With December approaching, it’s a good time to think about end-of-the-year financial planning. What steps might you take? One common strategy is to make charitable gifts—to support good causes, of course, as well as to reap a tax benefit. But before doing that, I suggest a related exercise, which [...]
Perot’s Quest
When Ross Perot ran for the presidency in 1992, a pillar of his campaign was tax reform. Federal tax rules, he pointed out, had grown to more than 80,000 pages. His proposal: Start over and replace everything with a simple flat tax. Perot’s campaign for tax reform didn’t make much progress, but [...]
Threading the needle
This week’s Mega Millions jackpot is projected to top $1 billion. Would you be happy if you won? Last week, I talked about the Vanderbilts. Once the wealthiest family in America, they saw their fortune dwindle because of aggressive spending. Back in the 1890s, for example, the family spent $7 [...]
A framework for giving
With the end of the year approaching, a topic that may be on your mind is charitable giving. But how exactly should you approach it? For many people, charitable giving tends to be driven by the charities themselves. As solicitations arrive, people decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not to [...]
Giving
Financial planning is, for the most part, straightforward. You want to save enough for the future, then avoid a shortfall by investing those savings wisely. Pretty much every other topic in the world of personal finance—from asset allocation to taxes to safe withdrawal rates—can be viewed through [...]
