Ordinarily, favorable tax benefits come at a high cost—but not always. We helped one client over successive years to realize the powerful payoff of a Roth IRA conversion, yet without the steep price of having to pay tax on any as-yet-untaxed money moved to a Roth. Money in Roth IRAs benefits from a prolonged period
A widow with an estate in excess of $3 million sought our assistance to organize and simplify her affairs. Her financial assets, spread among more than fifty individual stocks and concentrated in just a few, needed diversification to reduce risk. She was charitably inclined. We suggested she consider establishing a charitable remainder trust to defer
A female head of a high profile Nashville institution was keenly aware of the importance of timing in leadership change. It was important to her that the institution, whose profile she raised, transition smoothly. She and her husband had been clients for several years leading up to her retirement. During the pre-retirement period, we kept
What effect will the tragic ISIS strikes on Paris have on the world economy? Nicholas Wells offers analysis and a forecast for the long term. In spite of fear provoked by the terrorist attacks, the popularity of the Islamic state is starting to wear out, even as it still poses a threat. In other news,
The budget agreement signed by the President contains two provisions of interest to retirees. In addition, Medicare issued new rules authorizing end-of-life discussions between doctors and patients. What Congress Just Did to Social Security. Two popular Social Security benefit-boosting strategies that could have increased lifetime benefits up to $50,000 have been eliminated. File-and-suspend , along
In my family there were three great loyalties—family, faith, and football. One inspired the other and sometimes those distinctions grew a little blurry. Whether you like football or not the game has generated some great leaders and life lessons. Its great coaches have distilled philosophies that drive success into a few maxims. “The team that
“Shoot Low, Boys—They’re Riding Shetland Ponies”, the funny title of a book by the Southern humorist Lewis Grizzard, captures a concealed truth that one’s actions need to fit the circumstances. Retirees and near-retirees increasingly need to “shoot low” as they plan ahead. Income Growth and Lifestyle Creep. Recent research shows that most income growth occurs
In 2015 anxious anticipation of a Fed rate hike by investors sparked a cascade of events. Volatility has exposed some fissures in the world economy, calling on investors to exercise patience. Volatility also shined a light on the performance shortfall of some of the world’s biggest and best remunerated hedge fund managers. In 2015, Volatility
All of us have an inborn drive to make sense of the world. We knit together theories of why things happen to provide anchors in uncertain times. This week we review some anchors to help understand stock market volatility and how markets work. It’s Not Easy. Everyone wants to make money, and especially to find
In football, most offensive plays are called in the huddle. When the offense lines up and the quarterback doesn’t like what he sees in the defensive formation, he may, from time to time, “call an audible.” Peyton Manning is one of the more famous quarterbacks for calling an audible with his waving of arms and