Evernote is a cloud-based, information organization app.  I have been using Evernote since 2011 to capture ideas, notes, important documents, images, and track projects and my goals.  Initially I used the free basic version, but then I upgraded to the premium level ($69.99 per year now) and I find it is well worth it as I can do so much more by adding Word documents, PDF documents, and Excel files as well.  I would like to share with you a few of the ways I use it to increase my productivity and reduce paper clutter.

After a long wait, the Fed finally did raise the federal funds rate by 0.25% last month.  You may not have noticed the impact in your financial statements yet, but investing in fixed income is becoming more challenging, because traditional bonds with fixed coupons or longer maturities typically recede in price as interest rates rise.  Bonds have performed well in the past decade but even they may struggle to deliver the total return you expect over the next few years.  So what can you do to reduce the interest risk in your portfolio?

As the US stock markets have done well for the past 8 years, many investors wonder if their portfolios are positioned well for potential market corrections.  Though it is impossible to predict the future, expecting volatility in the coming years is a safe bet.  Market volatility is normal, and feeling uneasy about a lower portfolio value is normal too.  Historical analysis shows that pullbacks of 5% have occurred about once a quarter, and pullbacks of 10% are likely to occur once per year.  Large pullbacks greater than 20% tend to occur just once per market cycle.  It is especially important to be mindful about how to dampen portfolio volatility in the later stages of the business cycle.

Last month, one of my new clients and I called the administrator of her old 401(k) plan to rollover the balance to her IRA account at TD Ameritrade.  To her surprise, she had $36,000 in after-tax contributions (not the same as a Roth) with earnings of $70,000 from the after-tax contributions she made many years ago in addition to $700,000 pre-tax contributions and earnings.  She was able to request two checks - one for the $36,000 to a new Roth IRA account (a Roth conversion that is tax-free because there is no taxation on otherwise after-tax funds!) and one for the $770,000 to a traditional IRA account (which does not incur an income tax assessment by virtue of being a rollover).  The end result – now she has $770,000 of all pre-tax funds in an IRA, $36,000 in a Roth IRA, and her tax cost this year is zero!

When we are children and young adults, it can be easy for us to go about our lives without thinking about the true value of learning particular skills now, when we are young, rather than waiting until we’re older. When I look back at my life through those halcyon days of middle and high school, and even college, it makes me truly realize the significance and value of learning particular financial life skills when we’re young. These skills, I now realize, not only impact a young adult’s knowledge and understanding of finances at that age, but also evolve over time as they gain life experience and exposure to new and more complex financial concepts. As a Junior and Senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I served as a peer educator for two Financial Life Skills courses, one for freshman/sophomore students, and the other for upper classmen, with most of the students being seniors preparing for life after graduation. The courses covered topics ranging from our personal view of money based on our core values, beliefs, upbringing, etc., to preparing financially for unexpected life events by establishing a “rainy day fund”, to utilizing insurance to best fit our needs. My interactions with these college students and other students over the years related to personal finance have highlighted for me a few key financial life skills/concepts. Three concepts that consistently arose and that I wish I was exposed to in greater detail at a young age are: