Resources

Learn how revocable, irrevocable, and testamentary trusts work—and which type might be right for your financial legacy.

Your net worth is a simple but important calculation – it’s everything you own, minus everything you owe. Your net worth (or balance sheet) is a snapshot in time. Your net worth today might be a little more or less than your net worth tomorrow depending on the amount in your checking account or the value of your stock portfolio.

You’re not alone. Many successful professionals and business owners live this strange paradox: high income, growing net worth and low liquidity. It’s the curse of being “asset-rich and cash-poor.” You own things. Valuable things. But when real-life bills show up, your bank account flinches.

Your sixties are the very best time to defuse the tax time-bomb ticking away in your IRAs and 401(k)s. If you’re like many of our clients, you’ve diligently contributed to your IRA, 401(k) or other qualified retirement account for years. In most cases, those contributions were made on a tax-deferred basis. Money contributed to the plans did not have to be reported on your income tax return.

One of my first clients was a retired auto mechanic for the local city government. “Ron” repaired police cars and snowplows for a living. He never made more than $20,000 per year over his long career. Ron worked hard, spent less than he earned and consistently invested small sums in stocks and mutual funds. He lived in a modest home and always bought used cars because he could fix them up himself. Ron put two kids through college and by the time I met him was living a comfortable if modest retirement.