Articles and Videos

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

A Strategy That May Save You Thousands in Taxes This Year

January 23, 2020

Of all of the bills you pay in your life, your tax bill has to be one of the hardest. Unlike with your credit card bill, or your electric or water bill, you get virtually nothing in exchange for shelling out your tax money. So it stands to reason that you’d like to pay only the absolute minimum amount in taxes over the course of your lifetime, if at all possible. At Lucia Capital Group, we love a good strategy – especially a tax strategy. If you’re in a somewhat high tax bracket, and you want to make a gift to someone in a lower bracket – like maybe your kids – you may be able to do it in a way that benefits both the recipient and yourself.

Managing Your Financial Future

Killing Your Fear of Running Out of Money – Season 1: Episode 7

January 21, 2020

Fear does strange things to people. It can motivate us to take immediate action when a threat is imminent, or it can cause us to retreat, cover up the issue, and hope it will go away.

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Why Tax Knowledge Is Power

January 16, 2020

You’ve probably heard the phrase “knowledge is power” many times in your life. It’s one of the few near-clichés that’s actually packed with truth. The more you know, the more power you have – either literally or figuratively. The phrase fits especially well when it comes to taxes. Many people find the very concept of taxation, or at least anything beyond the most basic elements of it, to be out of their realm of understanding. And it IS complicated. But sometimes all it takes is a little specialized knowledge in a few key areas for you to put yourself, potentially, in a much better financial situation, both now and in the future. So what is this tax knowledge? What do you need to know that could maybe save you from greatly overpaying your tax bill?

Managing Your Financial Future

Helping Yourself Through Charitable Giving – Season 1: Episode 6

January 10, 2020

Most people at some time or another want to be charitable. Part of human nature tells us we should give to those in need—that we have a kind of social obligation to allow others to have something that they could otherwise only dream of. This is why being charitable often gives us a nice, warm… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Three Smart Money Moves to Make in January

January 9, 2020

The 2020’s have begun, and you may have some wonderful new opportunities for financial planning! While some may tell you it’s never too late to get started, when it comes to money in general, and taxes in particular, waiting to take action may be the worst thing you can do. So now that the yearly calendar has reset, it’s time to think about a few things that you might do to potentially make this year a little more financially rewarding, and maybe a little less taxing as well. January can be a particularly good time, because by planning now, you still have (almost) the entire year to make any necessary course corrections along the way. If you wait to get started, your window of opportunity becomes much smaller. With that in mind, “Professor” Rick Plum is here to give you three smart money moves you should consider making in January.

Managing Your Financial Future

How To Manage the Scare of Long-Term Care – Season 1: Episode 5

January 8, 2020

Many people know that long-term care costs are expensive.  In spite of that, they’re often reluctant to buy an insurance policy to cover those costs because they don’t want to pay for something that they may never need to use.  After all, not everyone ends up in a nursing home or care facility. But what… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

A Better Way to Take Your RMDs

December 19, 2019

Here’s the situation: You’d like to give money to one or more charities this year. You’re also over age 70½, which means that you have required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your IRAs. You’ve decided you don’t really need some (or all) of the RMD to spend, so you’re going to give some (or all) of that RMD money from your IRA to the charity. You take the required distribution, it lands in your bank account, and you then turn around and write a check to your charity. You report the RMD as income, and, if you itemize, you deduct it out as a charitable donation. It should be a net-zero to you tax-wise, right? Maybe not. The way our current tax system works, you may have just subjected yourself to extra taxes by doing exactly that. Is there potentially a better way? Yes!

Managing Your Financial Future

Controlling Your Tax Bill – It’s Easier Than You Think – Season 1: Episode 4

December 17, 2019

Did you know that the location of your assets – 401(k), IRA, personal account, Roth – is a big determinant of your ultimate tax bill?  By simply locating your assets in the proper account(s), you may be able to drastically reduce your tax bill. Find out how with Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP®, and Johnny… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

The Myth of the “Retirement Savings Crisis” – Season 1: Episode 3

December 9, 2019

You may have heard or read that Americans aren’t saving enough for their retirement years.  If so, there’s a good chance that the phrase “retirement crisis” was part of the story. It’s easy to scare people into reading an article online, but while everyone could probably stand to save more then they are, is there… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

The Three Biggest Risks to Your Nest Egg – Season 1: Episode 2

December 9, 2019

You work hard for your money.  You save, you plan, you make contingent plans, you save some more, and yet you can never really be sure that your savings will last as long as you do.  Your portfolio faces a number of different risks, and not all of them happen after you retire.  We’ve narrowed… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

The Unintended Consequence of Social Security – Season 1: Episode 1

December 9, 2019

Social Security has provisions for a survivor benefit, which allows a surviving spouse to continue receiving their deceased spouse’s Social Security benefits.  It was put in place in 1940 to ensure that widows would not suffer a cut in benefits.  Ironically, in today’s world, those same survivor benefit rules may cause just that – a actual cut in pay to the survivor.  How is that possible?

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

The Top 3 Risks in Retirement

December 5, 2019

What is the essence of financial planning? At its most basic level, it’s really all about risk management. This is true about any kind of planning, really. Whether you’re planning a vacation, a wedding, or a big project at work, it’s the risk side that gets the most attention. The greater you feel your potential risks are, the more detailed your plan is likely to be. When it comes to retirement, people often face more risks than they did during their working years. And while there are probably a dozen or more different types of risk that retired people face, most of them can be placed into three distinct categories: living too long, dying too soon, and getting sick along the way.