Retirement Planning

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Your Most Valuable Asset May Also Be Your Best Tax Friend

January 27, 2022

Have you thought recently about selling your home?   If so, you might be selling at a pretty good time. The Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index tells us that the average price of homes across the country has gone up more than 104 percent since January of 2012, ten years ago. That really adds up to a lot of… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Don’t Be Surprised By These Taxes In Retirement

January 13, 2022

Throughout your working years, you earn your paycheck, and that paycheck is subject to various forms of taxation: federal taxes, state taxes, FICA, Medicare, and maybe a few others.  And the higher your paycheck, the greater the taxes you have to pay. At least that’s the idea. So if that’s the case, it would stand… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

How To Calculate Your Future Retirement Income

January 6, 2022

Figuring out how much income you’ll need for retirement can be one of the biggest challenges in financial planning. This is especially true if your retirement is still 20 or 30 years away. So what’s a good way to estimate how much income you’ll need in retirement? For those whose retirement is at least a couple of decades… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Year-End Tax Limits for 2021

December 16, 2021

As we get to the end of 2021, it’s a good idea to go over some of the tax laws – and specifically the tax limits – that we have here before the year actually draws to a close.  These are things you need to be aware of as you get ready to fill out that all-important tax… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Nearing Retirement? Your 401k Needs Some Attention!

December 9, 2021

By its very design, the 401k plan is more or less a kind of “set it and forget it” type of plan. The idea is that if you save money regularly on a pretax basis, and never see the money in your paycheck, you won’t pay much attention to it, you won’t meddle with it,… View Article

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What to Do If (When) Your Taxes Start Going Up

December 6, 2021

Not knowing what Congress will do should not stop you from planning One variable that is hard to plan for in retirement is taxes. There are steps you can take, though, despite the uncertain tax landscape. We don’t even know what the tax rates will be next year, so how can you plan for 20… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

What To Do if You Forgot Your RMD

December 2, 2021

If you’re at least 72 years old this year, here’s a really important question for you: did you take your required minimum distributions (or “RMDs”) from your pre-tax retirement accounts for this year yet? If not, it’s probably a good idea to get that taken care of sooner rather than later.

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Tax Knowledge Is Tax Power

November 17, 2021

When it comes to financial planning and investing, knowledge is power. The more you know, the more likely you are to recognize the benefits and consequences of making certain financial moves.  This may be especially true with taxes. Most people would probably agree that if you can find a way to legally pay less in… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

What You Need To Know About Inheriting an IRA

November 12, 2021

If you inherit an IRA or a 401k, there are some rules in place that will ultimately require you to take the money out and pay taxes on it. The SECURE Act of 2019 has provisions that affect required minimum distributions, or RMDs. Do any of those rules apply to you? Here are some things… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Is It Time to Convert to a Roth IRA?

November 4, 2021

A few years ago, Congress passed a new tax law that created some generally lower tax rates.  These rates are set to expire after 2025. If no new changes are made between now and then, rates are set to return to where they were in 2017.  In other words, they’ll go back up.   For larger conversions,… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Your 401k: Is the Roth Option Better Than the Traditional?

October 28, 2021

Traditional 401k plans are pretty common these days, but did you know that almost 70% of employers now offer a Roth 401k option?  So if you’ve got the choice, how do you decide which one may be better?  Let’s do a little comparison first. The 401k contribution limit applies to both the Roth and traditional: for 2021, that’s… View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

How Long Do You Expect to Live?

October 21, 2021

Have you thought about what might happen if the stock market dropped precipitously just as you began your retirement? What if your portfolio took a 10-, 20-, or 30-percent cut or more just when you needed the funds the most? This is what’s known as “Sequence of Returns” risk. And can be one of the biggest challenges a recent retiree can face.