The focus today is going to be on taxes. You have more control over your taxes than you think. A big portion of my practice is centered around taxes and being tax smart. This does not mean doing anything illegal or even questionable. It simply means taking advantage of opportunities to not tip Uncle Sam and we do this through a variety of ways to reduce taxes. Now, this time of year, I'm asking all my clients to send me their completed tax returns. I don't do taxes, not even my own. However, I get into the returns to make sure everything is in order and more importantly to do planning for the current and even future years, and now is the time to be looking at taxes not waiting until the end of the year.

• Marginal tax rates [2:20]
• Taxation of dividends and bracketology [5:16]
• The differences between qualified and ordinary dividends [7:44]
• Sun setting of current tax rates [9:52]
• Will taxes will be lower now or down the road in retirement [13:54]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [15:22] 

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We've seen the market give up quite a bit of gains this year. Maybe after the last decade plus of great years we’ve forgotten that the market can go down. Who knows if we will end the year negative, but right now, things are looking good for those accumulating assets. Not so much for those in retirement or nearing retirement. Regardless, I want to spend a few minutes talking about something I deal with a lot...concentration risk. The emphasis in this episode will be ways to reduce your concentration risk for times like these with down markets and extreme volatility. 

• Defining what concentration risk is [1:06]
• Stop limit orders [4:07]
• Looking at charitable giving [6:21]
• Filling up tax brackets [8:02]
• ESPP is a quick way to stop accumulation risk [9:27]
• Be aware of the big picture [11:19]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [13:47] 

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In today's episode, I want to talk about a bucket retirement strategy I use with my clients. No, I'm not talking about pickle buckets, which I promise I will explain at the end. We've seen some serious volatility this year in the market. We haven't seen this sort of swing in roughly 15 years. If you're looking too closely at your investments this year, you know we have had volatility all the way through. Most of the cause before was due to inflation and unknowns about the interest rate changes. Things like the invasion of Ukraine certainly have not helped either. Lucily the concept I want to discuss today isn't affected by volatility, at least in the short term. The bucket concept is simple. However, the execution is more complex. Join me to learn more about it.

• Bucket concept in a nutshell [1:26]
• Bucket #1 [2:47]
• Bucket #2 [3:03]
• Bucket #3 [3:42]
• When in retirement will you use each bucket? [5:41]
• The pickle bucket story I promised [8:42]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [9:42] 

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On this week's episode I want to talk about fees. It's a huge issue within my world. More importantly, it's an even even bigger issue in the lives of clients. Fees can take the form of sales commissions, percentage of assets that an advisor manages, hourly fees and more. It's confusing and it's why I operate under a single flat fee structure. 

That's right. I charge one flat fee, $8,400 a year, for financial planning and investment services based on my knowledge and experience. I do not charge based on sales products or what the stock market does. 

• Being charged more becuase you have more [0:59]
• What a flat fee of $8,400 per year will cost you over time vs and AUM advisor [3:29]
• Internal investment expenses [7:16]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [10:41] 

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On this week's episode, we're going to talk about some important things everyone with equity compensation should be doing, at least in my humble opinion. I've titled the episode, the biggest mistakes to avoid because negative titles get more clicks, however, I don't like the negative approach. The approach I will be taking as I move through these items is to focus on the most important things you should be doing if you have equity compensation and want to be successful with it. 

Before we jump into things, I want to remind you that I cater to employees with equity compensation who also work for publicly traded companies. My focus is on RSUs, stock options, restricted stock, and ESPPs. I do not work with startups or things like IPOs. It's not my area of knowledge so if you're looking for an advisor who works in that area, well, I'm simply not that guy. Let's get to it. 

• Show me the money options [1:26]
• Take the time to understand your equity compensation [2:29]
• ESPPs are my favorite [3:54]
• Concentration risk [5:08]
• Taking advantage of tax advantages [6:01]
• Developing a plan [7:53]
• Hiring a pro [8:50]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [10:05] 

• Chuckery Trail
• The Signal Tree

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In episode 70 of the Equity Compensation Guidebook, we're going to talk about spending in retirement. Yes, I'm deviating from equity compensation but please stick with me as this is important. Spending in retirement is a huge question everyone wants to know the answer to. Actually, this question can take a variety of forms. Will I have enough to make it through retirement? How much can I spend in retirement? What's my target nest egg so I can actually retire? A few factors include inflation, healthcare expenses, social security, and longevity. Oh, and we certainly can't forget assumptions about what the market may do. 

What I want to focus on is what studies show us about spending trends in retirement as this is the most important factor to me. Spending. If you know me, you've heard me focus on your spending number. If you have a good estimate of how much you spend, we can start calculating the rest to answer the question of how much you can spend in retirement. 

• The reverse bell curve of retirement spending [1:45]
• Study findings for consumption and spending in retirement [4:10]
• Know your spending [7:19]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [8:45] 

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On this episode, I want to talk about a topic unrelated to equity compensation but something that is impacting more and more of my clients and maybe you too. Identity theft. It's not a fun topic I know but it is one that is critically important. My goal today is to share are a few key tips regarding protecting yourself from getting robbed of your identity and the headache that goes with it. I am no expert in identity theft but I spend a lot of time in this subject area simply because it's another behind-the-scenes service I do for clients as their certified financial planner.

• A quick look at data breaches from last year [1:06]
• Why do breaches happen? [2:25]
• Freezing your credit [3:32]
• Other tips to help protect yourself from identity theft [5:34]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [08:53] 

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On this episode of the Equity Compensation Guidebook we're going to talk about one of the most important components of equity compensation. Actually, it's one of the most important parts of any successful investing strategy. Taxes! And what better time to talk about taxes than the season opener for the 2021 filing year! If you know me, you know I have a mantra when it comes to investments and taxes... It's not what you make. It's what you keep. If you end up losing a good portion of your investment returns to taxes every year, you lose the effectiveness of compounding over time. While we do not have complete control over taxes, there are things we can do. 

I'm going to start with some of the basics but we're going to stay relatively high level when it comes to the main components of equity compensation. Non-qualified stock options, usually called NSOs or sometimes just stock options. Restricted Stock Units, referred to as RSUs, and then finally Restricted Stock, which sometimes go by Restricted Stock Awards or Restricted Stock Grants. These are the big types of equity compensation and what we will cover today!

• NSOs and taxes [2:17]
• RSUs and Restricted Stock; similar but different [6:31]
• The 83B Election [9:38]
• This week’s FLASHBACK [11:08] 

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