Free Advice
The guidance of professionals isn’t free—and it should not be. Achieving lifetime income security is no mean feat, given that 62% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. The guidance of seasoned financial planners and tax experts is vital and worth the fees. But there is one quality of advice that should be free, and it may be the most important single success factor for an investor seeking to navigate the noisy and confusing world of financial solutions.
New Year’s Resolutions Based On Predictions Doomed To Fail
This is the third in our end-of-year series on New Year’s resolutions. We encourage you to make and stick with a solid financial plan, but we caution you not to base your investing decisions on things that cannot be predicted or controlled.
When Making New Year’s Resolutions, Be Specific
The majority of New Year’s resolutions, particularly those regarding fitness and finance, often fail rapidly, a trend reflecting our overestimation of a new year’s transformative power.
Grading Your New Year’s Financial Resolutions
Researchers have found that fewer than 10% of Americans who make a New Year’s resolution successfully complete them. About a quarter give up in the first week. This can be a problem if the resolution is about something hugely consequential, like your security in retirement. The problem may not be your resolve; it may be that you’re focused on behaviors that won’t really change things.
Mutual Funds and Lack of Transparency Makes a Bad Deal Worse
Cheaper, more tax efficient, less risky, more flexible, and more transparent investing vehicles should do for the mutual fund what the light bulb did for the oil lamp.
At Almost 100, the Mutual Fund Has Lived Long Enough
Cheaper, more tax efficient, less risky, more flexible, and more transparent investing vehicles should do for the mutual fund what the light bulb did for the oil lamp.
Investors Should Learn Their ABGs
Some investors may be familiar with the asset management terms alpha and beta, but few have ever heard of gamma. Yet gamma may be the most important driver of value in the relationship between investor and advisor. Gamma should be the measure by which investors select, hire, and evaluate their advisors.
Tax Optimized Portfolio Management
If you want to win Wimbledon, you should figure out what Serena Williams has for breakfast. If you want to maximize your portfolio efficiency, you should learn from family office best practices. In this blog, we’ll focus on a little-known but important discipline known as asset location.
Tax Planning is a Business Decision
For many business owners, taxes are their largest single expense. Larger than qualified plan contributions, larger than their mortgage, sometimes even larger than the kids’ college education. If taxes take the biggest bite out of your working capital, your tax strategy may be as important as your go-to-market strategy.
The Reverse Tax Gap
According to the IRS, the “tax gap is the difference between the estimated ‘true’ tax liability for a given period and the amount of tax that is paid on time.” The amount collected by the IRS includes billions of dollars in taxes that were overpaid due to mistakes and misunderstandings of the tax laws. As tax professionals, we are concerned about both of these gaps.
