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provwealth's articles
- September 25, 2025
Naming beneficiaries to receive proceeds from a life insurance policy or retirement account is a difficult decision that requires consideration of a range of factors. Because these selections supersede designations in your will, they are an important step in the estate-planning process that must be addressed with particular care and…
- September 23, 2025
Spouses saving for an eventual retirement during their working years often have different timelines for leaving the corporate world behind. While a difference in retirement dates can eliminate one income stream and help couples ease slowly into their golden years, careful planning can help ensure their financial goals stay on…
- September 9, 2025
People spend a significant amount of time building their wealth and carefully creating trusts and estate plans to protect and preserve their assets for future generations. Yet, when it comes time to name a trustee to carry out their wishes under the terms of a trust, many people stumble. Making…
- August 20, 2025
Employers sponsoring non-safe harbor 401(k) plans must perform annual ERISA- and IRS-mandated testing to ensure they do not disproportionately favor highly compensated employees (HCEs) over rank-and-file non-HCEs. It is critical businesses understand the formulas for these nondiscriminatory tests and the steps they must take to fix a failure or risk…
- August 18, 2025
One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs must confront is how and when they will exit the businesses they spent most of their lives building. After all, business owners view their companies as extensions of their personal identities. They neither have the desire nor the time to think about what will…
- August 13, 2025
The income you earn during the year is subject to federal taxes, regardless of whether you receive employment wages, business profits, investment returns, Social Security benefits and even gambling winnings. Conversely, property you receive as a gift, bequest or inheritance is generally not included in your taxable income. Understanding these…
- August 11, 2025
Saving for retirement through an employer’s 401(k) plan is a great way to invest in yourself, both for today and for your future. With each contribution to your plan, you essentially pay yourself (rather than Uncle Sam) and allow those payments to stay invested in the market, where they have…
- August 6, 2025
Most versions of economic theory assume humans are rational beings who will make the best decisions given the facts of their current circumstances. Unfortunately, a theory is not reality. People commonly make financial decisions based on irrational and inefficient cognitive biases and other psychological factors that ultimately influence fluctuations in…
- August 4, 2025
529 plans provide families at all income levels with a tax-advantaged method for funding their children’s future education. Generally, contributions are invested and allowed to grow free of federal income tax when withdrawals are used to pay qualifying higher-education expenses, including tuition and fees for an undergrad or graduate school…
- July 30, 2025
For some, the COVID pandemic may seem like a distant memory. However, if there is one lesson we learned from that period it’s that no one is immune from a job loss, a business closing, or a life-threatening illness. When these challenges occur, it is often too late to develop…