What Happened to July?

I know, you've missed my posts...or maybe you forgot I existed. Truth be told, it was a fast month, lots going on, and I did not make the time to write. I got distracted and let my time go in other directions. So let's do a recap on what you may have missed.

Big Beautiful Bill: Yup, this thing passed, and like all legislative laws, it was big. Beautiful... I'm not quite sold on that, but there are some key benefits you should check out. The Money Guy show did a nice overview of some key points. Here are my takeaways from a tax/money perspective.

• New Tips deduction: It was being sold as no tax on tips, but as someone who has worked in the restaurant business growing up, this is not quite true. You get up to a $25,000 deduction for tips, and that cannot exceed your income, so tips are generally still taxable, but you do get a no tax up to $25,000, which is a nice bonus. Similar applies to overtime, another nice add-on.

• Car Loan Interest Deduction: If you went ahead and got a car loan, you can deduct the interest, up to $10,000. My take: Do not buy a car, so you can deduct the interest. Do the math and you will find out. There is a lot to math here to demonstrate, which I'm not going to get into, as I argued with people who lease cars, for the "tax write-off"... again, not wise.

• 2017 Tax cuts have been extended! This is great, and most will benefit from these extensions; there is a reason the Presidents from both parties keep extending the cuts.

• High tax states (CA, NJ, NY) get a bigger deduction! With that, the standard deduction is permanent up to $31,500 for married couples. This is great news for most, as the majority of individuals use the standard deduction.

Stock Market Rebound: Yes, as expected, the market went back up again, and most of your portfolios are settling back in now. This is why mutual funds and investing are long-term investments, not for emergency funds or general savings accounts. They bounce around. Until you are ready to retire, just park it and leave it alone, or make that big purchase you have been saving for. Most news outlets are not talking about it, but the market is doing well, so just keep buying; slow and steady wins the race.

Early in Career Financial Awareness: I had the benefit of teaching an early in career finance class at my work, which was a tremendous blessing. I was joined by a good friend there who shared her story. Overall, we were able to share key investment principles and things to plan for early in career individuals and hopefully impact over 40 lives for the future. It was a blast, and if you see an opportunity to share this with a group, I would love to talk. This class was a quick 1-hour session and cost nothing.

Now to get myself back to a regular rhythm for all of you!