Insights

By Mike Valenti, CPA, CFP®, Director, Tax Planning Corporate executives often receive the brunt of the U.S. tax system. Typically, most or all of their income is W-2 income and subject to the higher ordinary tax rates as well as FICA taxes. W-2 employees currently are unable to deduct home …

Tax planning for executive compensation doesn’t have to be confusing. Watch our webinar: Tax Planning for Executive Compensation with Carson’s Director, Tax Planning Mike Valenti and Wealth Planner Michael Gruidel, now available on-demand. 

Executive compensation plans can be used to attract, retain and reward high value employees. We’ve put together helpful information to know if you’re ever offered one of these plans through your employer. Download the checklist today to get started.

Companies may grant employees stock options as a form of noncash compensation. This allows the employees to purchase shares of the employer’s stock at a given price after a predetermined period of time has passed. The intent of stock option compensation is to align the interests of the empl …

Does the word “sale” send you running to your wallet? How many half-priced clothes hang in your closet with the tag still on? How many uncomfortable shoes did you buy solely because they were on sale? When thinking about money, do you feel stressed? Tense? Controlling? Confused? Like you ha …

Gaining financial literacy at a young age is a vital key to finding financial freedom later in life. Give your kids the lessons they need now to make better decisions about money in the future.

Find out how options trading works. Get a definition of options in investing, learn the difference between calls and puts, and discover how to invest in options.

Brush up on your investing basics by learning more about the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We’ll provide a definition of the Dow Jones and talk about how you can invest in funds that track this index.

Brush up on your investment knowledge with this refresher on the Nasdaq. We’ll break it all down for you and show you how you can invest to try to achieve the returns of the Nasdaq.

It’s time to learn more about index funds. We’ll provide a definition, show you how index funds work, compare them with mutual funds, and explain how to invest in index funds.

Curious about how to invest in ETFs? We’ll define what an exchange traded fund (or ETF) is and break down the differences between ETFs, index funds, and mutual funds.