While you may have heard that the economic summit was contentious, to say the least, for the first time in nearly 3 decades the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation did not issue a communique. This was largely due to Chinese officials feeling they were singled out by the group for not being transparent.

The fires burning in California and the recent hurricanes on the East Coast have begged the question: how can one disaster-proof their financial house? Often times when a disaster strikes, the last thing on our mind is to snag those important papers—our primary concern is always our life and the lives of our loved ones. But when the dust settles and the rebuild begins, those important papers are going to form the foundation of how quickly you can get your life back on track.

With the new tax law changes from the 2017 Tax Cut & Jobs act, many Americans will be utilizing the increased standard deduction rather than itemizing. Those of you who are subject to the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules can make distributions to your favorite charities from your IRA.

The California EMS Authority along with the California Medical Association and EMS providers in California developed a PreHospital Do Not Resuscitate DNR Form to instruct EMS to not provide resuscitative measure for patients having a heart attack. This would include CPR, assisted breathing, intubation, defibrillation and drugs to stimulate the heart. It does NOT include treatment for pain, difficulty breathing such as an obstructed airway or asthma treatment, or major bleeding, etc. The form must be signed by the patient or their healthcare decision-maker and be CLEARLY posted or maintained with the patient. California EMS does recognize and honor Medallions or bracelets worn by the patient, however, there are only three Approved Medallion Providers for California: Sticky J Medical ID, based in Florida; MedicAlert Foundation, based out of Salida, CA; and Caring Advocates, based out of Encinitas, CA.

There are several planning tools at our disposal to help clients handle the often times very unpleasant idea of what happens to both our finances and ourselves if something horrible should befall you. Ones of particular urgency are executing documents for durable power of attorney and advance health care directives.

If you are in very good health, a high-deductible medical plan is an excellent way for you to cut your healthcare costs. Firstly, (and most obvious) it brings down your monthly premium. But, did you know that most of these plans can be coupled with a Health Savings Account (HSA)? You can save up to $3,450 (as an individual) for 2018. This gives us yet another avenue to save toward debts or toward your retirement. It is critical to any financial plan that individuals take advantage of any and all programs that fit their situation.

Everyone likes spring cleaning – dusting off the cobwebs, cleaning the windows and letting the light shine through the windows, the freshness of spring and the renewal of the spirits. I’m a bit of an odd bird, though, I like to have that feeling of renewal at the start of every season and winter is no exception. Winter offers us a unique opportunity – like the dawn of a new day – the New Year offers us a fresh start, one that can be even more impactful than dusting off cob webs or even that new gym membership. Ultimately, you are pretty stuck inside anyhow.

The period between Thanksgiving and the end-of-year holiday season would seem like a sleepy time for financial planners, but in fact it is anything but. You might be surprised at how much activity takes place on behalf of you and your investments in the final month of the year.

For instance? Even though this has been a good year in the markets, not all investments will have gained value. This is the last opportunity to harvest any losses we find in taxable accounts, by selling investments that have gone down and “booking” the loss. Then we can look for investments that have gained value, sell some of those to offset the losses, and thereby save capital gains taxes in the future. Up to $3,000 of ordinary income can be offset by investment losses as well.

This is also the time of year when mutual fund companies post, in advance, the amount of ordinary income and capital gain distributions they will make to their shareholders. Since the value of the shares drops by the amount that is distributed, this would seem like a non-event performance-wise. But in fact some mutual funds are poised to make 20% or even 30% distributions, and this cash is immediately taxable, unlike gains in the share values, which are only realized when you decide to sell. By selling funds before the distributions, and buying them back later, we can reduce your tax bill this year.