Read almost any article from a reputable source about how to obtain good financial advice and you will see the author recommend that you work with a fee-only financial planner. What exactly is a fee-only financial planner and how is that different from a fee-based financial planner?

Let’s say that you’ve already decided that you want to have an attorney draft a revocable living trust for you. A revocable living trust, sometimes simply called a revocable trust, is a document that in combination with your last will and testament allows you to direct where and how your assets will be distributed after your death. In addition, if you become mentally incapacitated during your lifetime, a revocable trust can provide authority to someone of your choosing who can access the trust to financially support you and your loved ones.

For those of us who live in California, which has a top income tax rate of 13.3%, it is possible to lose over 50% of your investment income to taxes. Fortunately, the negative impact of taxes on your financial plan can be reduced by carefully choosing which types of assets to hold in a retirement versus a non-retirement account. This concept is called “asset location”.