Archive for February 2012
Can You Retire?
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 27, 2012
According to Shlomo Benartzi, a University of Chicago economic professor, 50% of Americans don’t save for retirement. Of the other 50% who do save, only 11% save enough, according to their own estimates, which are probably optimistic. This is not surprising to this financial advisor. For nearly all of my clients, I have created a [...]
Tax Aspect of Self Employment
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 19, 2012
[Guest post by Jeremy Bendler] As a sole proprietor, you would report net income or loss from your business on your personal income tax return. However, there are several important rules that you should be aware of: (1) For income tax purposes, you will report your income and expenses on Schedule C of your Form [...]
Can Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors Beat the Market?
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 16, 2012
Recently, a number of people came to me for advice with one thing in common: they all had a financial advisor from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. These advisors all promised them that they could beat the market because Morgan Stanley, as a major institution in Wall Street, has extraordinary investment research resources. I am just [...]
A Blessing from a Client of Mine
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 14, 2012
- In: Life
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This morning, I got an unexpected call from a client of mine. He asked me how the little one was. My younger son was born with nasal cleft and lipoma corpus callosum, a benign form of brain tumor. This Friday, he will go into surgery to fix his cleft. My client was calling to ask [...]
An Investment Rule for Young People
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 13, 2012
“Only a fool invest without rules” – Jason Zweig A client of mine asked me to teach his young son how to save and invest. The following are some rules I wrote down for him. 1. How much to save? This is just a rule of thumb. If you start investing in your 20s, you [...]
New IRS Rule on Cost Basis Reporting
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 10, 2012
Up until 2011, the burden for determining the cost basis of securities transactions for income tax purposes was shouldered by taxpayers. In other words, the IRS was informed about how much investors sold securities for, but the tax agency relied on investors to provide the purchase prices. Tax officials long suspected that many taxpayers overstated their [...]
Small Cap Value and Emerging Markets Roar Back with a Vengeance
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 8, 2012
Last year, while the S&P 500 was largely flat, small cap value and emerging markets were down significantly. No wonder some clients of mine got a bit edgy. What a change one month has made! As of Feb. 5, these two asset classes have roared back with a vengeance. See the table below. 2012 Year [...]
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts – GRATs
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 7, 2012
[Guest Post by Christopher Guest] There are ways a person could use the two year window provided in the Tax Compromise of 2010 to leverage a person’s gifting opportunities, reducing a person’s taxable estate. One strategy that can be used and would not consume any, or only minimally consume, your lifetime gift tax exemption is [...]
Top Wealth Management Posts in January 2012
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: February 1, 2012
10. Portfolio rebalancing returns 9. A roller coaster ride to a merry Christmas 8. Recession and stock market performance 7. Variable annuity fees you don’t know you are paying 6. Why asset class diversification is superior? 5. Bill Gates: 11 Things You Don’t Learn in School 4. What can happen when you have a life insurance salesman as financial advisor 3. Why [...]
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