Let’s travel back in time to 2016. The Department of Labor rolls out the fiduciary rule. Firms providing retirement advice must act in the best interests of clients. Wall St firms scramble. The days of pushing products and soaking clients with commissions are over. Merrill Lynch rushes to act. They ban commissions on IRAs. Their [...]
We often strive for what's good, better and best. Why stay at a 3-star hotel when we can stay at a 5-star hotel? Many of us invest in the same way. Why buy a 3-star fund when we can invest in a 5-star fund? Because investors misunderstand and misuse star ratings and the PR departments [...]
One of the (many) downsides of the on-demand world in which we live is we often forget to think before we act. We wouldn’t drive our own cars without insurance. Do we ever think about whether we’re insured when we’re a passenger in a ride-share from Uber/Lyft? Ride-hailing companies typically provide liability insurance for U.S. [...]
Freddie Mac will launch HomeOne on July 29th. Program features/qualifications include: 3% down payment first-time homebuyer (defined as anyone who has not owned a home in the past 3 yrs) if 2+ buyers only one needs to be a first-time buyer no income or geographic restrictions no ARMs (fixed-rate only) no jumbos (must meet conforming [...]
NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation allowing homeowners to declare property taxes as charitable donations. Local governments can now establish charitable organizations to accept property tax payments. The response is a workaround of the Trump tax cuts that capped the deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000/yr seen by many “blue staters” in NY, [...]
Really enjoyed this graphic: So many applications to life. Knowing what we know, knowing what we don't and knowing there's so much more to learn. It's so important to know where we stand. We are what we are...not what we think we are.
In response to new federal law limiting the deductibility of state and local income and property taxes at a maximum of $10,000 NY has approved a fiscal year 2019 budget containing provisions to lessen the impact. It is important to note these changes do not reduce taxes for NY taxpayers. Instead they shift the burden [...]
It’s that time of year – time to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid used by more than 99% of public universities. Many parents take the “why bother” approach. “We have too much money. We’ll never get any aid.” The first thought is usually “why did I have kids” while the second, [...]
Here’s an interesting look at the RORs of various asset classes over the past 10 years: Calculated values reflect returns of the following ETFs/ETNs: EM = iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF REITs = Vanguard REIT ETF Mid Cap = SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Small Cap = SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap ETF Large Cap [...]
Really enjoyed this Vox article about the fallacy of willpower. So many applications. From a financial planning perspective items #1 and #2 in the “what we can learn from people who are good at self-control” section hit close to home – the former b/c we’ve found clients that make choices as opposed to being forced [...]