Questions worth
asking first.

No — Pine Valley Investments does not require a minimum account size.

Yes, as an independent Registered Investment Advisor, PVI owes its advisory clients a fiduciary duty that includes duties of care and loyalty. This generally means PVI must provide advice that is in the best interest of each client, seek best execution, provide advice and monitoring over the course of the relationship, not place its interests ahead of the client's, and address conflicts of interest through elimination or full and fair disclosure.

A will and a trust serve different purposes: a will directs how property or assets subject to the will are distributed through the applicable estate-administration process. A properly created and funded living trust may allow property or assets held in the trust to avoid probate, provide greater control over the timing and conditions of distributions, and offer more privacy than a probated will. Many families use both as part of a coordinated estate plan.

A good rule of thumb is every three to five years, or promptly after a significant life, financial or legal event — such as marriage, divorce, a birth or death in the family, a move to a new state, a significant change in assets, or a change impacting your beneficiaries or chosen fiduciaries.

Generally, you may have several options: leave the assets in the former employer's plan, move them to your new employer's plan, roll them into an IRA, or take a distribution (which may trigger taxes and penalties). The right choice depends on your individual circumstances and the terms of the applicable plans.

Sometimes — this is generally called an "in-service rollover," and whether it's available depends on applicable law, your age, the type of contributions involved, and the terms of your employer's plan. Before taking any action, it's worth checking the plan documents or contacting your plan administrator directly.

The IRS can impose a 25% excise tax on the amount that should have been withdrawn (reduced to 10% if corrected within two years), so missed RMDs are worth addressing quickly with an advisor or tax professional.

Yes — the pre-tax portion of the amount converted is generally taxed as ordinary income in the year of conversion.

Not necessarily — it tends to make the most sense for people who expect to be in the same or a higher tax bracket in retirement, or who want to reduce future RMDs, and less sense for those who'd be pushed into a much higher bracket by the conversion itself.

It's the strategy of selling an investment at a loss to offset capital gains elsewhere in a portfolio, potentially reducing your capital gains and/or income tax while keeping your overall investment allocation intact.

No — the tax benefit only applies to taxable brokerage accounts, since gains and losses inside IRAs and 401(k)s aren't taxed on an ongoing basis.

There's no single number that applies to every household — a comfortable retirement in New Jersey depends on factors such as your desired lifestyle and housing situation, anticipated healthcare and long-term-care costs, New Jersey's cost of living and tax treatment of retirement income, the age you plan to retire and claim Social Security, and any pension or other guaranteed income sources. Because these factors vary so much from person to person, a personalized projection built with an advisor is typically more useful than a general rule of thumb.

As early as possible, but there's no wrong time to start — even five or ten years out, there's still meaningful room to adjust savings rate, asset allocation, and Social Security timing.