Archive for category: News

By: Tana Gildea

01/22/2020

Most of us look to the new year as an opportunity to “start again,” clean up our bad habits, make big changes, and reach for the stars! We’ll exercise! Lose weight! Save more! And then Monday comes. It’s another start to another week that feels exactly like those that have come before it. The thrill of the promise crumbles when faced with the reality of packing a lunch, forgoing a latte, or passing up those great sales in favor of a workout.

According to James Clear (Atomic Habits), BJ Fogg (Tiny Habits), and Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit), creating a habit is the clear path to lasting success regardless of what we are trying to change or improve in our lives. So what financial habit is the keystone habit? Track your spending.

When we work with clients, we occasionally help them create a pie chart called Live, Give, Owe, Grow, and Can’t Say No. It takes spending over some time period and divides it into these categories. By making a pie chart, everyone can see how the pie divides which can lead to some great discussions around how the client feels about where the money is going. That can be a great “look back” exercise to help you identify things you want to change. The categories should be those that are important for you but keep it to a few so as not to get overwhelmed.

Analyzing what happened provides some insight, but tracking problem areas “in the moment” is what creates awareness and change.

Here are some things to try:

• Track a particular category of spending.
  • Identify your problem area and track it. Eating out tends to be a trouble spot for a lot of people so, for example, every time you eat out, get in the habit of writing it down. This could be the notes section on your phone, a little notepad, or the back of an envelope in the sun visor of the car. Whatever works for you is the best tool. When you know that you are writing it down, you are being accountable to yourself and perhaps to your significant other.
  • It may be helpful to jot down the circumstances like “left lunch in the fridge” or “traveling” or “overslept and went through the drive-through.” You might see patterns of when the spending is happening. This helps you develop strategies to counter these situations.
• Learn from the data that you are collecting.
  • Have a spirit of curiosity and learning around what is happening instead of judgment and condemnation. We don’t thrive when we beat ourselves up mentally so seek understanding and solutions.
  • Don’t expect perfection! Developing a habit and changing behavior is a process and will have ups and downs.
  • Keep trying – knowing what doesn’t work helps us figure out what does work.
• Identify behavior triggers that lead to certain types of spending.
  • Duhigg describes the “habit cycle,” and it’s clear that a trigger leads to a behavior. If we can identify the trigger and replace the undesirable behavior with a different behavior, we can change a bad habit into a good one or at least a neutral one. For example, if a frantic day at the office triggers the desire for a fast food fix on the way home, recognize that, and create a new “if I have a frantic day at the office” behavior: “then I’ll go to the gym” or “then I’ll call a friend on the way home.”

Whatever financial goal you have will benefit from having a clear picture of where the money is going. The backward look helps you see what happened and identify what you want to change.  Tracking helps you be mindful and aware as it is happening or about to happen. Developing this one habit and looking at it with curiosity and interest can lead you toward a lot of ways to make small, consistent changes that will last long after the resolution has been forgotten.

ATLANTA – 1/10/2020 – Homrich Berg (HB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael (Mike) D. Landsberg, CPA, CFP®, CPWA, PFS, as the newest Principal for the firm. “Mike has consistently exhibited dedication to HB and his clients,” said Andy Berg, co-founder and CEO of Homrich Berg. “My partners and I are proud to welcome him as the newest owner of HB.”

Mike has been with Homrich Berg for over seven years, and holds a B.A. in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and went on to earn a Masters of Taxation from Arizona State University. Mike serves as a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants – Personal Financial Planning Division (AICPA PFP) and the Georgia Society of CPAs. He sits on the board of Ur Worth It! as Finance Chair and was selected to the AICPA PFP Executive Leadership Committee. He also volunteers as a Financial Coach for the Catholic Charities of Atlanta.

HB Director Mike Landsberg spoke with MONEY on five of the biggest tax-saving strategies you can still do before the end of the year. Click here to read the article.

ATLANTA – November 20, 2019 – Homrich Berg is pleased to announce that Cedar Rowe Partners has signed an agreement to join Homrich Berg, giving HB a Sandy Springs office location and an addition of talent and clients. Under the terms of the agreement, Sean Cook will join HB as a Principal along with three other client service professionals.  The deal is expected to close on December 31 of this year.

This event is part of the continuing growth story at HB, which will soon have twenty-four principals and four offices in metro Atlanta including Buckhead, Alpharetta, Cobb, and now Sandy Springs.  Recent firm growth has resulted in Homrich Berg now managing assets of over $6 billion for clients in 45 states even before this merger event. HB continues to build a regional presence, with the scale and expertise of a large firm combined with the high touch client service of a boutique firm.

“We are very pleased to have Sean and his fine firm join HB,” stated Andy Berg, co-founder and CEO of Homrich Berg. “We feel comfortable knowing that we share common core values with a clear focus on serving our clients. We are highly confident that this merger will be additive for clients and employees.”

“Homrich Berg has a reputation as a leading firm in the Southeast, and we felt joining HB was the best fit for our team to allow us to continue to grow while serving our clients,” said Sean Cook. “Through this partnership, we look forward to leveraging the expertise of Homrich Berg to offer our clients enhanced services while continuing to guide them to their financial goals.”

About Homrich Berg

Founded in 1989, Atlanta-based Homrich Berg is a national independent wealth management firm that provides fiduciary, fee-only investment management and financial planning services, serving as the leader of the financial team for our clients including high-net-worth individuals, families, and not-for-profits. Homrich Berg manages over $6 billion for over 1800 family relationships nationwide. For more information, please visit www.HomrichBerg.com.

by David Kochamba

10/31/19

2019 is flying by, temperatures are cooling down (finally), college football is in full swing and the holidays are rapidly approaching. This also means that the annual open enrollment benefit period will commence soon for those who are currently working.  Many workers dread receiving the annual enrollment email from their human resources team with multiple attachments detailing their benefit options for the upcoming year.  However, a little short-term pain in reviewing your options and determining the benefits appropriate for you and your family can yield tax savings in 2020.

Many employers offer employees a high deductible health care plan (HDHP) and a health maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred provider organization (PPO) plan.  Two benefit accounts that can help pay for medical expenses depending on the medical plan you choose are a Health Savings Account (HSA) and a Flexible Savings Account (FSA).  Those choosing a high deductible health care plan have the option to contribute to a HSA. This is an account that lets you save for future medical costs. Money put in the account is not subject to federal income tax when deposited. Funds can accrue and be used in the year saved or in future years when medical expenses occur.  HSAs must be paired with the High Deductible Health Plan only.  In 2020, an individual with self-only coverage under a HDHP plan can contribute a maximum of $ 3,550 and those will family coverage can contribute a maximum of $ 7,100 to a HSA.

A FSA is a way for employees to set aside pre-tax dollars directly from their paycheck to pay for medical expenses (Medical FSA).  With a HMO or PPO health care plan, individuals were able to contribute a maximum of $ 2,700 to a flexible savings account (FSA) in 2019.  2020 FSA contribution limits have not been announced yet.   It’s important to remember that contributions into a HSA account are not required to be spent in the calendar year made unlike a FSA, where if the funds aren’t spent, you could potentially lose whatever is left in the account at year-end.  If an employer’s health FSA plan has a carryover feature, participants can roll over up to $500 of unused FSA dollars to the next year but will forfeit any excess over $500 at year-end. An optional grace period gives employees an additional two-and-a-half months to incur new expenses using prior-year FSA funds. At the end of the grace period, all unspent funds must be forfeited.  Plans can offer either the carryover feature or a grace period, but not both.  As a result, it’s important to carefully estimate your out of pocket medical expenses before submitting your contribution amount.   Both HSA and FSA contributions are funded with pre-tax dollars and are exempt from the 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax, reducing your taxable income.

Many employers will also offer their employees a dependent care FSA.  This is a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for dependent care services while you are working.  For 2019, the maximum contribution amount is $ 5,000. To be eligible for a dependent care FSA, you and your spouse (if applicable) must be employed, or your spouse must be a full-time student or looking for employment.  Funds can be used to pay for care of children under age 13 when they’re claimed as qualifying dependents.  A dependent care account covers a number of services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before- and after-school programs, and childcare.  It’s important to note that like a flexible savings account for healthcare, any balance remaining in the dependent care account at year-end will be lost if not spent.

It’s not too early to start thinking about what benefits are most suitable for you and your family.  Planning now will enable you to be a little less stressed when you are given your deadline to make your final benefit decisions for 2020. Knowing you will be saving money on your 2020 taxes may just change your mindset on receiving your annual open enrollment e-mail in future years.  Below, please find a summary chart of HSA and FSA plans.  Here’s to you saving money in 2020.