Flow Financial Planning?, LLC

“I want to help those people who are solving important problems rather than seeking meaning in their finances. And I think unsexy finances are the way to do it. Personal finance can be challenging. It can be (it is!) important. But it shouldn’t be sexy.” Whether you work with me, another planner, or manage your own finances, I really (really) think you should keep ‘em as unsexy as possible. A blog post about keeping your finances unsexy and reserving all that sexy-time energy for the truly important problem you’re solving in this world.

“Everyone is attracted to sexy (complicated, optimized, conversation-worthy) answers to financial questions. But you know what I think? Sexy finances are a distraction.” A blog post about changing my tagline to “Unsexy finances for people solving important problems.”

There are a lot of important problems that need solving out there. Curing cancer, obviously. But also, How do I raise my children while also pursuing a career I care about? How do I protect people in my community or country? How do I carve out time to create art while living in a really expensive place? How do I care for my aging parents who live in a different state? I can’t solve almost any of them, but I can help support the people who are. And I think unsexy finances is how I can do it. A blog post about getting you back to solving your important problem as quickly as possible.

Eeeeveryone who has heard of the backdoor Roth IRA—even when they don’t understand what it is exactly (which describes most people)—wants to do it. And in order to do it, you need $0 of pre-tax money in your traditional IRA. Which means! That if you have an old 401(k) that you want to consolidate into another retirement account, rolling it into your traditional or rollover IRA is probably a bad idea. There are many things you can do with an old 401(k). And, not surprisingly, many nuanced considerations when choosing which of said “many things” to do. A blog post. About just that.

The easiest thing to do with an old 401(k) is…nothing. And for a while, almost always, that’s a totally reasonable choice to make. Eventually, however, this is probably going to cause you pain. You have to manage yet one more account. You’ll lose track of it. Your old employer will go out of business. The money will even end up in the Unclaimed Property division of your state (yes, true story). So, if you have girded your loins and are ready to Tackle The Rollover, I have written this here blog post to help you understand what your options are (other than “do nothing”). Roll it into your current 401(k). Roll it into your IRA. Roll it partly into your 401(k), partly into your IRA. Roll the company stock part into your taxable account.

“Because while I am happy to observe that many people, especially in the tech industry, have drunk deeply of the “low cost, broadly diversified” waters, “I have *also* observed that many of these same people aren’t aware that way more goes into managing investments well. As a result, they simply aren’t aware of the ways in which an investment professional can be valuable.” So I wrote a blog post about it, and it goes a little something like this… Why might you want to hire a professional to manage your investments? Maybe you simply don’t want to do it yourself. Valid. Maybe you can see a way (or multiple!) in which a professional can do it better than you. Also, valid.

If you were to work with a financial planner, how often would you meet? Would you want to meet? Would you need to meet? There are times in your work with a financial planner when you’ll probably meet a lot. 4-8 times in a single year. ?? When you first start working with the planner ?? When you’re going through something big in your life: an IPO, getting married, moving states while buying a home while having your first child (yes, true story). And then in “normal” years, when life is happening, but not TOO much life is happening, we have found that one comprehensive meeting (looking at ALL your finances and life) + one check-in meeting is a good balance for our clients. Our client-feedback surveys from 2023 and 2024 seem to confirm at least this general approach. We want to “be there for our clients when they need us,” and this “twice-yearly with the ability to meet more often when life calls” cadence fits the bill. If you’re considering working with a financial planner, how does that sound to you? A blog post about what we learned from our client feedback surveys.

If you have 401(k)s from old jobs, it’s usually way better to roll them into either your current 401(k) or an IRA. If you’re up for the inevitable bureaucratic battle of doing a rollover, the first question to ask yourself is: Does a 401(k) or an IRA serve you better? They’re *largely* the same, but there are some key differences (like the ability to do a backdoor Roth IRA, to take loans, etc.) that might be really important to you. Here’s a lovingly crafted (and then lovingly REcrafted, because my website had a glitch ??) blog post about all the things you can do with your old 401(k), why you should likely do *something*, and the pros and cons of each choice.

Do you have an old 401(k) (or several ?? ) that you KNOW you should be dealing with? You have several choices available to you, which is part of the problem. You can: 1?? Keep it there, i.e., do nothing. 2?? Roll it into an IRA. 3?? Roll it in your new job’s 401(k). 4?? Roll the pre-tax part into your IRA and the after-tax part of it into your 401(k). 5?? If you have company stock inside it, roll that to a taxable account. Most people look at the list and just stop. "Ugh. Too much to think about." It's important to make an intentional decision about old 401(k)s, even if that decision ends up being "I'm going to leave it where it is"! This week's blog post discusses all those options and how you can decide which is best for you. https://buff.ly/4hfT6Si [Want to learn more about working with a financial planner? Visit me at flowfp.com]

Congratulations, folks at Whatnot! Got yerself a tender offer coming up. ('Tis the season, it seems.) All that money! Excitement! Stress! Taxes! Remember: The right choice for you in the tender offer is the right choice FOR YOU. Please please please base your choice on your total financial picture and what kind of life you have and want for yourself. And yes, this means that YOUR right choice can look very different from your VERY SMART COLLEAGUE'S right choice. A blog post about a tender offer, and specifically, two clients going through it and making very different decisions: