financial planning

By Maura Schauss, CFP®

Summer is sailing along, and you’re catching up on your to-do list. As you browse through your list, there’s one item that catches your eye: Get on Top of Taxes. It’s a dreaded to-do item that seems to occur every single year. If you feel like you’re always hit with a tax bill, it may be because of one of these four reasons:

1. You’re not withholding enough from your paycheck.
2. You have extra income that isn’t subject to tax withholdings (rental and portfolio income.)
3. You’re not making quarterly estimated tax payments.
4. There are changes in your tax return (such as no longer having dependents.)

Thankfully, there are certain things you can do to correct these problems. Continue reading to find out some quick and relatively easy steps you can still take now to minimize the amount of taxes you’ll owe next year.

By Todd Youngdahl, CFP® and Ryan Muscatella

We wanted to take this opportunity to recognize our team member, Ryan Muscatella.  Ryan supports Todd's practice to provide the highest level of financial planning and client service. He is currently a Candidate for CFP certification.  We are proud to share that Ryan recently passed the bar exam, which was the next step in obtaining his CFP certification.  Hats off to you, Ryan!

Ryan utilizes his CFP knowledge daily working on detailed financial plans and analyses that help clients see how on track they are in meeting their various financial goals. We are excited to offer Ryan's insights on what recent graduates and those in the millennial generation should consider to set themselves up for financial success during this period in their lives.

By Maura C. Schauss, CFP®

A few decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon for the husband in a relationship to be in complete control of the finances while the wife focused on other responsibilities to keep the family in order. So what would happen when the husband suddenly died or the marriage ended in divorce? The wife would often find herself struggling to get a grip on her new financial responsibilities. Fast forward to today.  While challenges do exist, women can still reach all their financial goals.  Here are a few topics ALL women should know about personal finance in order to succeed.

By Todd Youngdahl, CFP®

Taxes have been filed, the days are getting longer, and spring cleaning is on your mind. While you’re deciding on projects to take care of around the house, add some financial cleaning to the list. Getting your financial life in order may seem daunting, but think of it as a way to contribute to your own financial success. Consider the following tips to get started on the path of financial organization.

By Maura C. Schauss, CFP

In any given month, there are well over 100 nationally recognized “days” on the calendar. Some of them are days to honor people, historical events, or important causes, and others are downright silly. Amidst all the significant or odd holidays in September, there is one that we think is critical to recognize: Fight Procrastination Day!

One of our goals at Washington Wealth Advisors is to have the most educated client base when it comes to the world of personal finance. Achieving financial peace of mind comes through a working partnership with your advisor as well as keeping yourself well informed. Videos offer an easily accessible and convenient way to learn about a new topic, understand a financial term, get the highlights of a blog, reference a subject discussed in a review meeting or meet a new member of the WWA team. With that in mind, we are excited to launch our very own YouTube Channel to engage our clients and community in support of our financial education goal.

We have learned that many people recognize April 26th as #GetOrganizedDay.  So, how about getting your financial planning ducks in a row?  Washington Wealth Advisors can help.

If creating a financial plan is a "to do" for you, then there is no better time to start that plan than today.

by Todd Youngdahl, CFP®