I often get asked, “Are investment management fees tax deductible?” The answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.” Like many tax questions, the answer is “It depends.”
How the five countries with the most economic freedom (Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland and Canada) and Emerging Markets have been faring in comparison to the EAFE Index?
Unfortunately few consumers understand what a fiduciary standard means to them.
Saving for your retirement by ignoring your high-interest debt burden is an exercise in futility.
How often do you intentionally push yourself to discomfort? Do you think the best retirement is relaxing and recreating? Think again.
“Unfortunately, some are also misleading the public by saying that a fiduciary standard would prevent the delivery of financial services to middle-American Main Street investors.”
Investment fees are generally about 1% of assets under management and drop as assets rise. The critical question to ask is “Where do financial advisors add value that might exceed the 1% fee they charge?”
Most consumers do not know how to safeguard their money. Here is a real world example of why breaking any of the eight safeguard puts your money at peril. Make sure that your investments are properly safeguarded.
The rules which would begin to be applied to the watchdogs would not be for the sake of protecting the roost no matter how much the foxes suggest they do.
There are several options to claim retroactive Social Security benefits. Some retirees will find it beneficial to turn back the clock in order to receive large one-time checks when they first file.
“You’ll want to interview several potential candidates, and make sure you find the right person for the job. Use these questions to hire the right financial advisor.”
Fi360 promotes a culture of fiduciary responsibility and improves the decision making processes of investment fiduciaries and other financial service providers.
Fee-only financial planners are registered investment advisors with a fiduciary responsibility to act in their clients’ best interest. They do not accept any fees or compensation based on product sales.
Experts Explain: Finding a Financial Advisor. How to find the right person to help manage your money.
David John Marotta was interviewed on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing tax planning in 2012 and the most important things to do now to prepare for rising taxes in 2013.
Last month I was eating lunch at a local restaurant when I noticed an offer by GiveBuddy.com that the restaurant would send a check for 10% of my receipt to any organization I chose.
Here are three questions that every small business owner should answer before establishing a new retirement plan.
David John Marotta’s article “Ten Questions to Ask a Financial Advisor” was a finalist in the fi360 2012 Article Competition.
Interview with Donald Jay Korn, author of mystery novels “Payable On Death” and “In For a Pounding” featuring money manager Anderson Crown.
Emerging market bonds are an attractive way to get a higher yield, but historically they have come with higher volatility and a high incidence of default. But that has been changing.
David John Marotta was interview on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing why you shouldn’t hold gold or cash, how governments can destabalize economies, and what investments you should hold instead.
Many parents feel obliged to pay for their child’s wedding, but financial advisers can try to help keep the spending under control. About one in three mass-affluent parents believe it is their duty to pick up about half the bill for their first child’s wedding.
The SEP IRA and solo/individual 401(k) are the two most common retirement plans chosen by successful self-employed people due to their high contribution limits.
Wisdom is the ability to exercise good judgement in the fact of imperfect knowledge. Sometimes that means reframing the question.
Study in Boston area, with undercover actors posing as clients, showed commission-based advisors putting their own interests first
A U.S. Public Interest Research Group report in 2004 found that one in four credit reports have serious errors that could significantly lower your chances of being approved.
The tax code provision that allowed IRA owners to contribute up to $100,000 directly from their IRA to the qualified charity of their choice–without recognizing the donation as income–expired at the end of 2011, but what if it is reinstated?
I read a number of articles touting the growth and “advantages” of annuities. Personally, I’ve never met an annuity I liked.
Huge financial incentives motivate a newly minted public stock to attempt to keep their best foot forward just long enough for the early investors to maximize their profits.
“Variable annuities are garbage. They have huge expenses; big fees if you try to bag out before a certain point; and massive tax problems compared to other ways you can invest. But that’s what you’ll probably be steered to by a commissioned insurance salesperson.”
Laws have always regulated who may marry, the obligations related to marriage and children and whether and how a marriage can be ended. Governments have always put their own social agenda above the pluralism of personal choice.
I was on the radio today and someone called in claiming that Vanguard Emerging Market ETF (VWO) had done nothing but go down in value.
A large number of people in the United States are worried about our profligate spending and the resulting devaluation of our currency. They are worried about politics and socialism and the economy.
To assess our progress toward funding all three children, I have created age-based benchmarks that I share here.
Precious metals will, on average, just keep up with inflation, but your after tax return would mean you fell behind inflation by the 28% tax you must pay.
A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility. Its primary appeal is simplicity. As a secondary virtue, it avoids the worst mistakes of the financial services industry.
A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility.
When growth is relatively cheap it should outperform value.
Most infomercials that begin with such urgency are trying to get you to buy something, but in this case I want you to consider selling.
Currently large is relatively cheap and small cap is relatively expensive. For that reason, the R1000 or S&P 500 should outperform the R2000 small cap.
Think of static asset allocation as where to set your sails and dynamic asset allocation as a way to keep your balance as your boat glides and sometimes bounces through the waves.
A low P/E 10 bodes well for the next 20 years of investing, whereas a higher P/E 10 suggests a lower expected return.
Many higher earning husbands base their filing date decision based on their own life expectancy, which is a mistake. They should rather be asking the question, “What benefit do I want to leave my wife?”
The Shiller P/E ratio is computed by taking the current price and dividing by the average inflation-adjusted earnings from the previous 10 years.
The highest peak for the regular P/E was 123 in the first quarter of 2009. It was much higher than the historical mean of 15, yet it was the best time in recent history to buy stocks.
What we would really like to measure are the changes in price (P) that cause a company with a good long-term track record to look relatively cheap. Economist Robert Shiller created just such a measurement.
If you want to get in shape and need push in the right direction, you hire a personal trainer. If you want advice and a push in the right direction to be in good financial shape, hire a financial advisor.
Here is the only question you should attempt to answer: Are you paying a higher tax rate now or later?
“If you want an extraordinary career, stop procrastinating.”
The Marotta allocation method is a proportionally weighted allocation based on the square of each Sharpe ratio. Squaring the Sharpe ratio drastically reduces asset categories in proportion to their distance from the efficient frontier.