How Money Works

On this episode of How Money Works, we’re talking with Jimmy Eggers, a partner at
Smith Leonard Accountants and Consultants in High Point, N.C. He will be sharing
business-planning expertise, strategies and mistakes business owners make.

Jimmy specializes in family wealth, tax planning and compliance for businesses in the
manufacturing, construction, distribution, retail, real estate, and not-for-profit industries.

Today we discuss some of the common ways that people get in their own way when it comes to financial planning…
1) Allowing fear or greed to cause you to buy or sell at the wrong time.
2) Making bad investment choices in an effort to save money on taxes.
3) Leaving too much money in cash for too long because you procrastinated instead of actively deciding what to do with it.
4) Overthinking every decision to the point that you never make any decision at all.
5) Blindly trusting the financial advice of people who aren’t financial professionals.

We've worked with people who have lost their spouse and come to us wanting to be sure they’re in good shape financially.  Today we look at a few of the problems, and solutions, we see for people in these situations.


SEGMENT: RMDs
We get a lot of question about RMDs. Some people don’t really know anything about them, others have a misconception about how they’ll work. Today we clarify.

With the new year upon us, let’s run through the checklist of things people should be thinking about as it relates to their financial plans…
1) Tax withholdings
2) Retirement account contributions
3) Gathering tax info
4) Overall retirement health

For many people in their 50s or 60s, it can be easy to think that it’s too late to really do financial planning the way that you should. But there are plenty of areas where you can still make the most of your wealth.

For some folks, the idea of putting together a financial plan can be overwhelming. But it’s less threatening if you just focus on the first step. Let’s talk about a few possible first steps that someone could take…

1. Decide what you want retirement to look like.
2. Do a financial inventory.
3. Develop an income plan.
4. Determine how much help you need.

Determine where you need the most help, then seek out the right professional(s) to guide you and get the process started.