Gilbert Wealth Articles

Unraveling the Numbers: A Comprehensive Guide to Social Security Benefit Calculation

Social Security benefits are one of the cornerstones of anyone looking to retire in the US. A retiree's Social Security benefit provides them with a monthly stream of income that adjusts each year for inflation and lasts for as long as they live. While the actual formula used is complex and beyond the scope of this article, understanding the major components of the calculation will help maximize your Social Security benefits over your lifetime. Key Ideas Delaying Your Benefits Increases Your Monthly Amount Reviewing Your Earnings Record to Catch Mistakes Early Filling Your Top 35 Years Increases Your Benefits Understand…
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Charitable Giving through a Donor Advised Fund

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a specialized account for designed to facilitate charitable giving. A Donor Advised Fund is a valuable tool to consider for anyone who is charitably minded as it provides a number of benefits such as tax deductions, tax-free growth, and charitable flexibilitye What is a Donor Advised Fund and How Does it Work? Donor advised funds have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way for individuals to manage their charitable giving. These funds allow donors to make a contribution of cash or appreciated assets to a public charity, which then establishes a separate…
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A Healthy Investment: Discover the Surprising Benefits of Health Savings Accounts

Healthcare costs in the United States can be quite high, and managing these expenses can be a significant challenge for many people. Fortunately, there is a financial tool available that can help you save money and invest in your future healthcare needs: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). This article reviews what HSAs are, their features, and how to maximize their benefits. What are Health Savings Accounts A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a separate account that holds money set aside to reimburse you for qualified medical expenses incurred by you or your family members. Similar to retirement accounts, if you are…
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From Risk to Resilience: How to Build a Strong Plan for an Uncertain Future

Monte Carlo simulations are a powerful tool for analyzing complex systems and making predictions about uncertain outcomes. Financial Planners use Monte Carlo simulations to model retirement portfolios, income strategies, and investment outcomes. By using a large sample of historical market data, Monte Carlo simulations can generate thousands or even millions of hypothetical scenarios, each with slightly different outcomes and paths. These scenarios can then be used to estimate the probability of varying market outcomes, such as the likelihood of your portfolio being able to meet your retirement goals.This article goes into Monte Carlo simulation in a little more depth. If…
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What the Bible Says about Money

What does the Bible have to say about money? Quite a lot! The Bible has over 2,300 verses that reference money, wealth, or possessions in some form. Of the 39 parables Jesus told, 11 were about money. This shows us how important it is for us to understand the principles and teachings of the Bible when it comes to our relationship with money. The Bible provides valuable guidance on managing our finances, including budgeting, saving, and giving principles. It highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with money, recognizing that our ultimate source of security and fulfillment comes from…
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How Flipping Coins Helps You Make Better Financial Decisions

A Monte Carlo is a method used to simulate possible outcomes given a set of parameters or assumptions. In a comprehensive financial plan, Monte Carlo can be used to test the strength of your financial plan against adverse market conditions. Monte Carlo analysis is an improvement over the prior method of just using a constant portfolio return for each year in your financial plan. While using a constant return can simplify the charts and give you a basic understanding of what is happening in your plan, it fails to account for a basic fact that returns each year are not…
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Budgeting Part 2: Income and Expenses

With the basic budgeting techniques covered in Part 1, we will now cover your income and expenses in more depth. In this article, I'll cover some common questions about each high-level category and provide tips on navigating, finding, and budgeting for each side of the equation. If you missed Part 1, check it out here: Budgeting Part 1: The Basics – Gilbert Wealth Determining Your Income This is the fun part - how much money you have coming in the door! Your income is the first step in developing a budget because it tells you how much you have to budget.…
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Observations from JP Morgan’s 2023 Guide to Retirement

Planning for retirement is a complex task involving many decisions about an unknown future. Working with a qualified, comprehensive advisor who looks at your entire financial picture and has your best interests in mind can help you navigate and prepare for a fulfilling retirement. As a practitioner in financial planning, I am constantly reviewing financial research to ensure my plans reflect not only my client's unique financial circumstances but also the future economic, tax, and demographic changes. JP Morgan releases an annual Guide to Retirement that summarizes several eye-opening observations regarding retirement longevity, income, healthcare, and expenses. The guide is…
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How to Buy TreasuryDirect Series I Savings Bonds

The following are basic instructions for how to purchase TreasuryDirect Series I Savings Bonds.  Updated as of February 27, 2023. If these steps have changed, please let me know. 1 Log Into TreasuryDirect Link to Login: Log In — TreasuryDirect The Log In process is a 3 step process: 1) Enter your account number 2) Enter the one-time password sent to your email address 3) Manually type password (and by manually, I mean you have to use your mouse to type the password into a digital keyboard. You are not able to copy and paste, use your keyboard, or use a…
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How to Report a Backdoor Roth Conversion

The Backdoor Roth strategy is a great way to get more savings into Roth IRAs if you are high-income and you’ve maxed out your other retirement options. If you have performed a Backdoor Roth or are considering performing one, it is important to understand the proper way to report the transaction, as it requires additional steps to ensure your money is not taxed twice and the IRS is satisfied. The Backdoor Roth Conversion Steps Contribute to a Traditional IRA Convert the Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA Report the transaction on your tax return What Documents You'll Receive While performing…
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