The Benefits of Leasing a Vehicle…Debunked
There are some can’t miss ways to start an argument. Talk politics in a diverse room. Attend a Michigan home football game wearing an Ohio State jersey. Suggest that The Rolling Stones were better...
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Stocks at an All-Time High
“Congratulations. I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.” -Yogi Berra in a telegram to Johnny Bench after Bench broke Berra’s record for most home runs as a catcher. We...
View ArticleWhy The Failure of the Fiduciary Rule Could Still Benefit Consumers and...
Over the past two months, this blog has attacked guaranteed income annuities and the purported advantages of leasing a vehicle, assuredly triggering ill sentiment from annuity salespeople and auto...
View ArticleQ1 2017 Investment Commentary Part I: The Value of a Crystal Ball
You probably do not know who Jim Simons is. He likes it that way. Simons is a quiet figure who is not interested in self-promotion and does not need to be told how great he is. Despite undoubted...
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Q1 2017 Investment Commentary Part II: Forecasting the Future
Let’s start with a debatable, but widely held fundamental concept of investing: the best predictor of future returns for stocks is the current valuation. This is generally true of a single stock, a...
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The Qualified Charitable Distribution Explained
The history of the qualified charitable distribution (QCD) feels a lot like the ‘Friends’ relationship of Rachel and Ross. Off. On. Off. On. Off. On. There has been enough disruption in the...
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Georgia AMT Taxpayers Take Notice – The Rural Hospital Tax Credit
We wrote this article in 2015 about a simple tax credit (the QEE Tax Credit) that provided an opportunity for taxpayers in Georgia who face alternative minimum tax (AMT) to reduce their tax liability...
View ArticleGood and Bad Reasons Why High Income Earners Miss the Opportunity With 529...
Mid-career professionals with young children severely underutilize Section 529 College Savings Plans. That is not to say that these parents are unaware of 529 Plans or not using them for college...
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Scrabble, Monkeys, and a Better Way of Passive Investing
Oxyphenbutazone is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug used mostly in eye-drops that was pulled from markets worldwide in the mid-1980’s for its link to bone marrow depression. More interestingly,...
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What to Do With Your Emergency Reserve?
The Astute Angle tackles a question that we commonly receive in conversations with clients. The question comes in many forms but often resembles the following: I have an emergency reserve (or cash...
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4 Things You’ll Wish You Did Before the Bull Market Becomes a Bear Market
“We all must suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” Entrepreneur Jim Rohn was not specifically describing the practice of investing with this quote but it fits...
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How A Negligent Rule of Thumb Causes Poor Divorce and Estate Planning Decisions
An important consideration in divorce and estate planning that often gets ignored, underappreciated, or just poorly evaluated is the relative comparison of different account types: tax free accounts,...
View ArticleKeeping Safe in an Unsafe World
You should assume that criminals have your private information – credit card numbers, date of birth, Social Security number, etc. If they did not already have this data from hacks at Target, Home...
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Turbulence Forecasting for Pilots and Financial Advisors
I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings I recently spoke with a pilot about how he obtains and handles the forecasts for in-flight turbulence in advance of a flight. Before each flight, he gets a...
View Article7 Myths of High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts
It is again that time on the calendar when most of us are forced to choose our health insurance for the upcoming year. Look, we know the choices are often confusing and that this is not how you enjoy...
View Article10 Tax Planning Strategies for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
It is November 8th, 2017 as this is written and there is no doubt that a lot will happen with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act before the end of the year. The current bill is being marked up by the House...
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The Tax Saving Opportunity of a Lifetime for Early Retirees
Like it or not, the Affordable Care Act will again rule the health insurance marketplace in 2018 regardless of what happens in Congress with tax legislation or whether the individual mandate holds up...
View ArticleWhy Many Parents Should Reconsider Covering College-aged or Adult Children on...
Parents generally believe that the longer they can claim their children as dependents, the more tax savings they will accrue. This is a misleading fallacy for most high-income families. The reality...
View ArticleZero-Based Budgeting Applied to Personal Finance
If you have ever run a businesses or worked in corporate finance, you are likely familiar with the concept of zero-based budgeting (ZBB) as an alternative to traditional budgeting. The traditional...
View ArticleTax Planning Strategies Under the New Tax Law
The first sentence of our early November 2017 Astute Angle post read “It is November 8th, 2017 as this is written and there is no doubt that a lot will happen with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act before the...
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