Archive for the ‘Wealth Management’ Category
10. January Barometer Effect: What Will the Stock Market Do for the Rest of 2013?
9. Email Scam Targets Financial Advisor Clients
8. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
7. How Often Do Market Corrections Happen?
6. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
4. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
3. The High Cost of Fee-based Financial Advisors
1. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
Also see Top 10 last month.
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What fills up your tank?
Posted on: February 28, 2013
How Can I Help?
“What makes you smile every day? What fills up your tank?”
These are questions a friend of mine asked me recently. For my wife, it is hosting dinner parties. She loves seeing people come together and enjoys conversations with friends. She does this almost every week now. It is also a great way for me to see her doing the thing she loves.
For me, it is learning improv and performing comedy on stage. English is not my first language, and I never thought I could do that. Now, I regularly go on stage to make people laugh.
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10. How Often Do Market Corrections Happen?
9. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
8. Small Business 401k, Big Plan Fees
6. An Investment Rule for Young People
5. Fiscal Cliff Deal: What does it mean for high income/high net-worth families?
4. Roth Conversion Decision Framework
3. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
2. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
1. The High Cost of Fee-based Financial Advisors
Also see Top 10 last month.
Get my white paper: The Informed Investor: 5 Key Concepts for Financial Success.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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10. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
9. Is P/E ratio a useful stock valuation measure?
8. Small Cap Value: Risk and Returns
7. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
6. An Investment Rule for Young People
4. The High Cost of Fee-based Financial Advisors
3. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
2. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
1. The two most common ways investors lose money
Also see Top 10 last month.
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Fiscal Cliff Deal: What does it mean for high income/high net-worth families?
Posted on: January 2, 2013
Approaching the fiscal cliff
The cliff deal struck between Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is a good deal overall for high income folks.
Make no mistake, some of them will have to pay more in taxes, but the amount is far less than if there is no deal and all is set back to the Clinton tax regime.
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10. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
9. Recession and stock market performance
8. The High Cost of Fee-based Financial Advisors
7. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
6. Is P/E ratio a useful stock valuation measure?
5. Small Cap Value: Risk and Returns
3. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
2. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
1. An Investment Rule for Young People
Also see Top 10 last month.
Get my white paper: The Informed Investor: 5 Key Concepts for Financial Success.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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Consider an Employee Stock Ownership Plan
[Based on conversation with and material provided by Ben Wells] For the last 20 years, Jack has owned a custom machining business. He is 55 and would like to diversify his assets, which are all tied up in the business.
Jan runs a manufacturing business. Several of her family members own stock in the company and they would like to sell their stock. However, there is no market for their shares.
James runs a production consulting firm. He needs capital to expand the business and would like to find a way to retain and motivate the firm’s employees.
For Jack, Jan and James, an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) could be the answer.
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10. Recession and stock market performance
9. Life settlement for (convertible) term life insurance
8. Small Cap Value: Risk and Returns
7. An Investment Rule for Young People
6. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
5. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
4. Is P/E ratio a useful stock valuation measure?
3. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
1. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
Also see Top 10 last month.
Get my white paper: The Informed Investor: 5 Key Concepts for Financial Success.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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Tax planning tips
[Guest Post By Cal Klausner] Charitable contributions should be timed so as to obtain the maximum tax benefits, either in 2012 or 2013. If a taxpayer plans to make a charitable contribution in 2013, he should consider making it this year instead if speeding up the deduction would produce an overall tax saving, e.g., because the taxpayer will be in a higher marginal tax bracket in 2012 than in 2013.
On the other hand, a taxpayer who expects to be in a higher bracket in 2013 should consider deferring a contribution until that year. This task is more difficult than in prior years because of uncertainty over whether rates will rise next year under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) sunset.
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Is this your retirement fund?
A client of mine is about to retire, and she asked me when she should start to receive social security payments.
Complicating her decision is that her husband passed away 10 year ago, and she is currently working for the federal government.
It quickly dawned on me that this is actually a very complicated question, one that this advisor, most of whose clients are doctors and business people in their 40s and 50s, is not well-equipped to answer.
You can imagine my delight when I found out on a flight that the foremost social security expert of the country, Mary Beth Franklin, was sitting right next to me.
She is a former senior editor of Kiplinger. After she retired from the job, she became a contributing editor of InvestmentNews, a magazine for financial advisors.
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Posted on: October 8, 2012
There are simple ways to bring more luck to yourself: 1) Smile; 2) Don’t cross legs or arms; 3) Open to chance encounters; 4) Keep up relationships.
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10. How investors lost money: evidence from mutual fund flows
9. Portfolio rebalancing returns
8. Is P/E ratio a useful stock valuation measure?
7. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
6. Small Cap Value: Risk and Returns
5. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
4. Recession and stock market performance
3. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
1. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
Also see Top 10 last month.
Get my white paper: The Informed Investor: 5 Key Concepts for Financial Success.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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Here is a selection of the best wealth management articles around the web for September:
5 reasons your portfolio is too complicated, by Kyle Bumpus
Why analysts are scratching their heads over QE3, by Robert Wasilewski
Under the radar bill could benefit fiduciary rule making, by FI360
Is rebalancing market timing?, by Mike Piper
Choosing a mutual fund – Avoid these 6 mistakes, by Roger Wohlner
Fidelity’s new retirement saving guidelines, by Barbara Friedberg
Can I consistently outperform the market? by Ken Faulkenberry
Dividend reinvestment plans (RIPS) and their benefits, by Dave Scott
Questions to ask when picking a financial advisor, by Carl Richards
Get my white paper: The Informed Investor: 5 Key Concepts for Financial Success.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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10. How investors lost money: evidence from mutual fund flows
9. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
8. Top 10 Reasons You Can’t Get Rich Buying Facebook Stocks
7. Recession and stock market performance
6. Small Cap Value: Risk and Returns
5. Variable Annuity Fees You Don’t Know You are Paying
4. Why Asset Class Diversification is Superior
3. Be Careful When Buying a Condo as a Rental Property
1. Profit from Harry Dent’s predictions? Think again
Also see Top 10 last month.
Get informed about wealth building, sign up for The Investment Scientist newsletter
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House for sale
I encourage my clients to invest a substantial portion of their assets in real estate for the following reasons:
- Real estate, like fixed income, provides a stable income stream – if managed well.
- The property value itself generally keeps up with inflation
According to David Swensen, the famed Yale Endowment investment manager, real estate has characteristics of both stocks and bonds; therefore, it should be an important component in any asset allocation. Read the rest of this entry »
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Was ZeekRewards a pyramid scheme?
A month ago, I paid a regular visit to a dentist client of mine. He excitedly told me about a new business opportunity he was engaged in: a penny auction site. He and his wife excitedly talked for about 30 minutes, and I still couldn’t quite understand what business it was – and I thought I was a reasonably smart guy.
While I was there, my client was busy calling his friends to recruit them. In the end, he told me he gave ZeekRewards $20,000 and just watched his money grow 3% every day! All he needed to do was post some links. This was such an easy way of making money that he wanted to let all his friends know.
That immediately raised a red flag in my mind: if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. However, they were so excited I did not want to rain on their parade. Instead, I told them I would take the material to read. If it was as good as it sounded, I might put some money in myself.
The Investment Scientist 