Rethinking65

Qualified Opportunity Zones can offer powerful tax benefits, particularly the potential for appreciation in a QOF investment to be excluded from federal capital gains tax after a qualifying 10-year hold. But tax benefits are the icing, not the cake. Due diligence still comes first: the sponsor, track record, underlying investments, leverage, fees, market fundamentals and execution all need to stand on their own. My rule is simple: If I wouldn’t consider the investment without the tax benefits, I’m not interested. I discuss QOZ 2.0 and our approach to evaluating these opportunities in my latest article for @rethinking65: rethinking65.com/qualified-o…

Retirement income planning is not a yield-chasing game. I was pleased to write this piece for @rethinking65 on a topic I spend a lot of time discussing with clients approaching or living in retirement. Too often, the retirement-income conversation starts with, “What investment should we buy to generate income?” I think it should start somewhere else: How much income do you actually need, where should it come from, and what return does your financial plan require to make it work? From there, the conversation becomes much broader than yield. It includes taxes, inflation, sequence-of-returns risk, liquidity, Social Security, portfolio growth and longevity. One point I make in the article that I think is particularly important: being too conservative in retirement can create its own risk. At 3% inflation, a lifestyle that costs $10,000 per month today costs more than $24,000 per month 30 years from now. Retirees still need growth. I also discuss our approach to bucketing, creating a “retirement paycheck,” tax-efficient withdrawals and what I call Planning for Retirement the R.I.T.E. Way® — Retirement Income Taxed Efficiently. rethinking65.com/retirement-…