Sam Fawaz, CPA, CFP®, Author at FIGuide

What’s Going on in the Markets – March 8, 2020

Mar 08 2020

On Monday, March 9, the market celebrates its 11th anniversary of this long bull market with the bull appearing quite tired, coughing and wheezing into that milestone. Yes, believe it or not, we are still in a bull market.

Despite the wild swings in the markets last week, the major indexes managed to close positive on the week for a change. Unfortunately, it was a somewhat hollow victory given that the worries over the Coronavirus have not subsided and an oil price war was started on Friday (read more below).

Volatility in the major indexes continued last week following the …

Business Tax Provisions of the FCAA

Jan 01 2020

As a year-end holiday gift, Congress included a number of individual and business-friendly tax provisions in its year-end spending package that was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. The “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” (oddly considered a 2020 Act) brought back to life many deductions and credits that had expired at the end of 2017, as well as a few others that had either expired at the end of 2018 or were scheduled to expire at the end of 2019.

In addition, substantial changes were made to retirement-related tax provisions, some of which may benefit your …

2019 Year-End Tax Planning Tips & Traps

Nov 27 2019

As the end of the year is fast approaching, we should consider any last-minute strategies that might help reduce your 2019 tax bill. Last year was the first year to be impacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). While there was plenty of clarifying guidance on application of the TCJA, there were was no significant new legislation in 2019 affecting individual taxes. But situations do change from year to year, thus requiring a fresh look at how to approach year-end tax planning. The following are strategies that may benefit you and that we should discuss before …

Nine Top Elder Frauds to Avoid

Oct 31 2019

One of the areas that regulators have begun to focus on in the investment industry is elder fraud. After hearing about the vicious scams some endured by senior citizens, many by their own families, I’ve become more attuned to the clues that a client or relative of mine might be a victim of.

Picture this: you’ve saved money all your life. Or, maybe you sold your business after investing years of hard work. You’ve chosen the smart path and have a comfortable nest egg as you set sail into retirement.

But always be on guard! Criminals seek to trick you …

Tips to Teach Kids About Money

Jun 30 2019

We may not even realize it, but most of our attitudes, fears and habits around money are formed when we are kids. How much our families made, how much they spent and even how much of an allowance we got, greatly influence how we feel and react to the lack of or the abundance of the greenback.

Kids learn the basics in school — reading, writing and arithmetic. But schools avoid almost any instruction about money. If they do offer a class, it may be an elective in high school, long after money habits have been formed.

I believe it’s …

Author - Sam Fawaz, CPA, CFP®