Blog
Welcome to the Foundation Wealth blog! We hope you learn something! Please note, the opinions expressed in the blog are the views of the individual member of the team and may not be the opinion of the firm as a whole. Please also note that this blog is traditionally used for education purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. Please consult your individual advisor at Foundation Wealth & Tax Advisors for personally crafted advice.
2024 Health Savings Account Rules
A Health Savings Account (“HSA”) is a personal savings account that can grow tax-free funds for medical expenses. They were introduced in...
Read MoreCharlotte Highlight: Axios Power Players
Matt and I had an alternative date night last night, November 29th. We had the pleasure of attending Axios Charlotte's Power Players event at the stunning Mint Musuem. We also got to hear from thought-provoking entrepreneurs...
Read MoreFavorite Charlie Munger Quotes
When the news broke yesterday that Charlie Munger passed away, three of my clients and friends texted or emailed me to say “rest in peace Charlie.” I don’t recall if I had ever told them that I was a fan of...
Read More2023 Energy Tax Credits
In less than two months’ time, we will start to file 2023 tax returns. Now is as good a time as ever to share information on some of the tax credits available to taxpayers. Hopefully some of the notes I took from my...
Read MoreFour Interesting Ways to Borrow Against Your Assets
Four Interesting Ways to Borrow Against Your Assets A few years ago, there was a big story making headlines about how Elon Musk paid zero federal income taxes as one of the wealthiest men in the world at that time. Since...
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Excerpts from November 2023 Letter
Matt Costa, CPA & CFP, delves into economic trends as we look to 2024. He discusses recessionary indicators, such as unemployment & interest rates, U.S. reshoring, and technology.
Read MoreOther Thoughts on Inflation & Debt - October 2023
In my May 2023 letter, I probably went more into detail on debt and inflation than many of you care to read. Well, when the momentum starts with this rock rolling downhill, no force has yet slowed down my thinking on the subject...
Read MoreA Financial Education Is The Most Important Gift You Can Give Your Children
In my collegiate and professional life, I have witnessed first-hand the importance of financial literacy for young professionals starting out, and how financial illiteracy can be devastating to a person’s short- to medium-term balance sheet
Read MoreBond Ladders 101
Bond ladders 101 In the ever-changing world of finance, it's important to have a solid foundation in place. Using a bond ladder is a tried-and-true strategy that can provide you with a steady stream of income and predictable cash flow...
Read MoreLessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Advisor: Discussing Death is Awkward but Necessary
Next up on Lessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Planner is discussing the necessity of estate planning. More explicitly, I’ll be delving into why discussing your death is a must. It’s natural, most...
Read MoreBRICS Currency and De-Dollarization?
Readers may have noticed I have a fascination with currencies. Whether it’s fiat, gold, cryptocurrency, or cigarettes for prison inmates, the store of wealth and exchange of value in physical or abstract form rather than...
Read MoreLessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Advisor: Work Smarter, Not Harder
Number two for Lessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Advisor is making my money work smarter and not harder. If you’ve already engaged a financial advisor, this idea has already resonated with you. Few...
Read MoreS-Corporation Reasonable Compensation
In my experience, smaller businesses providing services are usually best-taxed as S-Corporations. To that point, I advise a lot of my clients to either organize as an S-Corporation directly or have their LLC elect for...
Read MoreLessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Advisor: Time Is Money
Welcome to the first of our series: Lessons I’ve Learned as the Spouse of a Financial Advisor. Over the next couple months, I will be taking partial authorship and sharing some of my favorite things (so far) I have learned being...
Read MoreExpanding A Small Business
Through my CPA practice, I meet a lot of business owners looking to grow their business. Earlier this year, one of my small business clients mentioned that she spoke to another business owner in the same field that wanted to sell...
Read MoreMay 2023 Letter
Matt reviews the debt ceiling debate, inflation, and impacts to you & your financial plan.
Read MoreEstate Planning Basics
At Foundation Wealth, we try to be as full service as an advisory firm can be. The four pillars of financial planning are: 1) investment planning; 2) tax planning; 3) insurance planning; and 4) estate planning. As your...
Read MoreS-Corp Taxation Structure for a Maryland or Virginia Business
If your business is still filing a Schedule C as a Sole Proprietorship to report your taxable income on your individual tax return, it may be time to consider electing to be taxed as an S Corporation. Like a Sole Proprietorship,...
Read MoreBetter ROI: Washington Commanders or S&P 500?
The news broke a few weeks ago that Daniel Snyder was finally ending his dreadful reign of the Washington Commanders. While the Snyder era produced a losing record and zero championship, he made out like a bandit when selling the...
Read MoreBackdoor Roth IRA Overview & Flags
A Back Door Roth IRA is a great way to get assets into a Roth account if you are over the income limit to directly contribute to a Roth IRA. The income thresholds for 2023 are $153,000 if single and $228,000 if married filing...
Read MoreSome Tax Basics on Business Sales
I love diversifying cash flows. To be as secure and practically diversified, I believe cash flow from real estate, stocks, bonds, and businesses are needed. The last item listed, cash flow from businesses, can be the...
Read MoreA De-Dollarizing World?
I was fascinated to learn more about Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin’s three-day summit last week after I learned they had intensely discussed de-dollarizing their trade. Many people are unfamiliar with the fact most...
Read MoreBanking Sector Update - March 17, 2023
With March and April tax season for me, I largely defer to Phil, our portfolio manager, and Alexi, our head of operations and compliance, on market research. However, there has been too much going on and too much to digest to hear...
Read MoreSilicon Valley Bank & Market Volatility Update
Many of you may have seen the headlines over the weekend regarding Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and two other bank failures. We understand this can bring up memories of 2008, so we wanted to provide further insight into what...
Read MoreRetirement Planning 101: How to Save 10x Your Income By the Age of 67
Retirement planning may be a daunting task, but it is an essential one. The financial security of your old age depends entirely on how much you are saving for retirement in your youth. As such, the most common question on our...
Read MoreLatest 529 Plan Legislation
You may have heard the good news about 529 Plan rollovers—families can now make a rollover from a 529 Plan to a Roth IRA tax-free starting in 2024. There historically have been taxes and penalties for withdrawing from a 529 Plan...
Read More2023 Cryptocurrency Thoughts
As many of you know, I have a personal fascination with cryptocurrencies, and specifically Bitcoin. It was a rough year for all the world’s blockchains, and the media gets never-ending joy from crypto bloodbaths. When...
Read MoreJanuary 2023 Letter
Valued Clients & Friends,Happy New Year! Every year at this time, we like to look back and review the past year. This year, I am glad 2022 is behind us. 2022 was probably the hardest year I have experienced in the 11...
Read MorePossible Refuge for Investors Following the Fall of FTX
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX Trading Ltd., has been indicted on eight criminal charges. These charges include wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds, per an indictment from the US Southern District of New York....
Read MoreEarly Overview of Secure Act 2.0
I promised to all that you would hear from me first when tax laws change. Even though these are not exactly presents from Santa, an oath is an oath! Version 2.0 of the Secure Act (“Secure 2.0”) was approved by...
Read MoreCapital Gain Harvesting
It is that time of the year again…it’s December and time for last-minute tax planning and optimization. You may typically hear about tax loss harvesting this time of year. Tax loss harvesting is selling...
Read MoreQuick Thoughts On The Recent FTX Bankruptcy
Late last week, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy. From the sound of it, defrauding investors occurred and jailtime should happen for some of the firm’s leadership. I have seen a...
Read MoreIRS releases inflation adjustments for next year including increases to retirement contributions
High inflation will raise more than 50 tax provisions for 2023 including tax rates and standard deductions. See below for a select summary of Revenue Procedure 2022-38 and Notice 2022-55 which detail those adjustments...
Read MoreGreat Tax Planning Meetings
Great Tax Planning Meetings Please excuse the informality and shortness of this post. The 10/15 tax deadline is quickly approaching but I wanted to share a few things on my mind after having a great tax planning meeting...
Read MoreOctober 2022 Economic Update & Some Reasons for Optimism
October 2022 Market Update & Some Reasons for Optimism2022 has been a great year in the sense that we seem to be past the COVID-19 pandemic, but some of our “medical bills” are coming due. Over the last three years, panic...
Read MoreWhat Is An Inverted Yield Curve And What Does It Mean?
There has been extensive discussion over the last few weeks over an “inverted” yield curve, so what is it exactly?Bonds and yield curves are interrelated. In short, a bond is an agreement stating that if you give a...
Read MoreProposed tax law changes in The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Proposed tax law changes in The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. President Biden’s “Build Back Better” (“BBB”) appeared to be dead months ago. Perhaps it is dead…but in name only. ...
Read MoreTax Planning for the Cryptocurrency Millionaire - Updated 2022
I wrote the majority of this blog post 5 years ago (which might as well be 500 years in the quickly changing cryptocurrency world). It’s about time we revisit it and update for changing tax rates and law. Like many...
Read MoreMay 2022 Market & Economic Update
Inflation, The War in Ukraine, Deglobalization
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