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The Two Roth IRA 5-year Rules
Roth IRAs are powerful retirement savings vehicles that offer tax advantages to individuals. When it comes to Roth IRAs, there are two distinct 5-year rules to consider: the 5-year rule for earnings and the 5-year rule for conversions....
Read MoreThe Roth Conversion Alternative
Since its inception in 1997, the Roth IRA has been a powerful tool for assisting in creating tax-free income for retirement. Despite low contribution limits and phase outs for those with AGI above certain thresholds, the ability to...
Read MorePacific Life LIRP - Historical Stress Test
Putting a Pacific Life IUL Under the Microscope–Historical Stress TestsAside from Roth accounts (Roth IRAs (including conversions) and 401Ks), the only other tax-free planning tool for retirement purposes is what is commonly...
Read MoreAllianz LIRP - Historical Stress Test
What Do Historical Simulations Reveal About an Allianz IUL/LIRP Illustration?
Read MoreFamily Owned Life Insurance (FOLI): Creating Multi-generational Wealth
Creating Tax-free Multi-generational WealthPreparing for retirement is filled with assumptions and “what ifs.” As you try to come up with that magical number you need in the future...
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When Should You Claim Your Social Security?
When to claim your social security benefits is a strategic and vital consideration. Unfortunately, the good folks at your local social security administration office are likely to be of little help. Not only are they not trained in...
Read MoreTax-free Retirement - Part 4 - Utilizing a LIRP As Part of a Tax-free Retirement
What type of company should you choose for your LIRP? What are typical fees and how do they work? What is the best way to access my LIRP's value? Get transparency...
Read MoreTax-free Retirement - Part 3- Utilizing a LIRP As Part of a Tax-free Retirement
Read about some common enhancements that many LIRPs offer that can make an even greater positive difference in your financial well-being.
Read MoreTax-free Retirement - Part 2 - Utilizing a LIRP As Part of a Tax-free Retirement
How do LIRPs function internally? How do they earn tax-free gains and protect you from market losses? See several examples...
Read MoreTax-free Retirement - Part 1 - Utilizing a LIRP As Part of a Tax-free Retirement
What types or Life Insurance Retirement Plans (LIRPs) exist and which one is right for you?
Read MoreHow Much Does My 401K Save Me In Taxes? Part 4
If the first 3 parts of this post disturbed you, we get it. So, what should we do? What if Ryan and Jen decided to forgo the upfront "tax-savings" (or, forgo creating a tax tumor) by using an after-tax retirement vehicle, like a Roth...
Read MoreHow Much Does My 401K Save Me In Taxes? Part 3
We think you’re with us a far as how things breakdown, so we’re going to continue this example in summary form, as we did in Part 2. Example 3: John and Erin Time horizon until retirement: 12 years Annual amount to save:...
Read MoreHow Much Does My 401K Save Me In Taxes? Part 2
In Part 1, we put forth an example of the full equation of saving for retirement with our example couple, Ryan and Jen. We saw that all the tax-savings they achieved by saving for retirement in a pre-tax manner (through a 401K) are...
Read MoreHow Much Does My 401K Save Me In Taxes? Part 1
How Much Does My 401K Save Me In Taxes? We're glad you asked. Our focus at Axios Capital Strategies is tax-free retirement income. While we employ many strategies, tax-free planning is our core competency. To the greatest extent...
Read MoreRelative Returns vs. Absolute Returns
Potential Equity Style Returns with Less Risk and Volatility Much has been said about the wisdom of utilizing index portfolios/funds (whether mutual funds or ETFs) rather than managed portfolios due to the former’s lesser costs...
Read MoreThe Tax Columns—How Will Taxes Affect My Retirement? Part 3
In part 1, we discussed the pros and cons of The Taxable Column. In part 2, a lengthy discussion was had for the same regarding The Tax-deferred Column. Finally, we come to the third category of financial vehicles called The...
Read MoreThe Tax Columns—How Will Taxes Affect My Retirement? Part 2
Tax-deferred vehicles, such as 401K and IRAs, could be renamed "tax-procrastination vehicles". While they have some advantages, they are fraught with pitfalls many have never considered.
Read MoreThe Tax Columns—How Will Taxes Affect My Retirement? Part 1
“How will taxes affect my financial accounts and retirement?” Not surprisingly, they have a huge impact on the growth and distribution (income) of your retirement. Surprisingly, most people get this piece wrong in their planning...
Read MoreHow Much Will My Social Security Be Taxed?
Imagine paying taxes on 85% of your social security income at your highest marginal tax bracket. Which retirement accounts in your portfolio are causing your social security to unnecessarily taxed?
Read MoreHow Wall Street Lies To You (Legally)
How many times have you looked at the average returns of an investment? Shockingly, the actual returns can drastically vary from what you see on the surface...
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