New Estate Tax Break and Exemption Portability

Exemption Portability Simplifies Estate Tax Planning The tax overhaul bill signed into law last December 2010 contained a little-touted change in estate tax exemption rules. As of 2011, a spouse can utilize any unused estate tax exemption of the spouse who dies. Not only does it mean that together spouses can transfer up to $10 […]

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Sad News: We Say Goodbye to Gordon Murray

Investment Guide Author Dies Last quarter we wrote a book review of a great recently-published paperback called “The Investment Answer.” It is a popular guide for investors that lays out the important premises of smart investing in a simple, engaging way. The book was written by advisor Dan Goldie and DFA consultant and former Wall […]

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Gold Fever or Fool’s Gold: Is it Time to Buy?

Is it time to buy gold? Does gold provide a hedge against inflation as the info-commercials suggest? Let’s take a loot at the issues of gold investing.  The Glimmer of Gold See if you can relate to this situation: the struggling U.S. economy experiences severe unemployment, and a falling dollar spooks investors. It feels like […]

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The Hidden Source of Returns and the Forces of Market Growth

The biggest problem with investment returns is that they’re posted daily–or, in the case of the recent “flash crash”, every hour or so. Why is this a problem? Because it implies that what happened yesterday or the day before is meaningful to your financial life and is important information for future investment decisions. People all […]

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What’s Actually in the New Healthcare Reform bill?

Many of our clients have expressed major concerns over escalating healthcare costs. Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was finally signed into law last month after a century of trying, we felt it would be helpful to summarize the key reforms given the controversy and confusion surrounding the 2,000 page bill. No lifetime […]

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Why Should you Care about a “Fiduciary Standard”?

Currently the approximately 630,000 brokers, bankers, and insurance agents registered to sell securities must determine whether investments are “suitable”—based on how much money you have, what else you are invested in, your tax status and what your investment objectives are. These salespeople aren’t obligated to act as a fiduciary, in your best interest, even when […]

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Tempted to Look for the Next “Hot Thing” in the Market?

Who’s the smartest of them all? We currently see ads and junk mail pieces from money managers saying they are the greatest because they sold out before the crash or bought (emerging markets, junk bonds etc.) just at the right time. Truth be told, facts are facts and though there are some really smart money […]

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This is Your Brain on Money: Emotion Over Reason

Calming Your Emotional Impulses and Economic Fears Jason Zweig is a personal finance columnist for the Wall Street Journal and the author of Your Money and Your Brain: How the Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich. Mr. Zweig has researched a new discipline called neuroeconomics, which combines biology, psychology and economics to try […]

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