November 2021

This is the time of the year to be grateful for the work we have accomplished and the time we have with our loved ones. It is also time to check the pulse of your finances and see if you can save some taxes before the end of 2021 and plan for the new year. Here is the year-end planning checklist that you may find helpful.

Read more: Vibrance Wealth Management

The "house-rich, cash-poor" situation is quite common now. Luckily many homeowners have built up a decent amount of equity in their primary residence thanks to the housing market boom. However, if you have over 70% of your net worth in your primary residence, it means there is a lack of liquid assets for unexpected events. Ideally, the equity in your primary residence, as a percentage of your net worth, is no more than 40%. If your income is stable and good, you may want to tap into the equity by cashing out, setting up a home equity line of credit, etc. Renting out part of your residence to generate cash flow to build up liquid assets is also a good idea. Other than downsizing, you may consider a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage if you are age 62 or older. There are quite a lot of options depending on what your goals are.

Full story: Forbes

Have you explored the Rich Person Roth? Your tax rate at retirement may not be much lower than your current rate as most of the income then will be taxable with potential higher income tax brackets because of tax law changes. Ideally, you want to have at least one third of our retirement income tax-free. Roth IRA offers tax-free income withdrawals. However, it is subject to income limit and contribution limit restrictions. Alternatively, you can consider the Rich Person Roth which is a life insurance policy specially designed for tax-free cash value accumulation. If you use it correctly, life insurance is a powerful tool to build your wealth and legacy in a tax-efficient way.

Full story: Forbes

Like other prominent leaders, we here at Vibrance Wealth Management do not believe inflation is transitory. The CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, also does not see inflation transitory. He's raising his staff's pay by 8%. We will also see wage inflation around the corner.

Full story: Reuters