Certified Public Accountants
Specializing in Healthcare Professionals

A quick note of gratitude for your work and counsel.  It has been a pleasure and God-sent having your professionalism and expertise to help keep me out of trouble.  –David, DMD

Basic Financial Planning Services

At Schwartz & Schwartz, we work with our clients year-round to ensure they're making the soundest financial and tax decisions they can.

Whether its a life changing event, such as marriage, or a financial decision, such as buying a home, saving for your child's college education or your retirement, we can help you navigate the best choices that will impact your long-term and short-term financial goals.

Our clients can meet with our in-house Certified Financial Planner, Susan Schwartz, to discuss their financial situation and to create a personalized plan that will lead you to your financial goals.

To learn more about our Financial Planning services, please contact us at 800.471.0045 or use our online request form to schedule an appointment.

Feature: Useful Financial Planning tools

Through The MDTAXES Network, we offer you many useful tools to figure out your financial plan and keep it on track:

• Calculate Your APGAR Score - Get a sense of where you stand financially by using our simple self-evaluation of your financial condition
  
• Project Your Retirement Savings - Online calculator shows you what your accounts will be worth and the income they'll provide when you retire
  
• Set Your Savings and Debt Reduction Goals - Calculate what it will take to reach your goals with our handy spreadsheet
  
• Review Disability Insurance Needs - Find out about the different types of disability insurance and how much you may need
  
• Saving for a Child's College Education - Read about these two tax advantaged savings opportunities
  
• Find out About Life Settlements - Learn about the new secondary market for life insurance policies
  
• Financial Advice for Newly Married Couples - All you need to know about setting up your joint finances on our sister site www.NewlywedFinances.com
  

Feature Article:

RE: 2009

by Andrew D. Schwartz, CPA

Good riddance to an extremely bad financial year.  During 2008, real estate values plummeted, credit markets froze, and stock markets around the globe tanked.  Plus, we taxpayers are now borrowing in excess of a trillion dollars to bail out some of the most prestigious names in corporate America due to the greed and/or mismanagement of these icons.

Hello 2009.  Hopefully this year won't be nearly as financially poor as 2008. Here are some steps you can take to get your personal finances back on track:

• REset your retirement savings:  Most people find it easier to max out their retirement contributions by budgeting a set amount each month.  Instruct your employer to withhold $1,375 per month for your 401(k) or 403(b) plan to ensure that you hit the max of $16,500 in 2009.  Are you self-employed?  If so, you can sock away up to $49,000 next year into a SEP, Keogh or Solo 401(k), which equals $4,083 per month.  And if you'll be 50 or older by December 31st, the limit jumps to $22,000 for 401(k) and 403(b) salary deferrals, and $54,500 for Solo 401(k)'s.

• REbuild your investment portfolio:  Warren Buffet said it best by stating, "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."  While many individual stocks might never recover, the broader indices have shown that when given enough time, they rebound to match and then beat previous highs.  The stock market came back following the Great Depression, 1987 Crash, and September 11th Sell-off.  Could the current level of the Dow be seen as one of the best investment opportunities in recent history?

• REfinance your home mortgage:  My wife and I just locked in a thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.875% with no points.  According to our mortgage guy, Bob Cahill of Bank of America, there are a variety of low-rate mortgage products currently available to people looking to purchase a new home or refinance an existing mortgage (as long as the home value exceeds the outstanding mortgage balance.)

• REduce your personal debt: Over time, people and businesses seemed to have forgotten that any money borrowed needs to be repaid.  Remember, leverage equals risk.  Make 2009 a year to pay down some of your personal debt.  Perhaps you can delay the purchase of a new car, scale down your awesome vacation, or settle for a 37 inch flat screen TV.

• REvise your savings and debt reduction goals: Take a few minutes to set new savings goals including how much you’d like to put away towards your retirement, a child’s education, and the down payment on a home, and also to reset how much you plan to pay down your student loans, personal debt, and home mortgage.  Download our (Microsoft Excel) debt/savings calculator to help you crunch the numbers.

• REbalance your investment portfolio:  During 2008, all sectors of the stock market got hammered.  Your bond funds and money market funds, however, probably did okay.  By rebalancing your portfolio to it's original or updated asset allocation, you move money from the sectors that performed the best into sectors that underperformed.  

• REcalculate how much your retirement savings will be worth when you retire: With the Dow off 40 percent from its high of $14,000, now's a good time to take a look at how much buying power you can expect to have upon retiring by utilizing our unique on-line retirement calculator.

• REvisit your life and disability insurance needs: As you move through your career, your life and disability insurance needs change. Give some thought to how much of these insurances you need versus how much you currently get through your employer’s benefit package and how much coverage you've already purchased for your personal policies. 

• REsolve errors on your credit report:  Each year, you’re entitled to three free credit reports, so there’s no excuse to not look at this important financial report annually, especially since errors are not uncommon.  Order your free report at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Questions about financial planning steps you should take for 2009? Please check out our Directory of Financial Advisors to find a professional familiar with the financial planning issues that affect you and your colleagues.  Do-It-Yourselfers should check out the tools available at www.eFinPlan.com.