Archive for the ‘wealth management’ Category
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 [...]
Preparing for Health Care Costs in Retirement
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 28, 2012
Longer life spans, rising medical costs, declining retiree medical coverage, and Medicare and Medicaid insolvency all add up to making health care costs a serious challenge for folks preparing for retirement. According to Fidelity research, a couple retiring today at age 65 will need current savings of $200k to supplement Medicare and pay for out-of-pocket [...]
What Can Happen When You Have a Life Insurance Salesman as Financial Advisor
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 19, 2012
In an online forum, a doctor’s wife shared with me her story that should serve as a cautionary tale for all doctors. Her husband had a solo medical practice. They had a “financial advisor” who advised them to put their saving into a $5mm cash value life insurance policy. They believed the product not only [...]
Government Retirees Beware: Your Financial Advisor May Not Be Your Friend
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 14, 2012
I have a client (Let’s call him John) who retired 12 years ago from the government. He had a pension, and he had the option of taking out a lump sum of about $800k or drawing a monthly check of more than $4,400 per month until death. John took his options to his financial advisor [...]
Financial Check List for New Parents
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 11, 2012
If you are new parents, you are busy nursing, changing diapers, and dealing with the emotional roller coaster of having a new life in your household. If you put your finances in backburner, I don’t blame you. As a new parent and a financial advisor, I can offer you a few absolutely necessary to-do items [...]
Opening 529 Plan Accounts for My Newborn
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 5, 2012
My son is 6 weeks old. Today, he received his social security card. The first thing I did for him after receiving the card was to open two Maryland 529 plan accounts for him: one with myself as the account holder, and the other with my wife. In Maryland, the 529 plan deduction limit per [...]
How Can I Help You in 2012
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 3, 2012
A few days ago I got a call from someone who needs financial help. He is a typical middle class person, making a middle class wage, and has not saved a lot of money. In the past, I would have gently turned him away: “Sir, my practice has a limited capacity of serving only 50 [...]
Top Wealth Management Posts in December 2011
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: January 1, 2012
10. How to Tell If Your Financial Advisor is a Crook 9. Why asset class diversification is superior? 8. The 2011 estate tax changes 7. Recession and stock market performance 6. Bill Gates: 11 Things You Don’t Learn in School 5. Variable annuity fees you don’t know you are paying 4. 2011 year end tax-planning tips for individuals 3. Why doctors [...]
Top Wealth Management Posts in November
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: December 1, 2011
10. America’s top financial advisors: how they are made? 9. Buying Investment Property 8. The 2011 estate tax changes 7. Why asset class diversification is superior? 6. Recession and stock market performance 5. Variable annuity fees you don’t know you are paying 4. Why doctors don’t get rich 3. 2011 year end tax-planning tips for individuals 2. Bonus [...]
What It Takes to Be a Landlord
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: November 28, 2011
Owning a rental property as investment may sound attractive to a lot of people who are sick and tired of the volatile stock market. However, owning a rental property is like owning a business. Do you know what it takes to be a landlord? Listen to Paula Pant talks about it. Podcast: Becoming a landlord Table [...]
The Perils of Market Timing
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: November 18, 2011
[Guest post by Tom Warburton] Market timing is alluring, but, you have to be right twice – when to get out and when to get back in – over and over. We have NEVER found evidence of anyone successfully practicing this tactic over a statistically significant period of time. Market timers get out hoping they [...]
Making Charitable Donations
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: November 12, 2011
My second child was born with a minor deformity in his nose. He looks like he has a cleft nostril. When I first saw that, my heart sank like a rock. I began to imagine that if he grew up like that, the ridicule and rejection he would have to endure. I also worried that [...]
Top Wealth Management Posts in October
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: November 9, 2011
10. Is PE ratio a useful stock valuation measure? 9. Why asset class diversification is superior? 8. The 2011 estate tax changes 7. America’s top financial advisors: how they are made? 6. Recession and stock market performance 5. Variable annuity fees you don’t know you are paying 4. 2011 year end tax-planning tips for individuals [...]
Is the Greek haircut really a default?
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: October 28, 2011
This morning, I woke up to news that the Europeans, Germans mostly, have finally hammered out a deal with Greece, which now only needs to pay 50% of what it owes to private lenders (mostly German banks). German Chancellor Angela Merkel called this a 50% “haircut.” World markets cheered the news by rallying 2% to [...]
Year-End Tax-Planning Tips for Businesses & Business Owners
Posted by: Michael Zhuang on: October 22, 2011
Businesses should consider making expenditures that qualify for the business property expensing option. For tax years beginning in 2011, the expensing limit is $500,000 and the investment ceiling limit is $2,000,000. And a limited amount of expensing may be claimed for qualified real property. However, unless Congress changes the rules, for taxyears beginning in 2012, the dollar limit [...]
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