It is time again to start thinking about tax planning for the current tax year. Many financial decisions made during the year have already included a consideration of the impact on tax liability. Late summer is the best time to step back from the trees of the many on-the-fly calculations made throughout the year and […]
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Social Security Planning 101
It’s trickier than many realize Although Social Security benefits aren’t likely to make up a sizable part of your retirement income, your planning wouldn’t be complete without getting a good grasp on how much you’ll be receiving and, if you plan to work part-time after retirement, the impact of your earnings on your benefits. What […]
Read MoreUncharted Interest Rate Markets
The cost of capital has been declining around the world. Interest rates are at or below zero in many countries. Nominal interest rates in the U.S. remain positive but our real interest rates (yield minus the rate of inflation) are at or below zero. The 10-Year Treasury, after a run up to over 3.20% last […]
Read MoreSpotlight on Trust Taxes
Nearly 30 years ago, Joseph Rice created a trust in New York for his three children. A New York trustee was appointed, and the trust was to be governed by New York law. The trustee was given complete discretion over distributions to the trust beneficiaries. At the time that the trust was created, no beneficiary […]
Read MoreShort-Term Anxiety
Stocks dropped, taking the S&P 500 down over three percent for the week, as doubts about a near term continuation of what had already been a 20% rally this calendar year mounted. Continued weakness in stock prices is likely to be with us through the remainder of the summer with the correction totaling 5% to […]
Read MoreAsk a Trust Officer: Elderly Parents
Dear Trust Officer: My parents are retired, living in another state. They have a sizable investment portfolio and are financially comfortable. However, as they are getting older, they are having trouble keeping up with their paperwork. Last year they were late in making tax payments, very unlike them. I would help them, but I just […]
Read MoreNew Highs in U.S. Stocks and Reduced Recession Fears
With 44% of S&P 500 companies reporting, revenues and earnings have been a hodgepodge. FactSet revealed 61% of companies reported revenues above expectations and 77% of companies have posted earnings which beat expectations. However, do not forget that expectations have been lowered significantly beginning in late 2018 in anticipation of a 2019 recession which has […]
Read MoreIncreased Pace of Second Quarter Earnings Reports
The S&P 500 experienced its first negative week in the month of July, finishing down 1.23%. The index is still up 18.74 year-to-date. To ease concerns that stocks have moved up too much, too soon, consider this: the index at 2,976.61 is up just 1.56% from last year’s September 20th high of 2,930.75 and has […]
Read MoreBull Markets Climb a Wall of Worry
Stocks rallied to new highs last week with all three of the major U.S. stock indexes closing at new all-time highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 27,000, the S&P 500 breaching 3,000, and the NASDAQ breaking 8,200. The new highs hit in an atmosphere of caution rather than euphoria. First, investors have been cautious […]
Read MoreWorker Earnings Are Up – Corporate Earnings May Not Be
The S&P 500 was up 1.65% last week, leaving the index up 19.29% year-to-date. Due to the sharp runup, we began reducing equity allocations several weeks ago and have trimmed our overweight position in equities by two percentage points. We are planning another round of reductions in the coming weeks which will amount to as […]
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