Backdoor Roth IRA Strategies

For many individuals, saving for retirement is a top priority. One popular savings vehicle is the Roth IRA, known for its tax-free growth and withdrawals. However, not everyone is eligible to contribute directly to a Roth IRA due to income limits. Enter the Backdoor Roth IRA and Mega Backdoor Strategies, which provide high-income earners with an alternative path to tax-advantaged retirement savings. In this article, we’ll explore these strategies, their benefits, and potential pitfalls.

A goofy burgler sneaking towards a back door, as a joke about using backdoor Roth IRAs.
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Investment Accounts for Children

I frequently get asked about investment options that parents can establish for their children. It’s an important question, and there are several options available. In this article, I’ll compare and contrast some of the most popular types of investment accounts for children that parents can set up. For this exercise, I’ll focus on 529 plans, UTMA/UGMA accounts, Roth IRAs, and regular taxable brokerage accounts.

A mom and three young children
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Inflation Risk and How to Protect Your Portfolio

The biggest financial headlines in 2022 have been about poor market performance amidst high inflation. This has led many investors to search for ways to protect the value of the savings from eroding under inflation. There are 3 primary ways to guard against rising prices as a US-based investor: 1) Invest in equities or equity-like securities, 2) Invest in I-bonds, or 3) Invest in TIPS. But first, what exactly is inflation?

A raccoon enjoying inflation. Created with DALLE-2.
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Five Reasons to not Panic in a Bear Market

2022 has been an extremely bad year for almost every asset class! Stocks and bonds have suffered large losses. And inflation has been high, further eroding the value of investors’ savings. In a bear market, it is absolutely critical for long term investors to avoid panic selling at all costs.

I generated this text in part with OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation models. Upon generating draft language, I reviewed, edited, and revised the language to my own liking and I take ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.

raccoon businessmen panicking in dusty city experiencing a bear market
A painting of raccoon stockbrokers panicking during a market crash – StableDiffusion v1-4
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SEP Plans are a Valuable Tool for Small Businesses

Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) Plans are a fantastic tool for small business owners, and employees of small businesses, to save and invest for retirement. They are simple to manage, and they come with major tax advantages. In some ways, they are superior to employer 401k plans.

I generated this text in part with OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation models. Upon generating draft language, I reviewed, edited, and revised the language to my own liking and I take ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.

two wealthy raccoons in sporting attire that have ostensibly used SEP plans to become rich and handsome.
Maybe if you use an SEP plan, one day you can be on your stride as hard as these raccoon gentlemen. Produced using Stable Diffusion v1-4. AI prompt included.
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Can You Beat Me at Picking an Active Manager?

I am a big proponent of passive investing. But, recently, I have been running a little experiment running a paper trading account with actively managed funds. I selected an active fund manager based on the fund’s track record. I thought it would be interesting to walk through how I picked the manager, and then invite you to attempt to pick a manager using the same information I had. Then, I will show you how your pick would have performed. Good luck!

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Critical Flaws in Binance and Other Crypto Exchanges

For most of 2022, financial news has been filled with stories about big losses across all asset classes. But one of the biggest losers has been cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This has led to many investors reconsidering their allocations to cryptocurrency. I don’t recommend cryptocurrencies as an investment for any of my clients, but the topic does come up occasionally. But let’s set aside any recommendation I have about cryptocurrencies themselves. I’d like to bring up a recommendation I have about the various methods of cryptocurrency investing. In short, I strongly recommend against using an online exchange such as Binance to invest in cryptocurrencies.

an example of a mobile investing platform like Binance
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Direct Indexing in Luther Wealth’s Future

In the great divide between active and passive investing strategies, Luther Wealth is definitely in the passive camp. All of my clients are fully invested in low cost mutual funds and ETFs. I use a proprietary asset allocation algorithm, but the securities themselves are just vanilla index funds. But lately I have been considering altering this ETF strategy for certain clients. Not in favor of an active strategy, but rather in favor of a different passive style known as direct indexing.

direct indexing can be implemented in the interactive brokers platform
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