships, our spending.

A question I pose to clients is, "What do you truly want your life to look like?" Now what is always interesting is that it's not the fancy car or nice house, it's time with loved ones, a fullfilling career, experiences with the family. Not to say say that those are not great goals, but we are discovering what is at the core of all of that. Is it security, flexibility, freedom? Once this picture is established we can use it as a guideline for everything else. Keeping in mind that money is just a tool, where your money goes should reflect these values and overarching life goals.

As you go into the holidays and eventually start making New Year's resolutions, consider what living intentionally means for you.

In the words of Kenny Chesney:
"Don't blink. Life goes faster than you think."

Thinking about money around the holidays can cause an undue amount of stress. Here are some things that might help reduce some of that stress:

⏰ START EARLY : Last minute shopping a recipe for stress. Starting early can help out with finding sales or just brainstorming the perfect gift.

💰SET A BUDGET : Having a good overall budget for what you are willing to spend will help guide you through the holidays.

📝 MAKE A LIST : Tap into your 'A-type personality' and make a list of the people you'll be giving to. You can use this list to start brainstorming gift ideas.

☕️ ALLOW FOR EXTRA : Give yourself some grace. Everything won't go to plan and that's ok. It's also ok to treat yourself to an extra holiday coffee.

🤍 FINAL THOUGHTS : The holidays are about spending time with the people you love and showing your appreciation for them. It's not about the dollar amount spent, but rather the thought behind it. Consider switching out some tangible items for experiences. Not only will this maybe reduce the spending amount, but most importantly create memories.

What are your finance red flags? 🚩

'Rules of thumb' for money can be seen everywhere - financial news, blogs, and even social media. These are not bad, but they should be taken with a grain of salt.

Consider the medical field, a doctor would not prescribe the exact same thing to every patient that walked in. They would run tests, talk with the patients, and prescribe the right drug at the right dose for that particular person. This one-size-fits-all rarely works in any field.

Next time you see 'You should save X by age Y' or 'You should only spend X on Y', consider if that is best for you and your personal financial situation.

Automation is such a powerful tool. Imagine knowing that even in the midst of your busy day that your finances are handled, money is going into the savings buckets you preselected.

You may have seen this work with 401(k) contributions. Your paycheck deduction is preselected. You don't need to log in each time to decide how much to save, it happens automatically.

Consider how automation could work for you.

Servicer of 8.5 million student loan borrower accounts, FedLoan Servicing, has not renewed its contract. Therefore starting in 2022 your student loan will be with another company.

❗Some ways for you to make sure your student loans are transferred correctly:

1. UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO - Make sure all of your contact information is correct under your profile. This includes phone, email, and mailing address.

2. DOWNLOAD ALL LOAN DETAILS - Under 'Loan Details' you can print or save all loan information and under 'Payments & Billing' you can export all payment history.

3. SAVE COMMUNICATION ABOUT YOUR LOAN - This is especially important for anyone working towards PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) or on an income based repayment plan. Make sure to have copies of annual income recertification and employer certification.

4. WATCH FOR THE SWITCH - Monitor your email and mail for all communication from new loan servicer. Also, keep an eye on your bank account and credit score to make sure new payments are being made as they should.

5. DON'T FALL FOR SCAMS - Scammers are likely to take advantage of this opportunity by making promises to reduce or eliminate your loans.

MYTH: Retirement is the only life event that can benefit from financial advice.

It turns out there are so many life transitions that happen BEFORE retirement and most affect your finances.

What events have happened in your life this year? Me: I started a business 👩‍💼

"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Trust me, it's a lot more fun to think about a vacation than to plan it. It's the same when it comes to planning out your future and looking at finances. During my time working with individuals and families, I heard so many times, 'I wish I would have started sooner.' That doesn't mean life stops so savings can start. What it means is that you set out a map to achieve the life you want all while making sure you enjoy life today.

There are many things that go into creating a financial plan AND sticking to it.

I know you already have a mile long checklist with work assignments, laundry, groceries, picking up the kids from school, that thing called self care, etc. With so many expectations and tasks it's hard to get it all done. Just like other parts of your life, the finances can be delegated, reducing 10+ to-dos into 1.

📝 Are finances on your to do list for the week?

✅ Start delegating your financial checklist by booking an introduction call.