All tagged Eric Maldonado CFP MBA CKA

Important if you're on Medicare (or enrolling soon)

TIME-SENSITIVE: Medicare Open Enrollment is from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

It’s no secret that Medicare parts and plans are downright confusing.

So confusing, in fact, that many people unknowingly choose the wrong plan that ends up costing them thousands of dollars in surprise medical expenses from a doctor visit, a treatment, or simply filling a prescription.

Healthcare costs are one of the biggest expenses retirees face (but can be very manageable with the right knowledge!) which makes choosing the right plan even more important.

So whether you’re enrolling for the first time, or you’re already on Medicare, I highly recommend you download my FREE Medicare Guide that will help you choose the right plan that could save you thousands.

Take your giving strategy to the next level

I’ve worked with many deeply giving people who want to give back to their communities. They want to make a lasting impact and make the world a better place. Philanthropy truly enriches their lives, giving them a sense of fulfillment and a greater purpose.

My role as an adviser has been to help them support their charitable giving by creating the right financial strategies to help provide the maximum impact on the causes they care about.

No matter what your values and goals may be, using your values to shape your giving strategies is key to making the biggest impact.

In this month’s AquilaWealth Visual Insights Newsletter, we explored some deep questions. These questions are designed to help you increase the value and impact of your giving. Click here to see it!

How to unlock the value of strategic giving

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

How does giving back to your community or donating to a good cause make you feel?

Do you feel stronger in your values?

Like you’re doing your part to make the world a better place?

The famous quote above (frequently misattributed to Winston Churchill) is actually backed up by research. Studies show that we gain a sense of purpose in life through giving and trying to improve the situations of others.1

We explore how you can create a greater impact with your philanthropy and tie it more closely to your values in this month’s AquilaWealth Visual Insights Newsletter.

Inside are 7 key questions you can answer to connect your values more closely to your giving. Click here to check it out!

The Capital One Data Breach

Steps to protect your cards and keep “what’s in your wallet” to yourself

It seems that credit card fraud and major retailer breaches are just a part of our everyday life now.

Just recently, for example, the Capital One data breach put about 100 million customers in the U.S. and another 6 million customers in Canada at risk.

As these attacks continue and hit more often, the best thing you can do is to be informed on how to prevent and minimize the damage.

Did you know that 43% of companies had a data breach last year? Or that almost 50% of Americans have been victim to credit card fraud in the past 5 years? Or that almost 670 million card records were stolen in the past 10 years? For every American, that is 2.1 stolen credit cards.

Protect Your Cards

Take these steps to protect your cards:

5 Ways to Build A Better #Tax Plan

You just finished your taxes, but it's not too early to make plans for next year.

It's important that as you build your plan, you think about some strategies to reduce or defer your taxes now or in the future. Here are some strategies to consider helping your financial plan become more tax-efficient:

1. Tax harvesting

Usually, this strategy is implemented near the end of the calendar year, but it can be done at any time. With tax-loss harvesting, you sell off holdings that have a loss position to offset the gains you've experienced from other sales.

The asset you sold is then replaced with a similar investment to maintain the portfolio's asset allocation and expected risk and return levels. It won't restore your losses, but it can ease the pain.

Contact us to schedule a complimentary planning meeting.

#Retirement Strategies: #Stocks for the Long Run

One of my core tenets of investing success when it comes retirement strategies can be summed up in the title of Jeremy Siegel’s classic book: Stocks for the Long Run. This is a great read for anyone looking to get a good dose of data on why owning a properly allocated basket of diversified equities is often wiser for the long-term investor than, say, owning a portfolio of fixed-income investments.

Writing Your Own Financial Plan, Part 2 — Goal Setting

The second part of this three part series, is around the topic of: GOALS.

For some people this gets you really excited, and the prospect of writing goals, and thinking about the future and setting goals is a motivating and energizing experience. That’s wonderful, run with it and use this skill for setting goals to better your financial life. For many, however, the idea of goal setting is daunting or just plain dull. For some the very word “goal” causes you to feel anxious or maybe you just don’t believe in goal setting and it hard to think with any real clarity about the future.