Historically, the traditional trust had a trustee and beneficiaries. The modern trust may have a four, five, or more fiduciary and non-fiduciary positions that might include: administrative trustee, distributions trustee, trust protector, investment advisor, loan director, charitable designator, person holding a power to add beneficiaries, persons holding powers of appointment, person holding the power to […]
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First Quarter Summary
The S&P 500 began the year at 2,673.61 and from there continued its two-year rally to January 26th posting an all-time high close of 2,872.87. At that point, the index was up 57.07%, excluding dividends, from its February 11, 2016, close of 1,829.08. From the new high, stock prices became volatile as the index corrected […]
Read MorePerils of Deferring Estate Taxes
When a decedent’s estate includes interests in a closely held business, and it is large enough to incur federal estate taxes, the executor has the option of deferring the tax and paying it off in installments. In theory, this avoids having to sell the business to pay the tax. Selling a closely held business for […]
Read MorePotential Breakout
Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to hold at its February 8, low close of 23,860.46, finishing the week at 23,533.20, down 11.6% from its high close of 26,616.71 on January 26. The broader S&P 500 fared slightly better finishing the week at 2,588.26, slightly above its early February low of 2,581.00 and […]
Read MoreGood News on Dividends
There has been quite a bit of publicity about companies sharing with workers the benefits of the corporate tax cut enacted last December, in the form of bonuses and additional retirement plan contributions. As it turns out, many are sharing the newfound wealth with shareholders also. More than a fifth of the companies in the […]
Read MoreExpectations (continued)
Last week, we wrote about analysts’ expectations for the economy for the next twelve to eighteen months. Inflation is expected to hold at 2.0% to 2.5% for the full year. The Federal Reserve’s well-advertised plan for short-term interest rates is to raise the Fed Fund rate (the rate at which financial institutions lend to one […]
Read MorePaycheck Checkup
In January the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released new withholding tables, based upon the changes for 2018 from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). On February 28th the IRS released an online tool for calculating proper withholding after TCJA. The tool may be found at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-withholding-calculator. The IRS called using this tool a “paycheck […]
Read MoreExpectations for Inflation, Interest Rates and Stocks
In aggregate, buyers were more anxious than sellers last week. Fears of rapid acceleration in the rate of inflation temporarily faded. This likely reduced the fear of an immediate large increase in interest rates. With renewed expectations that the 10-Year Treasury yield will remain well under the 4% to 5% range, stocks again seemed the […]
Read MoreStock market volatility
Dear Trust Officer: What’s up with the stock market? Market indices went into correction territory in February, but have since recovered somewhat. Are we out of the woods now? —Nervous investor Dear Nervous Investor: The February stock price volatility was fed in part by a record level of margin debt. Some investors borrow against the […]
Read MoreFiltering the Noise
There are few sources of enduring investment truths as dependable as Warren Buffett. Last week’s update pointed out the necessity of identifying the different risks associated with the varying time horizons a portfolio might have. The main point was, in a long term portfolio, the risk of the compounding loss of purchasing power as a […]
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