Robin Young of Northstar Financial Planning on getting to the heart of what is most important to people

This article was written by Lois Shea of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and originally featured on nhcf.org.

Research shows that people want their professional advisors to ask them about charitable giving. And sooner rather than later. The “U.S. Trust Study of the Philanthropic Conversation,” conducted in partnership with The Philanthropic Initiative, showed that virtually all high-net-worth people think this discussion should happen within the first several meetings with an advisor. A third think the topic of charitable giving should be raised in the very first meeting. Yet fewer than half feel their advisors are good at discussing personal or charitable goals with them.

Wondering how to start a conversation about charitable giving with your clients? Or looking to refresh it?

In the coming months, we will be sharing a series of articles about behavioral biases and the impact on investment and planning decisions. As financial advisors, it is our role not only to help our clients successfully plan for and invest in their future wealth, but also to act as a coach, helping clients to better understand wise investing strategies and the long-term, global approach that we take in our wealth management process. Our goal is to guide clients to make decisions that serve their best interest. We encourage you to provide us with feedback as each new article is released and we look forward to an active dialogue on the subjects. Enjoy!

Nearly 60 percent of the people receiving Social Security benefits are women. While Social Security benefits are completely neutral when it comes to gender, there are ways in which women can benefit from thinking strategically about their Social Security income so that it can be of maximum value to them throughout retirement. Understanding the information in this article can help you better prepare for what you can expect from your Social Security benefits and can help you to determine when you should begin drawing from what you are eligible for.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was just released by the House Ways and Means Committee and it contains a large number of provisions that would affect individual taxpayers.

Here are some of the key provisions:

Tax rates

Under the bill, individuals would be subject to four tax rates, instead of the current seven: 12%, 25%, 35%, and 39.6%, effective for tax years after 2017. The rates under the bill would be as follows:

The Intricacies of marriage and/or living with your partner later in life

While more and more older women are choosing to live with their partners, it doesn’t mean that there is a rise in marriage among this group of individuals. In fact, many older adults are delaying a trip to the altar or putting it off entirely.

A recent poll from the Pew Research Center reports that the number of people age 50 and older who live together with their unmarried partner increased by 75% between 2007 and 2016. A decade ago, 2.3 million mature unmarried adults were cohabitating and now that number is 4 million. That is almost a quarter of all adults who live together.

On the off chance you didn't hear, maybe you have been distracted by natural disasters Harvey, Irma, or Mexico's 8.1 earthquake and associated tsunamis, Equifax was involved in a man-made disaster affecting 143 million Americans. Between mid-May and July, hackers accessed people's names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. They also stole credit card numbers from 209,000 of us.

While this, of course, is very disconcerting, we have outlined the necessary steps to first, find out if you were one of the victims, and second, take the necessary steps to protect your credit as best you can. 

Making Sound Financial Decisions in the Wake of Sudden Money

The last word that comes to mind when you think about receiving a large sum of money is "shock". Indeed, the very notion of being the recipient of a financial windfall brings about feelings of extreme relief and jubilation, but the term "shock" to many, sounds a bit extreme. The reality, however, is that people can and do experience Money Shock^TM that can negatively impact their decision-making while in financial transition. Stress, grief, panic, fear, and distrust are just some of the negative emotions that can come with new wealth. Those, coupled with feelings of excitement, relief, and joy, plus the potential for underlying family dynamics can lead to a mix of emotions that can lead to sleeplessness, confusion, clouded judgment and lack of thought clarity among other things. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

As back-to-school signs start popping up in every grocery store, pharmacy and department store it is hard to avoid the reality that summer is coming to an end. For many adults, there is relief that children are back in school and there will be a little more time to yourself as the temperatures start to lower. For kids, the summer is a long and glorious adventure and most are sad to see the freedom of their days return to the structure of school and sports and indoor activities.

After childhood, there is little opportunity to have that kind of time to really spread your wings without obligations to family, work, finances, etc. Some young adults seize the chance to take a gap year between high school and college, or college and grad school so that they can explore opportunities and have experiences that might begin to fall out of their reach once they begin careers, start families, etc.

Communicating with your spouse when it comes to finances and planning for the future can have a positive impact on, not just your financial well-being, but your relationship.

According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 31% of Americans admitted that they have lied to their spouses about finances. Financial infidelity can lead to a lack of trust in a relationship and can diminish open communication about other things beyond finances. When creating a strategy for long term financial plans it is paramount that couples share the responsibility and maintain an open dialogue with each other and their financial advisor.

As women, we see, perhaps in sharper focus, what women do to provide emotional, spiritual, and financial support for those they care for. Women often take lower paying positions in business in order to have more time with their children. Sometimes savings are sacrificed in order to pay for education and childcare. As their parents age, more often, they become the primary caretaker of the family.

When it comes to finances, women often put others before themselves when they address the equation. While the altruism in this is commendable, it has led to a great disparity in financial well-being between women and men. In Financial Finesse's most recent Gender Gap in Wellness reportreport the key findings were: