Firm:
Adam C. Harding, CFP® Investments & Financial Planning
Job Title:
Principal/Lead Adviser
Biography:
I blend financial science, modern technology, and complex planning techniques to help my clients pursue a better investment experience.
As the son of a private practice Certified Public Accountant (CPA) I received an early start in understanding of the importance of building strong financial habits to achieve personal goals. As my first teacher, my father ingrained in me the importance of tax-efficient savings methods, deferred gratification and, by demonstration, the importance of taking care of "his people" (i.e. clients).
Formally, I have added to that original educational foundation with completed study in Economics (Arizona State University, BS), as well as the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP) designation.
My professional career has been, and will continue to be, focused on acting as a fiduciary for clients, serving as a sounding board for any and all financial matters, and, to quote my first teacher, "taking care of my people."
As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ I have demonstrated competency in comprehensive financial planning and have chosen to abide by a strict Code of Ethics.
**Any comments or articles posted are strictly for informational purposes and should not be considered investment, tax, or legal advice.Nothing should be considered an offer or solicitation of services. Opinions are subject to change.
Education:
BS, Economics, Arizona State University
Assets Under Management:
$13 million
Fee Structure:
Asset-Based
Fixed Annual Fee
CRD Number:
6055895
Disclaimer:
Nothing contained in this publication is intended to constitute legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment, nor a solicitation of any type. The general information contained in this publication should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from a licensed professional.
I wouldn't recommend inverse positions.
First, any investment you're using to go long (i.e. own), you should want to produce value while you hold it. Stocks can do this with dividends, bonds can do this with interest payments, and real estate can do this with rent. An inverse, or bear market fund has a decaying principle that means it slowly deteriorates in value if the downward movement isn't recognized. If you hold a traditional stock fund it can pay you dividends even if the desired track (going up in price) isn't immediately realized.
With this said, if you have a concentrated equity risk (like let's say you have a $1,000,000 portfolio of US Stocks and your cost basis is $500,000) you may not want to sell those stocks and claim the large gain. However, you also don't want to simply hold steady and wait to lose your gains in a market crash. In this case, you can take some of your outside capital and buy a complementary position in an uncorrelated asset class, you can buy put options, you can sell covered calls and use the premium collected to diversify, or you can buy a bear market fund to help hedge your risk.
At the end of the day hedging is expensive and using short funds requires effective market timing, which is incredibly hard to do consistently (if not completely impossible).
I'd suggest portfolio design around factors of positive expected return rather than short term market dynamics.
Good luck,
Adam Harding, CFP
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamharding/
These three are great.
Start here:
'The Investment Answer' - Goldie
'A Random Walk Down Wall Street' - Malkiel
'Money: Master the Game' - Robbins
Good luck,
Adam Harding, CFP
Absolutely. You'll see a lot of advisors refer to themselves as "Wealth Advisors" because what we do is not solely focused on investments. The CFP certification requires an understanding of tax, estate, investment, retirement, and insurance planning; so I would make sure your advisor holds this credential and is accustomed to fitting these important fields together.
As asset protection is concerned, some protection can be accessed through insurance and it's a good idea to ask a fiduciary what kind of coverage may be prudent. You don't want to be making a phone call to someone that directly benefits from selling you coverage in excess of what you may reasonably need. Seeking asset protection may also involve specific adjustments to an investment strategy, meaning that there are often different strategies for accumulation vs. protection phases of a financial plan. Of course, these strategies are circumstantial and are unique to each investor.
Simply put, I can say with great confidence that the best advisors in our field are those that think about your entire situation when providing recommendations.
Best,
Adam C. Harding, CFP
Here's what I'd consider:
1) If you're not working, consider delaying your Social Security benefits to age 70. I'd recommend living off of your 401(k) assets if you had previously planned on receiving income from Social Security at an earlier age (like 66). This will lessen the balance in your 401(k) while also increasing your SS benefit by 8%/year for each year you defer beyond your Full Retirement Age.
2) Consider a Roth IRA conversion strategy. This approach can be systematic, like a yearly $50K conversion (or something similar), or it can be targeted. Targeted Roth IRA conversions are a result of you having a diversified portfolio with many different asset classes. When you convert assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth, income taxes will be due on the converted amount. So, assets that have declined significantly in value are ripe for a Roth conversion. You’ll pay less in taxes because of the current depressed value, then you’ll have the potential for future tax-free growth within the Roth IRA structure.
To make any Roth conversion strategy viable, the converted assets would need to perform well enough after the conversion to offset the impact of the taxes paid. If you feel that the assets are simply in a correction, and you still like the outlook for them, then this strategy becomes more attractive.
3) Lastly, if you were 70.5 today and needed to take your RMD on $1.2M, the amount would be roughly $43K that you'd have to withdrawal and claim as income. Depending on your other sources of income, I wouldn't consider this added income to be the most crucial consideration you should be focusing on for your retirement plan. Limiting taxes is important, but I think that it's more important to be sure there's a thorough understanding of the overall risk exposures within your portfolio and your projected expenses throughout retirement.
Good Luck,
Adam C. Harding, CFP
If you make post-tax contributions to a traditional IRA you will need to continually file a form with your taxes to carry forward the portion which is not tax-deferred. This is called form 8606, here is the most recent version of it: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8606.pdf
If you do not file this form and your records aren't complete upon eventual withdrawal, then you risk being required to claim these distributions as ordinary income and, thus, see double taxation on the deposited amount. The portion of the future withdrawal that is attributable to investment growth would be taxed as ordinary income.
While I do agree with the potential that tax-deferred growth allows, I also feel like the benefit in making non-deductible IRA contributions over that of a taxable account contribution is limited; especially when considering the added reporting requirements involved. That said, if making a non-deductible deposit and performing a Roth IRA conversion is an option, then the situation becomes a bit more attractive for you. There are some nuances that make this strategy more or less viable and you should speak with an informed advisor prior to implementation.
Adam C. Harding, CFP
For informational purposes only. Not to be considered investment, tax, or legal advice.