What are some Money Moves Business Owners should consider before the end of the year? A discussion of getting in control, making informed decisions, and having a less stressful December.

If you are like me, you are trying to balance multiple roles at once; business, career, family, and self. Throw in a few extra obligations and it can feel a bit too much. Let’s look at a few things you can do now to have an organized approach to year end planning.

By Kate Welker, CFP®

This month we want to continue to remind our readers that it will soon be open enrollment through your employer and Medicare, the time of year you are able to review and change your health insurance and other benefits.

There are several posts on our blog that cover this topic more in depth:

• Last week Rachel discussed how to review your health insurance options and prepare for making that decision in her post “Knock, Knock - Open Enrollment Who?”

• Last year I wrote a guide to the terms and options you may be deciding on in a post titled “Build Your Wealth by Taking Advantage of Benefits Open Enrollment.”

By Kate Welker, CFP®

It is again the back to school season. Preschool through college school will look different for students this year, but one thing is the same. The changing of the year, feeling of a fresh start, and thinking about the future year ahead. For older students we are discussing college plans and for those of you with young children you may be thinking about planning for your children's eventual college. With a growing student loan debt load in this country how to pay for college is a concern we like to address. I wanted to share some thoughts on a few unique ways to think about saving for education.

Just as summer plans have shifted, I thought I’d shift to talk about ways to enjoy the opportunities for entertainment and relaxation you can find around you.

One of my goals as a parent is to raise my children to be aware of the value of money and as they age to develop healthy financial habits. I have had friends ask my advice on this and have seen social media posts from parents of young children asking for input. The hardest part of this is just like everything else in parenting, you will need to find what works for your family and for your children or the children in your life. We are so excited we have become a Sammy Rabbit official partner and have been able to bring Sammy’s Dream Big story program to you! This is geared towards children ages 7-10 and is a storybook coloring book and activities to teach financial literacy.

Graduation, the day you’ve worked towards for years. Once you walk across the stage (or should we say proverbial stage this year) and take that diploma a new stage of life begins. There will be many new decisions and actions ahead of you, but here are a few simple moves to take as you enter that next stage of life.

Before we dig into the “year in review,” we’d like to mention a provision that was written in to the CARES Act regarding Donations. Beginning in 2020, there will be an “above the line” charitable deduction (maximum $300) that you will be able to take, even if you don’t itemize. So, save your receipts this year, even if you don’t itemize, those donations will reduce your 2020 tax liability.

This week we would normally be seeing the tax deadline hit and the last minute rush of filers. With the deadline extended the filing season will be drawn out over three more months, but we still encourage you to finalize your return so you can plan accordingly for 2020. Once your return is done you should take time to review the returns and see what the numbers are telling you. Over my years of working with tax returns I have had way too many people tell me they just look to see if they have a refund or owe, sign the return, then stick it in their files. I challenge you not to be one of those individuals. Following are some items I like to look at when assisting with tax planning.

With all of the closings that have been mandated as a result of COVID-19 along with requirements to stay in, many small business owners are worried about their operations. If you are a small business owner you are probably wondering how you are going to keep your business sustainable long term, provide for your employees, and provide for your own needs. Thankfully there has been a lot of legislation passed and the CARES act expanded and added benefits for small business owners. There is a lot of information out there so we wanted to summarize what these different benefits are, who qualifies, and what the effect is.

March is women’s history month and we want to take some of our space this month to recognize that. I love working with small business owners so I wanted to share some thoughts on women as business owners. Rooted Planning Group is owned by women so this is certainly special to us.

What are the traits that help women succeed in business? I thought back on some conferences I’ve attended, drew on personal experience, and looked at our team to see how the ways we think or act differently can be beneficial.

January is a time for fresh starts, resolutions, and goal setting. Resolutions notoriously fail so what can you do if you are heading into the New Year committed to making progress in your finances?

In light of the remembrance I thought today I’d discuss one of the benefits offered to our military members and federal government employees: the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP. Keep in mind this is a brief overview of a system that can be complex.

In this week’s blog, Financial Planner Kate Welker, CFP® defines top benefit terms to help demystify some of the confusing benefit terms.

In the next few weeks, you may open your mail or email to see notices regarding open enrollment season through your employer. Open enrollment is a period of time you can make changes to your employee benefits options that are normally restricted. This is also a great time to review your entire benefits package and make any other adjustments as well. Let’s walk through a few options you may be looking at.