What? Is that possible? Could there truly be a good place to die? When did dying become a good thing? It isn't. But from a tax perspective there are places where it's "less bad" to die. Why's that? Because of state-imposed estate and inheritance taxes. Much has been made of the $5,000,000 Federal estate tax [...]
"Have you ever heard a joke so many times you've forgotten why it's funny? And then you hear it again and suddenly it's new. You remember why you loved it in the first place." These are the words of William Bloom - a character in the 2003 film Big Fish directed by Tim Burton and adapted from [...]
Recently SEI Investments surveyed 41 "wealthy individuals" to determine what shapes their investment philosophy. The results of this unscientific study are a bit troubling: 68% said they let emotions get in the way of making the best choices 17% said instinct guides them most 22% said education guided them 20% said they relied upon their [...]
Fame is a funny thing. Some folks become legendary while others fade from memory. Some are famous for productive reasonswhile others are famous for no other reason than their fame. It seems the ebb and flow of time brings us wave after wave of predictions. Some are outlandish (lesbian stripper will be impregnated by Elvis then divorce Martian husband), some [...]
No Income Tax: In a bill that has a snowball's chance in hell of becoming law the Fair Tax Act of 2011 introduced by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Georgia) seeks to abolish the IRS and the Federal income tax. The proposed replacement is a national sales tax that would be administered by the states. The bill [...]
For quite a while Apollo has been working with our clients on increasing exposure to M&A Arbitrage. Not only does it prove a wonderful diversifier within the construct of our broadly diversified portfolios but the economic environment lends itself to increasing M&A and, thus, is an opportunistic "bet." The folks at Morningstar have hopped on the bandwagon. [...]
Let's play a game of word association. What comes to mind when you hear the word "depression?" That's right - Philadelphia Eagles fans - those that live in the unhappiest pro football city. (Link has since been removed from NYPost) And what about Feb 14th? Valentine's Day, right? Candy and flowers maybe? How about income [...]
Did we grab your attention? Of course we did. Sex sells, right? Shame on us for stooping so low. Well, you're already here so you might as well see what this is all about. No, we're not talking about that kind of professional. We're talking about a recent report by the Government Accountability Office that finds financial [...]
We all take risks. This is no surprise. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose. We drive too fast. Sometimes we get where we're going in "less time." Sometimes we end up writing a check to the "police fund" via a speeding ticket. We drink too much. Sometimes that "I'll just have one more" glass of [...]
During the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2010 TD Ameritrade surveyed 1,088 individuals to find out what, if anything, they would have done differently in the time prior to the recession of 2008-2009. In retrospect 65% said they would have lived within their means. Implicitly 35% said, "What the heck? It's a terrible idea to [...]