“If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.” -Sun Tzu The humorously sad side of being in the wealth management business is having listened through the years to the people who want to ignore solid advice and strategies in favor of blindly following the fakakta theories of [...]
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) was created in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. As with many government agencies the theory behind it is valid. Their actions, however, seem designed to protect us from ourselves and our oftentimes willful stupidity. Case in point is the new “Know Before You Owe” rule. It’s designed [...]
The IRS has issued the 2016 optional standard mileage rates for calculating the deductible costs of operating an automobile. Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates. Effective Jan 1st the standard rates for a car, van, pickup truck or panel truck [...]
The parable introduces us to a man who refuses to see anything as positive or negative. Why? Because he believes the consequences of good fortune and misfortune are unknowable. Yet this simple truth does not stop us from latching on to whatever guesswork about the future parades as thoughtful insight. Consider some of the things [...]
In an oft-paraphrased 1789 letter to Richard Price Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. The next time we as a society collectively wonder about the political landscape and direction of our country we need look no further than ourselves and the things we deem important. Just what are the [...]
In an attempt to close a ‘loophole’ they claim is exploited by ‘evil one-percenters’ Congress has done away with a very useful planning strategy – File and Suspend. File and Suspend allows spouse #1 to file for and immediately suspend receipt of benefits until a future date up to age 70. This allows spouse #2 [...]
Last week the IRS told us what’s new in 2016. While some items remain unchanged there are interesting developments with 401(k) contribution limits, income tax brackets and deductions, IRA contributions, the estate tax credit, AGI phase outs and more. More than 50 tax-related items were addressed. A partial summary and some of the more interesting [...]
The famous Taoist saying has become a lazy colloquialism: “Those who know don’t say – those who say don’t know.” It’s an accurate one, however, when it comes to the minimum wage argument. Politicians (many of whom have never run a business!) make the case that raising minimum wages (at the expense of those ‘greedy’ [...]
Not long ago a prospective client inquired about Apollo’s views of the fixed income markets and, specifically, muni bonds. It was a simple discussion – one we’ve had with our clients a number of times since the ‘market meltdown’ of 2007-2009. We explained that with ‘risk-free’ 10-year Treasuries yielding 2% and the questionable balance sheets [...]
Do you know how much income tax you pay? Whatever the amount it surely feels like too much, right? And what of this 'fair share' nonsense? Just who is paying America’s tax bill? The latest figures from the IRS (based on data from 2012 tax returns) show that 136 million tax returns were filed. That [...]