Zach Melloh, CFP®

Solo 401k’s are one of my favorite tools for: - Solo business owners - Solo business owners + spouse - Freelancers - 1099 contractors You can save significant $ on taxes and start saving / investing for retirement simultaneously. In 2025: Aggregate contributions can reach up…

Everything is sales: Employee or Entrepreneur, you must be able to sell: • Yourself • Your Product • Your ideas And sales often boils down to a simple equation: Money = Shots Taken

There has been much talk about a new proposal that would eliminate capital gains tax on primary home sales. Here's what that could mean: Currently: If you have owned a home as your primary residence for 2/5 years leading up to the date of the sale… There is a capital gains…

The problem with holding a bunch of cash waiting for the perfect moment to invest: The “perfect moment” to invest is often the most difficult time (mentally) to invest. Loss aversion, recency bias, regret avoidance, (and other behavioral biases) – are often at their peak during…

Retirement planning can get very complex. Here are 10 of the most common variables to consider when building out your plan: · Retirement date · Retirement income sources · Retirement income needs · Investment contributions and assumed growth rate · Social Security timing · Tax…

Financial planning tax optimization: - IRA / HSA contributions - Backdoor Roth / Mega backdoor - Roth conversions - Tax loss / gain harvesting - 529 contributions - Asset location (correct investments in correct accounts) - Tax efficient Investments - Standard deduction vs…

One of the most fascinating “loopholes” in the US tax code: You’ve probably heard if you make > $150k... "You can’t contribute to a Roth IRA" But there is a strategy to overstep these rules Here is exactly how to do it:

Roth IRA Misconceptions: 1. “I can’t contribute because my income is too high” Not true… You can contribute via backdoor strategy regardless of income (as long as you aware of pro-rata rule) 2. “My balance is locked up until 59.5” Not true… Roth IRA *contributions* can…

“Should I max my 401k or contribute to my brokerage account” You see this question and debate over and over. But the answer is very circumstantial. In a perfect world, you could do both but not everyone has enough cash flow to make this work. Here are the factors I consider…

Following up after a strong first conversation is so underrated. People are busy, have lots of priorities, and lots of options. I've seen follow-ups add so much business. And neglecting follow-up lose so much business. Applies to any industry.

Required minimum distributions in retirement have some interesting nuances: You pay ordinary income tax on your withdrawals, assuming the balances were pre-tax (accounts like a Traditional IRA, Rollover IRA, 403b, Pre-tax 401k…as examples.) If you’re married, these withdrawals…