In the midst of market turmoil, many investors are turning to precious metals like gold – but is it a safe investment?
Recently, Partner and Chief Investment Officer John Ingram shared his thoughts with WSJ
Read the full story here
Why waiting to implement your plan can reduce the benefits of your gift to your charity and you.
We all start off with the greatest of intentions: fold and put away the laundry once it’s out of the dryer, call our loved ones to see how they are doing, volunteer, start that company, and take that family vacation.
The reality is that many of us wait until the last minute, and as a result we either don’t get the full benefit of our actions or even worse wait until it is too late. The same goes for charitable giving.
Below are some ways you can act now and still have a greater impact than if you waited.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). These allow individuals to donate up to $100,000 total to one or more charities directly from their IRA. This means you are able to start making tax-free distributions to the 501(c) (3) charity of your choice at age 70.5, which can lead to significantly more money to the causes you care about and help reduce your taxable income over your lifetime.
It’s important to get started on these distributions early and throughout the year because the distribution must be received by the charity before the end of the calendar year in order to qualify. Married couples can each donate $100,000 for a total of $200,000!
“Bunching.” This is the practice of front-loading many years of charitable giving into one tax year. Many taxpayers don’t have the necessary deductions to surpass the standard deduction threshold established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.
However, you can still receive a tax benefit by “bunching” multiple years’ worth of charitable giving in one year to surpass the itemization threshold. This can be especially useful in years when you have a significant taxable event. Plus, many people like the idea of creating a legacy gifting account.
Don’t want to make such a large contribution to one charity in a year? This is where the use of a Donor Advised Fund or “DAF” can be helpful. You can make a large gift to your DAF in one year, get the maximum tax deduction, then spread out the distributions to charity over multiple years and even have the potential of the DAF to grow over time which allows for even greater gifting power.
Gifting of business ownership before you exit. Congratulations! All your years of learning and earning have led to a successful business you are looking to exit so you can enter the “serve” phase of your life. Starting your business took years of planning and preparation – and so does getting ready to exit your business in a way that achieves maximum rewards and makes the greatest impact.
Unfortunately, many business owners wait until AFTER the sale of their business to consider how to support the causes they serve and miss a tremendous opportunity to incorporate charitable giving before they exit.
Consider gifting shares of your privately held business before you exit. This allows you to get a deduction of up to 30% of your adjusted gross income at the time of the gift. More importantly, because the charity doesn’t pay taxes when the shares are sold, they get to keep the full amount of the gift!
To fully maximize this opportunity, it takes time and preparation and there are a number of tips you need to consider throughout this process:
Source: Fidelity Charitable.
There are many ways to support the causes you care about. Whether it is through volunteering or making a financial impact, once you find what resonates with your values it is important not to hesitate to act.
If you want to learn more about what charitable strategies you might benefit from, please DON’T HESITATE to contact us at Crestwood Advisors.
Crestwood Advisors is pleased to announce that we have again made this year’s Financial Advisor Magazine’s 2023 RIA Survey & Ranking list! Congratulations to our entire team for their efforts that made this possible.
View the entire list here.
Please view Crestwood Advisors’ list of important disclosures regarding awards and recognitions here.
Good news! Inflation is beginning to show signs of slowing down. However, that does not mean you should give up your financial savings habits.
Peter T. Malone, CFA, CFP, Director and Portfolio Manager at Crestwood Advisors, spoke with Yahoo Finance on financial mistakes people should avoid when it comes to inflation.
Click here to read the full article
Nicole DellaPasqua, a certified financial planner at Crestwood Advisors in Boston, spoke with Financial Planning about financial planners working from home and the best practices they can put in place to make remote work successful.
Learn how to mitigate the remoteness of remote work by reading the full article here
At the beginning of each year, individuals set personal, professional, or financial goals for themselves. How often do you revisit these goals, and what have you accomplished thus far? As we approach the second half of the year, we urge you to revisit your goals and all that you hoped to accomplish for 2023. While we may not be able to guide you with your personal goals, we can help accelerate your 2023 financial goals across the finish line.
Financial Plan: Are you on track?
Goal Review: Over time, plans may change. It is important to review your goals regularly to ensure you are still on track for your short-term and long-term objectives. Has a life-changing event occurred? Is retirement around the corner? Reevaluating what is important to you and discussing how this impacts the next 2, 5, or 10+ years is crucial. While these are evolving conversations, it is essential to make sure your financial plan accurately depicts your idea and vision of the future!
Commitments to Saving & Investments: Have you followed your plan?
Retirement Contributions: Make sure that you have adjusted your contributions to maximize your savings for 2023. The maximum amount you can contribute to your 401k in 2023 is $22,500 (plus an additional $7,500 if you are 50 or older by the end of the year). If you do not have a 401k, we can help evaluate your options for saving toward retirement.
Monthly Savings: Periodic additions to investment accounts are a great way to compound growth and take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise. Stay committed to saving above and beyond contributions to retirement accounts. This will help grow your portfolio when you need it most. Whether it is following a monthly budget or setting up an automatic transfer to your investment accounts, putting aside any amount is beneficial.
Debt Repayment: Are there changes to be made?
Given the current interest rate environment, now is the time to review your goals for paying down any outstanding debt or other liabilities. While we are uncertain of where rates will go in the future, the recent increase has affected cash flow for many individuals with fluctuating lines of credit, margin balances, or adjustable-rate mortgages. Talk to us about your perspective on maintaining a debt balance, and let’s develop a plan to pay off your liabilities strategically.
Charitable Goals: What are your intentions?
Many people have goals of gifting to charities annually. Rather than waiting until the end of the year and rushing to make gifts, consider a monthly or quarterly donation to causes you feel most passionate about. What is your tax picture for the year? Consider your intentions for gifting and review what you have accomplished. We can help you decide how to gift and what assets are most appropriate to gift.
Items to Review: What is on the back burner?
Now that the 2022 tax season is behind you, please send us a PDF copy of your 2022 tax return. With a copy of your tax return, we may identify tax planning opportunities and help facilitate conversations with your tax preparer.
If it has been a while since you last reviewed your estate plan, there may be outdated items that should be revised. Ensure that the named individuals in your estate plan are still the most appropriate choices (ex. Healthcare Proxies, Powers of Attorney, or Trustees). We can help review your current plan, identify areas of shortfall, and make changes to titling or beneficiaries as directed.
Review your insurance coverage and consider any changes that are needed. If you have policies that have not been reviewed for many years or that may need to be adjusted, we can connect you with an agent who can provide comparisons to other policies, review any shortfalls in your current coverage, and evaluate the cost-efficiency of making a change.
Improve your odds for a successful year! The first step is evaluating the goals which you set to accomplish in 2023. The second step is to let Crestwood help you! Let’s end 2023 with a bang and accomplish all that you set out to complete! Your team is here to help.
Our CIO John Ingram, spoke with Yahoo Finance about the downward trend of inflation for 2023. The good news is experts are seeing a decline in inflation, consumers are just wanting to know when.
Read the full article here
John Morris, managing partner and wealth manager, spoke with Capital Analytics Associates about ESG and blockchains emerging as popular trends for potential investments.
Read the full interview here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boston, Mass. (May 15, 2023) – Crestwood Advisors (“Crestwood”), a boutique investment advisory and wealth management firm based in Boston, is pleased to announce it has been named to the first-ever USA Today ranking of Best Financial Advisory Firms in the U.S.
USA Today developed the list in tandem with independent market research and data firm Statista. More than 32,000 Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firms were considered by Statista, and the top list recognizes the top 500 firms that are most frequently recommended and best rated by the survey participants. In addition to survey results, Statista also included metrics in relation to assets under management in the final analysis.
“We are grateful to be recognized by USA Today on their inaugural list of the nation’s best financial advisors,” said Crestwood CEO and Managing Partner Michael Eckton. “We have proven again and again that our intense focus on serving our clients and supporting our employees is key to being a leading wealth management firm in today’s highly competitive market.”
Last year, Crestwood Advisors was named to the inaugural Forbes/Shook Top RIA Firms list of the top 100 firms in the nation. Earlier in 2022, the firm was named to the prestigious Barron’s 2022 Top 100 RIA Firms list.
As a growing wealth advisory firm, Crestwood’s nearly 50 financial planning and investment professionals, who serve families and individuals across New England, strive to meet clients wherever they are in life, providing guidance, tools and financial solutions to help them succeed.
The full methodology for the Best Financial Advisory Firms 2023 list can be found here. Crestwood did not pay a fee to appear on the published list.
Please see Crestwood Advisors’ important disclosures regarding awards and recognitions here.
We are pleased to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Crestwood Advisors!
Over the last two decades, Crestwood Advisors has grown from a small team crammed into a single office above Quincy Market to a leading wealth advisory firm. We were pleased to be listed on the inaugural Forbes/SHOOK Top 100 RIA Firms List, Best Financial Advisors Firms by USA Today and the perennial Barron’s Top 100 RIA List.
We began with the idea of building a highly client-centric advisory firm that would go beyond what traditional banks, brokerages or other competitors were willing to deliver. This premise has not changed, although we serve many more successful client families than we did 20 years ago, and we have built an organizational culture that has attracted the finest talent in our industry. Our firm began humbly with an emphasis on research and investment management, and we have expanded our expertise to counsel successful individuals and families through comprehensive financial planning, estate, tax, and philanthropic planning, as well as risk management.
None of this would be possible without our extraordinary clients. Thank you for the support and trust you have placed in us. You have welcomed us into your lives, and we are reminded daily what a privilege it is to be included in your family milestones, successes, and challenges. Without you, we would not be the vibrant business we are today. We now engage with more than 600 families in 40 states with combined assets of more than $4.5 billion. Today, we serve our clients out of offices in Boston, MA as well as Darien and Westport, CT.
We are incredibly grateful to have added so many dedicated & insightful partners and colleagues to the firm over these many years. Our partners and colleagues have provided a solid foundation for Crestwood to continue growing year after year – we are grateful for the dedication and enthusiasm you show every day. Your thoughtful and professional work allows Crestwood to continue advancing alongside our clients. Finally, thank you to our team members’ families, who provide the support for all of us to bring integrity and motivation to Crestwood and to spend meaningful time with our clients.
With 20 years of wealth management success comes 20 years of gratitude. Thank you for an amazing journey – we look forward to our shared future with you!