The Investment Scientist

Archive for the ‘Wealth Management’ Category

Medicine is a profession fraught with legal risk. According to an AMA survey for the period 2007-2008, for every 100 doctors, there were 95 lawsuits.

The survey also reveals that physicians 55 years and older are eight times more likely to get sued than physicians 40 years and younger.

Not that they make eight times more medical errors, just that they are richer lawsuit bait.

That reminds me of a joke. Why won’t a shark attack a lawyer? Professional courtesy.

Back to the topic at hand, many physicians in solo or small practice simply use a SEP IRA as their retirement plan. It is very simple to set up, and the contribution limit is a generous 25% of earned income or an annual limit of $49,000. What is there not to like about it?

Click to get my white paper Wealth Management Guide for Physicians.

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How Can I Help?

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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Approaching the fiscal cliff

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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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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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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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.

house for sale

House for sale

I encourage my clients to invest a substantial portion of their assets in real estate for the following reasons:

  1. Real estate, like fixed income, provides a stable income stream – if managed well.
  2. 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 »


Author

Michael Zhuang is principal of MZ Capital, a fee-only independent advisory firm based in Washington, DC.

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