Tax---One of Life's Guarantees
1/5/2012 | 12:41 PM
Tax mitigation, and thus wealth enhancement, is a primary concern
of the affluent. The infinite uncertainty of pending tax law
does nothing to ease this strife. Two particular pieces of
legislation being hotly debated center on the payroll tax deduction
and so-called "millionaires' tax." As 2011 came to a close,
Congress implemented a temporary extension (through February) of
the reduction in employee contributions to Social Security,
maintaining a 4.2% rate vs. the original 6.2%. One of the
many proposals floating around to fund this cut beyond February is
a surcharge on incomes above $1 million, championed by
several
Policy Update
11/10/2011 | 12:38 PM
Policy Update
Last week, you should have received a letter or e-mail from us, letting you know about modifications to a couple of our internal procedures. The purpose of these changes was first to continue protecting the financial interest of our clients and, second, to comply with regulatory mandates by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the risk of over- communicating, we thought it might be helpful to summarize these changes on our blog as well.
Client Verification
This change applies to releasing any type of account information, or making any changes to an existing account. Prior to taking any
Here's a Thought-Disconnect and Power Up
10/25/2011 | 8:41 AM
We‘re all barraged by TV, the internet, e-mail, texts and tweets. New vehicles for interacting are constantly being introduced; we’re assaulted from all directions. Especially disconcerting are the messages bombarding us with the information that the stock market is going down or up, and suggesting we should take action - now.
For that matter, it’s not just messages about the stock market, it’s concern about political action or inaction, social issues, sports teams and celebrities. You name it, if it’s of public interest, our attention is constantly being demanded to keep us
Debt
10/19/2011 | 10:00 AM
Good news!!
I was 14 when I fell in love for the first time - with a sweet,
20-year old riding lawn mower! With keen business sense, I
approached my dad with an offer: "I'll mow our lawn all summer AND
pay you back if you'll ‘front me the money' for the mower." I had
visions of riches as we closed the deal, and a week later I was
proudly rolling down our street to my first lawn-cutting job. But
as I mowed lawn after lawn (including ours) through the summer, I
got weary of handing over all my profits to my dad. After two
months, I celebrated my last payment ... and graduated with my
"Debt Stinks" diploma from the School of the Real
Expected Return in a Bad Economy
9/15/2011 | 7:45 AM
Unemployment in the United States is still over 9%. Growth of
the global economy is slowing, according to various international
GDP measures. European banks are mired in what looks like a
liquidity crisis due to bad sovereign debt and . . . well, you're
familiar with the list. In response, stock markets seem to be
zigging and zagging lower rather than higher. So, what kind
of return should investors "expect" from their stock portfolios in
the face of such bad economic news?
Professors Eugene Fama (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) and Kenneth French (Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College)
When 0 + 0 = 4.3% - How You Can Be An Investment Alchemist
9/6/2011 | 1:56 PM
Alchemists, according to legend, were both scientists and
magicians, able to turn desert sand into gold. They took
something plentiful, and of little or no value, and transformed it
into the most valuable commodity of the
age.
A July/August 2011 Financial Analysts Journal article* by University of Illinois Professor Scott Willenbrock references a thought-provoking example of what seems like modern-day alchemy; what he calls the "Diversification Return" that can be realized through the practice of portfolio rebalancing. He cites the result of a simulation by researchers Erb and Harvey who created 40 hypothetical uncorrelated
