Roger Wohlner

A home’s assessed value and its market value can seem similar, in reality these two values are often quite different and have different uses.
What Is Assessed Value?
Assessed value is a value for a property that is determined by an entity, such as a local municipality, a county, or other governmental agency that is determining the value for the purpose of calculating property taxes.
The assessed value is usually based on factors like:
What are similar properties selling for?
Recent improvemen...

The answer to the question of the optimal number of stocks to own in your portfolio is that it depends. Frankly, this is almost always the answer to these types of investing and financial planning questions.
Diversification – What Is It?
In layman’s terms, diversification means not putting all of your “investment eggs” into one basket. While this is often used in the context of investing in different asset classes such as stocks, bonds and cash, it also applies within the equity portion of yo...

Can You Cash Out Your 401(k) Early (Without Quitting Your Job?)
The question of whether you can get cash from your 401(k) without leaving your employer is yes, in most cases.
The actual means to do so can vary from plan to plan. In doing so, it is important to note that an employer offering the plan (known as the plan sponsor) can opt-in or out of offering some of these methods.
In most cases, it is written within a plan document as to what types of withdrawals are permitted within the plan.
...

Calculating Taxes On IRA Distributions - Step By Step
IRAs offer the opportunity to save for retirement on a tax-deferred or tax-free basis (in the case of a Roth IRA). While your money grows free from taxes while invested inside of the IRA account, there may be taxes, and in some cases a 10% penalty, to be paid when the money is withdrawn.
Taxes on any IRA distribution that is taxable are ordinary income taxes and are added on top of other income that you might have from employment or other ...

Required minimum distributions are IRS-mandated withdrawals from retirement accounts. The IRS requires these withdrawals to ensure that taxes are paid on amounts that were contributed on a pre-tax basis plus any tax-deferred earnings in these accounts over the years.
What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?
Required minimum distributions or RMDs are mandatory withdrawals that must be taken from retirement accounts beginning at a specified age. RMDs must be taken from the following types of re...

Stock prices move up and down during the trading day on Wall Street. At the most basic level, a stock’s price is a function of the supply of shares available and the demand among investors for the shares.
How are Stock Prices Determined?
For stocks traded on public stock exchanges, supply and demand for the company’s shares are a main component in determining the stock’s price at any point in the trading day.
Demand is based on the number of traders and investors looking to buy shares. If the...

Hardship withdrawals from your 401(k) account can be a means of dealing with a serious personal financial crisis.
What Is a Hardship Withdrawal?
A hardship withdrawal is an emergency withdrawal from a retirement plan. These may be offered in a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) or a 457 plan. Plan sponsors are not required to offer this option, rather, it’s an elective modification to the plan rules.
Hardship withdrawals, if allowed by your plan, must meet certain criteria set by the plan. Note a plan may...

An irrevocable trust is a trust that allows for certain protections for the creator of the trust. In exchange for these benefits the creator of the trust forfeits any access to or control over these assets.
What Is an Irrevocable Trust?
An irrevocable trust is a trust where the terms generally cannot be modified or changed once it is finalized, at least not without the permission of the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust. The grantor of the trust legally transfers their ownership of th...

What are the best investment accounts for young investors? Though encouraged to invest for their future, which is good advice, the big question for young investors is how to get started. The types of investment accounts to consider can be particularly confusing.
Retirement accounts can be tax-deferred. This means that the money invested in the account grows and compounds free of taxation year to year. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and company-sponsored retirement accounts, such as 401...

Many investors undertake tax-loss harvesting at the end of every tax year. The strategy involves selling stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other investments carrying a loss to offset realized gains from other investments. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), many states, and some cities assess taxes on individuals and businesses.

Fee compression has been a trend in the financial advisory business for a number of years. Many view portfolio and advice as a commodity. With the advent of the robo-advisor this perception has grown. Vanguard’s hybrid robo-advisor offers access to a human advisor for 30 basis points. It generally recommends implementation of its suggestions via Vanguard’s low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Conceivably, an investor can get human advice with low-cost investments for under ...

The Federal Reserve exerts a high degree of influence over interest rates in the U.S. via the fed funds rate, which is the interest rate banks charge one another for overnight loans. The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the body that sets this rate at its monthly meeting.
While the rate banks charge one another for a specific type of loan might seem pretty confined, a change in the fed funds rate can have a ripple effect on the economy. An increase in the fed funds rate increases...

With the decline in workplace pension plans, the responsibility to save for retirement falls squarely on the shoulders of employees. While everyone’s situation is different, a look at some average savings levels by age can help you benchmark your progress.
Average 401(k) Balances by Age
Here are the average 401(k) balances by age range as of the second quarter of 2019, according to data released by Fidelity Investments.
Ages 20-29
The average 401(k) balance was $11,800
The median 401(k) balan...

An irrevocable trust is a trust that allows for certain protections for the creator of the trust. In exchange for these benefits the creator of the trust forfeits any access to or control over these assets.
What Is an Irrevocable Trust?
An irrevocable trust is a trust where the terms generally cannot be modified or changed once it is finalized, at least not without the permission of the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust. The grantor of the trust legally transfers their ownership of th...

Hardship withdrawals from your 401(k) account can be a means of dealing with a serious personal financial crisis.
What Is a Hardship Withdrawal?
A hardship withdrawal is an emergency withdrawal from a retirement plan. These may be offered in a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) or a 457 plan. Plan sponsors are not required to offer this option, rather, it’s an elective modification to the plan rules.
Hardship withdrawals, if allowed by your plan, must meet certain criteria set by the plan. Note a plan may...