Using the Alternative Minimum Tax Sweet Spot for High-Income Taxpayers
When taxes are computed, they are done so twice: in the regular tax system and in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) system. You pay the higher of the two. Understanding how these systems work and your marginal tax rate – the … Continue reading
Value and Growth Investing Styles and Their Recent Performance
Value and growth both sound great. What investor would not want a good value? Of course, we want growth too! These investing styles have become cemented into investing dialogue over the last 25 years but many investors still … Continue reading
Ten Can’t-Miss Predictions for the Markets in 2016
In a digital age, when past forecasts are available online, market and media professionals find it harder to hide their blushes when their financial predictions go awry. However, there are ways around that. The ignominy that goes with … Continue reading
The U.S. Valuation Premium and the Emerging Market Malaise
Global equity markets have once again become rocky and emerging-markets stocks have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse. Even though the recent volatility has pulled the U.S. market back to approximately break-even so far in 2015, returns have been … Continue reading
Budget Act of 2015 Significantly Alters Social Security Claiming Strategies
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 was signed into law on November 2nd and has been popularly reported as avoiding another debt ceiling fiasco. However, the act also has created major changes to Social Security and particularly claiming strategies that … Continue reading
Why You Will Live Longer Than You Think
How long are you going to live? None of us knows, of course, but you are likely underestimating your life expectancy. Life expectancy is important for a variety of financing planning issues—including, of course, how long your … Continue reading
Market Volatility & The Patience Principle
Global markets have been providing investors a rough ride. While falling markets can be worrisome, maintaining a longer-term perspective makes the volatility easier to handle. A typical response to unsettling markets is an emotional one. We quit risky assets when … Continue reading
Making the Value of Advice More Concrete and Quantified
It is an understandable concern: from the prospective client’s point of view, they want to make money and achieve their goals. Yet the only immediate certainty in working with an advisor is to be paying out money. What value can … Continue reading What to do in this Panicky Market – Part 2: Tax Loss Harvesting
The sky did not fall. The sun came up this morning. The markets even rebounded! — at least as of the time of this writing at 1:30PM on August 25th. So now what? Rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting… Tax-Loss Harvesting Many … Continue reading
What to do in this Panicky Market
Some of the most entertaining times to be a long-term investor are those periods when short-term investors are looking over their shoulders for an excuse to sell. They are convinced that the market is going to go down before they … Continue reading
