In talking with clients about the benefits their employer provides during the open enrollment season, one often overlooked benefit if clients have dependents is the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not only a savvy investment option but also offer numerous benefits, especially for high-net-worth families. An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account designed for individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses. While the utility of HSAs is universal, they hold advantages for high-net-worth families and have steadily grown in popularity since their inception.
Earlier this year, I explained two principles you can follow to obtain the most happiness from your spending https://www.highlandplanning.com/learning-center-1/how-money-can-buy-happiness-part-1. In today’s article, I will cover three more concepts that can help bring more joy in your life with your spending. Below are the five principles outlined in the book Happy Money.
In a previous article titled “The Estate Planning Essentials”, I identified the documents needed for a comprehensive estate plan. Although this can be a morbid topic most want to avoid thinking about, reviewing the documents not only ensures your financial legacy is passed in accordance with your wishes as smoothly as possible but guides your agent to ensure your medical and financial wishes are addressed. So, how often should you review your estate planning documents?
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) collects demographic, income, and asset information from student applicants and their families. This information is used to calculate a student’s eligibility to receive any financial aid for college expenses based on the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is calculated according to a formula that is established by the federal government and is a measure of a family’s financial strength. Schools consider the EFC as one of several factors to determine the amount, if any, a student may be awarded for that school year. Simply put, students are eligible to receive need-based student aid if the sum of their EFC and other estimated financial assistance is less than the total cost of attendance.
According to the US Department of Agriculture's most recent annual estimate, it will cost a middle-income family $233,610 to raise a child to age 18, ignoring college and inflation. This is a staggeringly high number, but the cost to raise a child with special needs can exceed that number by 5 or 10 times, depending on the child's condition.
