Category: Thursday Thoughts

Not many years ago, the typical retirement age, 65, was viewed as the onset of old age. Today, gerontologists define matters differently: If you’re between the ages of 65 and 74, you are one of the “young-old.” To be considered “old”, you need to be in the 75-to-84 age bracket.  After that, you’re known, demographically, […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), formerly the National Association of Security Dealers, continues to warn investors and consumers about “phishing,” a scam that uses spam e-mail to lure investors into revealing account information, passwords or PINs, or other types of confidential information. Often the e-mails falsely claim to be from service providers that investors […]

Several high-tax states, including California, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, are trying to establish a legislative work-around to the new $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT).  The cap will only affect the highest-income taxpayers, who have long been the target for state tax increases. Nevertheless, these states apparently fear […]

Financial exploitation of our senior citizens is a growing problem. To some extent, seniors are targeted because that’s where the money is. However, the decline of cognitive ability in the older population also may be a factor when scamsters consider whom to go after. Financial professionals—bankers, brokers, insurance agents, and trustees, such as us—are on […]

You don’t have to be rich to live a long life, but it helps.  Crain’s Wealth recently summarized several surveys on the subject.  Some of the takeaways: According to an AMA study, the richest 1% of women live more than 10 years longer than the poorest 1% of women. For the men, the difference is […]

One of the most useful and flexible wealth management tools is the revocable living trust, traditionally, we like to point to three basic benefits that these trusts offer. Professional asset management. After studying your goals and circumstances, our asset-management specialists will map out a diversified investment program appropriate to your requirements. Our objective is not […]

The IRS has released some tax tips for anyone who hasn’t yet filed a 2017 tax return. The due date was extended to April 18th after technical snafus at the IRS in accepting e-filings. • If a refund is due, there will be no penalty for the late filing. • The IRS Free File online […]

More and more seniors are finding themselves alone and without nearby relatives to help them with financial management. Persons in this situation will need to find an alternative – friends or professionals who can fulfill the roles that might otherwise be handled by family members. Delegated Powers For seniors, the most vexing problems are associated […]

When a financial professional provides investment advice, one of two different standards applies: 1. the recommendation is “suitable” for the client; or 2. the recommendation is the in client’s best interest. To the layman, the difference in these two statements may not seem like much, but to lawyers and regulators, there is a world of […]