Genovese Burford & Brothers Blog

As we close the books on a great year in the market, we at GBB begin to think about the next decade. The beginning of a new year (and new decade), can be a great time to reevaluate your financial goals and set new goals for the year ahead. Whether you are already retired or still in the accumulation phase, a new year can be a great time to check in on your plan. We recommend our clients review their financial plan at least once per year in order to make sure they’re staying on track to achieve their goals. Here are five activities to consider for the new year. Take Stock Beyond looking at the annual performance of your portfolio, taking stock is about evaluating the risks in your portfolio. Given the positive returns in U.S. stocks and bonds in 2019, it is possible that your overall stock allocation...

2019 brought the second major piece of Congressional action in the past 24 months with passing of the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement).  Although not nearly as sweeping as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Secure Act of 2019 creates several updates to the rules around retirement plans in an effort to address the so-called retirement crisis.  As with most regulation, what regulation gives in one hand, regulation takes away with the other.  Here are few of the key changes that may impact you most:   Required Minimum Distributions (RMD’s) Pushed Back to Age 72 If you are only planning to take RMD’s to satisfy the IRS, this change is most welcome.  Mirroring current law, individuals reaching age 72 will still be able to delay their first RMD until April 1 of the year following the year for which they must take their...

As a sponsor to a 401(k) Plan, fiduciaries have a number of duties and one of the most important ones is to act in the best interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries.   Another important thing for companies that sponsor a 401(k) Plan is to periodically set up a formal process of reviewing their plan and their service providers.   While the Department of Labor does not have a formal requirement for doing Requests for Proposals  (“RFP’s”) and benchmarking their 401(k) Provider, it is recommended that plan Committee’s conduct a formal RFP at least every 3-5 years.  The size of your 401(k) plan likely increases every few years through employee contributions made by plan participants no matter what the market is doing.   A larger plan size plan may warrant a reduction in your plan’s expenses.  The RFP process allows the Committee to see if their 401(k) Provider is still providing competitive...

We know many of you might give money as well as presents to your children or grandchildren this holiday season. However, what if you could gift to your adult kids/grandkids and help reduce your tax bill at the same time? You can, and the good news is it can be easy to do.  You don’t have to give them all your holdings of a stock.  Simply identify how many shares you would like to gift, ensure they are transferred by the end of the year, and you’re done!  On March 2, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 6,763.  Recently it has closed over 27,700.   If you have held individual U.S. stocks over this period, it is possible that the gains in some of these stocks have been 200-400% or even higher. While this type of growth has helped improve your net worth, it can often come with a...

Just a few decades ago, this would have been an unthinkable question for those of us living in the Golden State.  Songs such as California Dreamin’, Going to California, California Calling and I Left My Heart in San Francisco were gracing the airwaves and California’s population had boomed by 137% between 1960 and 2010.  However, things have changed in the last couple of decades, resulting in a net loss of nearly 3.4 million people (2012).  So, what’s changed in recent years? The most popular reason I hear in meetings is taxes.  California has the highest state income tax rates in the country which top out at 13.3% (2019).  Additionally, California has higher than average sales tax, gas taxes, and energy costs. During our working years, our options are limited as most of us need to live somewhat close to our jobs.  However, once we retire, we are free to roam...

When we discuss estate plans during our client meetings, we often hear either: “It’s on my list and I will call next week to get it done.” Or, “this doesn’t apply to me…I have my will and trust sitting in my safe.” If you haven’t thought about your will and trust over the last few years and made sure these documents were up-to-date, then please keep reading! That’s because lives and laws can change dramatically in just a few years and these changes can affect your estate.   Successful estate plans often have these attributes: Key participants are identified They reflect your current situation They are kept up-to-date legally Capable people are asked to distribute or manage your assets. Here are some tips for creating and maintaining a successful estate plan: An estate plan includes documents that can be used while you are alive and after you have passed.  When...

October 10, 2019 – Genovese Burford & Brothers is pleased to announce that Kevin Chang has been named to the 2019 edition of the Financial Times 401 Top Retirement Advisers. The list recognizes the top financial advisers who specialize in serving defined contribution (DC) retirement plans across the U.S. This is the fifth annual FT 401 list, produced independently by the Financial Times in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides business intelligence on investment management. Financial advisers from across the U.S. applied for consideration, having met a set minimum of requirements. The applicants were then graded on six criteria: DC assets under management (AUM); DC AUM growth rate; specialization in DC plans; years of experience; advanced industry credentials; and compliance record. There are no fees or other considerations required of advisers who apply for the FT 401. The final FT 401 represents an impressive cohort of...

From Investment News, "Just 10 hours after Charles Schwab announced it was eliminating trading commissions on U.S. stocks, exchange traded funds and options starting Oct. 7, rival TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. upped the ante by cutting the same commissions starting Oct. 3." Mike Genovese commented, "We believe Fidelity will follow suit shortly, so all GBB fee-based clients should benefit equally from these cost reductions from our primary custodians." GBB's Investment Director, Rich Cheever, commented, "A price war broke out this month between brokerage firms when Charles Schwab announced that it was eliminating commission for online trading of U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds and options effective October 7th.  TD Ameritrade has followed suit and eliminated online commission for ETFs and U.S. listed stocks as well.  Fidelity has not made an announcement yet, but we expect that they will be forced to eliminate commissions as well to stay competitive.  The announcement doesn’t impact trading of mutual...

If you do not create an estate plan, your state has one for you.  It is called the Probate Code.  Probate is an expensive and long drawn out process to organize and disperse your assets to people you may not want to inherit from you.  Attorneys, the courts, and people appointed to be your estate’s representative make a lot of money if this happens.  People that are disinherited by the process would probably be disappointed. One popular way to avoid probate is to use a “TOD” account for savings or investments that are outside of a retirement plan account such as an IRA or 401(k).  The “TOD” stands for “Transfer on Death”, and under these contractual agreements your assets transfer at the time you pass away directly to your named beneficiaries outside of the probate process.   While TOD accounts are a relatively simple and inexpensive way for you to distribute...

I’m a lucky man... marking 25 years of marriage to the lovely Augusta.   I’ve never had any need for dating or matchmaking apps, but through the osmosis of being around younger people, I’ve been able to pickup the terminology of “swipe left” or “swipe right.”   For those of you of my vintage, when on some of these dating apps, if you swipe right, you’re “interested.”  If you swipe left, you have other, better options. Consumers in general need to do a better job of “swiping left” on their advisor.  Most people spend more time planning their next vacation than they spend on interviewing and vetting their next financial advisor.  Your financial advisor is the person who will advise you for many years, who will help determine when you can retire and what that retirement will feel like financially.  When you die, one of your family’s first calls will be to...

In late July, GBB met with members of the Sacramento Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to learn more about this disease.  Our goal: become better prepared to support our clients as they age. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that one in eight individuals over age 65 has Alzheimer’s and nearly half of people over age 85 have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Over the last couple of generations, these percentages have grown, which makes Alzheimer’s both very prevalent and slowly debilitating—while not being deadly.  On average the disease can last eight years. From an emotional standpoint, Alzheimer’s is very difficult on all involved.  The person with dementia or Alzheimer’s can have periods of lucidity when they can understand their situation. These periods are often very difficult for them because they understand they have a disease that currently doesn’t have a cure. The caregivers (spouses, adult children, family members, etc.) for...

At GBB we are our clients’ fiduciaries, and we keep our clients’ best interests in mind always.  We continuously look to identify issues that our clients may face, and look for ways to help clients make smart decisions with their money.  When you are the beneficiary of an estate or receive a large gift you most likely want to be a good steward of the assets you receive.     Here are three reasons to consider using a Separate Property Trust to accomplish that. To limit access and maintain control A properly drafted and funded trust you create naming yourself as sole trustee is one way to make sure only you have access to, and the ability to exert any control over the assets you’ve received.  You may have any number of reasons to want to do this including being married to someone that has a propensity to spend. To protect...

It’s a pretty common question, “Since I’m planning on retiring, shouldn’t I retire my mortgage too?” It makes sense because most likely, your mortgage is your biggest ongoing monthly expense and by eliminating your mortgage, you are freeing yourself from what can be a large cash drain.  Generally speaking, yes, it is a good idea. However, before you plan your mortgage burning party, you may want to consider a few reasons why you may not want to send out the invitations just yet. You are planning on paying it off from your 401(k) or IRA.   For many workers, this is where the vast majority of their wealth lies so it seems like a logical place to withdraw money. However, unless your mortgage is very small, this could be a huge mistake. Money that you withdraw from your 401(k) or IRA (unless it is a Roth) will be taxed at ordinary...

As financial advisors, when markets go on strong runs like the one we’ve seen since Christmas, we often get questions about what’s going to happen next.  Clients call us, their investment managers, and want to know whether to keep buying and join the party, or whether profit taking and rebalancing is sensible.  And there are good reasons to wonder, as an unusual set of economic conditions have come together at present.  As of this month, we are now living in the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, beginning its 11th year.  As I write this, the S&P 500 has just closed at another record high.  Job creation in the US rang in at 224,000 new positions for June, well above the monthly average for 2019, and more than double the rate required to absorb new entrants to the labor pool.  One might be forgiven for supposing things were about to...

June 27, 2019– Genovese Burford & Brothers is pleased to announce it has been named to the 2019 edition of the FinancialTimes 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers. The list recognizes top independent RIA firms from across the U.S.  This is the sixth annual FT 300 list, produced independently by the Financial Times in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides business intelligence on the asset management industry. RIA firms applied for consideration, having met a minimum set of criteria. Applicants were then graded on six factors: assets under management (AUM); AUM growth rate; years in existence; advanced industry credentials of the firm’s advisers; online accessibility; and compliance records. There are no fees or other considerations required of RIAs that apply for the FT 300. The final FT 300 represents an impressive cohort of elite RIA firms, as the “average” practice in this year’s list has been in...

We’ve received multiple inquiries regarding Bitcoin and blockchain technology, and how disruptive it might be. Here are our thoughts on the recent technology. As cryptocurrencies like “Bitcoin” have seen their values fluctuate wildly over the past two years, bitcoin, and blockchain, the underlying technology that powers it, have captured investors imaginations. Blockchain at its heart is a distributed-ledger technology that employs cryptography to ensure the integrity of the data it stores. For all its hype, blockchain is basically just a novel approach to database architecture where control of the data is distributed among all the parties using it. This architecture is enabled by cryptography and the use of tokens (i.e., cryptocurrencies) as incentives for participants to perform the work to ensure the data’s integrity. What makes blockchain so disruptive is its shared ledger eliminates the need for intermediaries to establish trust and authenticate identity between two untrusted parties who want...

Global stock markets have been spooked by the escalating trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies: China and the United States.  And there is no evidence that the dispute is about to be resolved.  On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and began taking steps to tax nearly all of China’s imports.  The new tariff levels are an unprecedented 25% of the value of the Chinese goods coming into the U.S., raising the costs of seafood, luggage and electronics.  China, meanwhile, has placed tariffs on nearly all of America’s exports into the Middle Kingdom, including agricultural products. This is not the first trade dispute the U.S. has engaged in since the Trump Presidency; steel and aluminum products coming from abroad were hit with tariffs and import duties early in the presidency, followed by various other measures.  The stated idea was to...

It is common for one member of a household to handle all or most of a family’s financial affairs.  If that person passes away, another member of the household will likely need to immediately have access to funds for expenses but have no idea what they need to do.  The person left behind may also lack the experience, desire, interest or time to manage the family’s finances.  Even worse, they may not have the authority to access funds that were solely in the name of the deceased. Here are some tips to consider: Communication is Key Couples should communicate frequently and be open and honest with each other about their finances.  That sounds like plain common sense, but all too often one of the people in the relationship has no idea what their household’s sources of income are, what they own, where their assets are located, how much money they...

April 18, 2019– Mike Genovese is pleased to announce that he has been named to the 2019 edition of the Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisers. The list recognizes top financial advisers at national, independent, regional and bank broker-dealers from across the U.S.  This is the seventh annual FT 400 list, produced independently by the Financial Times in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides business intelligence on investment management. Financial advisers from across the brokerage industry applied for consideration, having met a set of minimum requirements. The applicants were then graded on six criteria: assets under management (AUM); AUM growth rate; experience; advanced industry credentials; online accessibility; and compliance records. There are no fees or other considerations required of advisers who apply for the FT 400. The final FT 400 represents an impressive cohort of elite advisers, as the “average” adviser in this year’s FT 400...

Congratulations on putting Tax Day behind you.  I hope the sting of the “Tax Due” line on your returns wasn’t too bad, or better yet, you had a refund coming to you.  But whether you owe or are owed by Uncle Sam is a function of how much you withheld or paid in relative to how much you needed to pay in taxes.  The question shouldn’t be “Did I kick in enough to avoid having to pay more?” but rather, “How can I owe less next year, even if my income stays the same or goes up?”  Our clients ask us that all the time, and often right around this time of year.  And the facts are that too many CPAs aren’t analyzing their client’s behavior for ways to reduce tax liability, they’re just plugging in the income numbers, the deductions, and letting their clients know how much they owe. ...

As workers, businessowners, investors, and diligent savers, you may have amassed a nest egg of resources which could outlive you and your partner. In most cases, your heirs will likely be children. As parents, the inheritance that you leave behind can be viewed as a blessing and a curse. Surely, you’ve heard the horror stories of heirs running amuck with the assets they receive; putting themselves in more difficult financial positions than when they started. In our experience, this is one of a parent’s greatest fears. However, as advisors, we’ve seen and heard amazing success stories of how heirs go on to do something truly remarkable, as a function of having a significant inheritance. So, the simple question arises, how do we know if our heirs are ready to inherit our wealth? The short answer, we don’t. A better question to ask is, how can we provide an environment for...

Much of the wealth currently owned by baby boomers exists in company sponsored retirement plans, such as a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan account or in Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRA”s).  Those trillions of dollars of assets are poised to be involved in our planet’s largest inter-generational wealth transfer in history.  More often than not, it is a couple’s children that will eventually inherit from their parents.  But first, the average baby boomer American worker likely lists their spouse as their “primary” beneficiary to receive all of their assets should they decease.  After the first spouse passes away, the surviving spouse and sole primary beneficiary, will usually rollover that retirement plan money into an IRA that they own, and enjoy the same creditor protection their spouse enjoyed in their lifetime.  The spouse is allowed to treat these retirement funds as if they were their own using a Spousal transfer.  For that,...

As New Year’s Resolutions fade, and our financial attention shifts to tax prep or the latest gyrations of the stock market, we’d like to touch on one financial planning priority that so many of our clients and prospects leave unattended: planning for the unexpected with an estate plan.  Both as financial advisors and as humans, we understand, no one likes thinking about their own demise or disability, but the savings in confusion and frustration for our loved ones amidst their heartache is difficult to overstate. If you haven’t gotten your estate in order, don’t feel alone; we see it so often when we engage in financial planning conversations.  After we talk about dreams for the future, current saving and spending, investments, and all the other parts of a financial plan, we ask our clients about a will, a living trust, a power of attorney, and advanced medical directives. Subsequently, we...

One of the most common questions we receive is “When should I start claiming Social Security?”  If you are like most people we encounter, this can be a confusing and sometimes stressful issue.  Adding to the confusion, is the inundation of articles every day extolling the benefits of drawing as early as possible or delaying till age 70 in order to gain the highest possible benefit.  So which one is it?  Unfortunately, because each situation is unique, there is no rule of thumb on this issue, which makes it imperative to analyze each individual circumstance. Technically, you can begin claiming social security at any point after turning 62. However, there are three separate ages which act as milestones for benefits: at Age 62, at Your Full Retirement Age, and at Age 70. Claiming at Age 62 The benefits to claiming at age 62 are straight-forward.  By starting as early as...

The Magic of the Mundane… My skills around the house are limited, but if there is one thing I do well, it is “dishes.”   When the kids were really small, I never had enough patience with the chaos of “bath time” so my wife would handle those duties while I cleaned the kitchen.   I still prefer to do it every night, even if others volunteer.  So I recently read with great interest an article that described how both Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, two of the richest men in the world, love to do the dinner dishes.  Either could afford to pay an army of dishwashers, yet choose to stand at the sink every single night.  Why? Turns out multiple studies have shown that rolling up your sleeves and doing the dishes can reduce stress and boost creativity.  One study out of UCSB showed that doing mindless tasks allows the...

From time to time you may be inspired to do some good for others.  Perhaps the recent wildfires in California are a reason for you to want to help someone in need.  Coupled with that, you may also have a Required Minimum Distribution (“RMD”) that you have to take from your Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) because you are 70 ½ or older.  As we approach year-end, the December 31 deadline for you to take your RMD for 2018 is fast approaching.  One last acronym:  consider the Qualified Charitable Distribution (“QCD”).  QCDs only apply to IRAs, so if you have assets in a 401(k) or other plan and you would like to do what we describe below, you would have to rollover those funds to an IRA first. A Qualified Charitable Distribution allows you to give up to a total of $100,000 from your IRA directly to charities of your choice...

So you’re thinking it’s time to hire a financial advisor…but how do you go about selecting the right one? Hiring a financial advisor is a major decision that should not be taken lightly.  Unfortunately, many people spend more time shopping for a car than researching and interviewing an advisor.  There have been a lot of changes in the industry with numerous types of advisory firms and their services.  When you’re close to meeting with a financial advisor, it’s important to be prepared to ask the right questions to make sure you, the advisor, and his or her firm are a good fit from the start.  The following are 3 broad, easy-to-ask questions you should have on your list before hiring a financial advisor. Are you a fiduciary? This is the single most important question that you can ask and lets you know from the start the advisor’s responsibility to their...

If you read part one of this blog series, How A Financial Advisor Can Help You Evaluate A Pension, but thought, “I’d like to understand the math that goes into this decision”, you are in luck! Although it takes a bit of work, there are 3 steps you need to take before you take the final step of evaluating how it fits in your overall financial plan. Step 1 Have an advisor help you determine the probability you, your spouse or both are still alive in a specified number of years.  “How do you do this?” you may ask. Good question! The government publishes life expectancy tables that will give you and your advisor the typical life expectancy for single or married couples.  From there, the discussion can evolve around you and your spouse’s current health, longevity expectations and financial situation, to develop a reasonable decision to claim benefits. Step...

One of the toughest challenges of being a Financial Advisor comes up all too often.  Prospective clients come to us all the time already very close to their target retirement age only to find that they haven’t saved enough in their 401(k) plans or haven’t invested prudently, or worse, both.  While financial planning can help make the best of a tough situation, many times the reality is that these clients will have to work longer than they’d prefer.  That got me thinking on a few best practices we can offer to people who are currently working and saving in their 401(k)s, to help avoid that outcome of being caught short of savings to support the desired lifestyle during retirement years. 1.       Take the long-term outlook (no market timing) Just a few months ago I had a new client tell me, “The market had been going up steadily since 2009, and...

After a long and satisfying career, you’re finally starring down the barrel of retirement. Traveling, relaxing, seeing family… and suddenly the rose-colored lenses you’ve been looking through are crushed by a stack of paperwork from HR asking how you would like to claim your pension benefits. Single life, Joint life, lump-sum, period certain, spousal benefits with a pop-up provision, and probably several other terms you’re unfamiliar with stick out as you skim over the packet. Worse off, there is likely a deadline on your sheet for you to respond. Cutting through all the jargon on the paper, the packet of information is asking a few questions; How healthy are you compared to the average person your age? How comfortable are you with risk? How much control do you want to have over this money in retirement? If you can confidently answer these questions, then a financial advisor can help you...

If you are like most American workers that have planned for retirement, you have probably been funding a company sponsored salary deferral plan such as a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 for a number of years waiting for that magic moment when you can flip a switch and enjoy a comfortable or beyond comfortable lifestyle.  Managing your 401(k) during your career was likely a pretty straightforward endeavor: check a box or two on your company’s forms or website to let them know how much they could take out of your paycheck, pick one or maybe a few mutual funds off a relatively simple list, and tweak those two things from time to time depending on whether you received a raise to your income or funds in your 401(k) performed the way they should have been.  Over the years it was probably really encouraging, maybe even exciting at times, to see your...

Hello friends, Kelly Brothers here, and I just wanted to share with you a question I frequently get from clients and prospects, especially those who are still building toward retirement.  They ask me, “What are some things we can do to ensure we can live a comfortable retirement?” I want to share some things I’ve noticed that many of our clients who are living a comfortable retirement have in common. 1. Wealthy People Understand Delayed Gratification Have you heard of the famous “marshmallow experiment?”  Many years ago, hundreds of 4-6 year-olds were brought one by one into a room and seated at a table.  A single marshmallow was placed in front of them.  Each child was told they had a choice: eat the marshmallow now or wait for the adult to come back and they would get two marshmallows.  The kids able to control themselves and “delay gratification” were subsequently...

It’s a question I get frequently: “My business is doing really well, but my tax bill has skyrocketed.  Is there anything I can do to reduce taxes?”  As a Financial Advisor with a focus on small business owners, I am regularly in a position to help owners and CEOs think about their businesses.  While the conversations frequently hinge on succession, strategy, or management challenges, they just as often gravitate toward questions of estate planning and tax saving tactics for business owners.  A couple years ago, I was out playing golf with a friend, and we were paired up by the Starter with a gentleman playing alone.  The three of us struck up a conversation, and were enjoying each other’s company, when at the start of the back nine, the single asked me about my job.  Upon hearing Financial Advisor as the answer, he said “You know, my company has seen...

Let’s face it.  Inheriting an IRA can be a stressful time in people’s lives.  Understandably, we are usually busy and distracted, which is when it is easiest to make a simple mistake.  When inheriting an IRA, these types of mistakes can end up becoming very costly. There are different rules for spouses who inherit an IRA and for everyone else who inherits an IRA.  We will be looking at 4 mistakes you want to avoid as a non-spouse beneficiary when going through this process.   Not Taking a Required Minimum Distribution Most people know that once they reach the age of 70 ½ they are required to withdraw money from their IRA.  While this is the case with their Traditional IRAs, an Inherited IRA is treated differently.  The IRS requires that the person inheriting an IRA, take withdrawals over a specified period-of-time, at least annually.  This could be all at once...

As the school year approaches, many parents are faced with the daunting task of saving for retirement and their children's education at the same time. Being a parent is one of the most rewarding experiences life has to offer. However, it does bring its challenges and responsibilities, including saving for retirement and your child’s college education simultaneously. When you stop and look at college tuition prices, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the thought of saving for both. Our financial advisors have worked with many families in this position, and have some tips to help you get started. Put Yourself First With fewer of us receiving pensions and Social Security’s future in doubt, saving for your retirement may be your only significant source of income in retirement. There are grants, loans, scholarships and other ways of funding college, but there are no retirement loans. Your child will also have an...

Welcome! In an effort to better connect with our clients, community and industry, we created the Genovese Burford & Brothers blog. GBB has a team of highly experienced, knowledgeable, and friendly Financial Advisors. From this financial advisor blog, you’ll get insight on some of the most important financial topics in today’s world. From financial planning and risk management, to 401k plans and investment management, there are countless amounts of financial topics to explore. We hope you follow our blog and read along with us. -Your friends at Genovese Burford & Brothers