The authors of the Zogby study suggested their own explanation. “We think that, for many respondents, economic understanding takes a vacation when economic enlightenment conflicts with establishment political sensibilities.”
Going forward, tax management will be as significant as investment management in a comprehensive wealth management plan.
David Marotta discusses how to maximize retirement accounts.
Most plans have funds laden with fees. Some share this revenue with plan sponsors, enticing them to pick more expensive funds to subsidize the costs of the plan or even make a profit.
If you have a personal umbrella insurance policy, congratulations. If you don’t, you must not have a lot to lose. This important insurance can extend your liability coverage beyond your home and auto insurance by millions of dollars.
Politicians are giving us no incentive to take care of ourselves. They are ensuring that government will need to save us.
Hong Kong has an incredibly low tax rate. Individuals are taxed at the lower of a progressive tax maxing at 17% of adjusted gross income or a flat tax of 15% of gross.
David Marotta discusses converting your traditional IRA balance to Roth IRAs this year before tax rates go back up.
It is time to drive a Brink’s truck through the legal loophole of Roth conversions this year.
For many people 50 is a milestone that reminds us to stop and reevaluate. There is still time for a whole new life of significance.
Perhaps dire predictions are correct and we are headed to Armageddon. If you want liquid assets in such a catastrophic situation, try buying cases of Jack Daniels. It is cheaper, keeps just as well and will fetch more in trading value.
David Marotta discusses interest rates, the housing market, and how these factors work together for the patient buyer.
Only if you swear by the genius of Caesar, trust in his altruism and believe in his divinity is this bill a cause for celebration.
Everything in wealth management begins with savings. All wealth comes from producing more than you consume. Unfortunately, most Americans are better at consuming than producing.
David Marotta & George Marotta discuss financial reform, specifically the Dodd-Frank bill and its implications on the economy.
For the first time in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, the United States was moved from the list of “free” countries to the second tier of “mostly free” countries.
Everyone knows a family with financial debt. Stop the bleeding.
Government assistance has taken what might have been a simple recession and turned it into a more lingering malaise.
Many U.S. investors crowd their assets into a combination of large-cap U.S. stocks and U.S. bonds. This allocation represents only one and a half of the six asset classes described here.
Imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do?
David Marotta discusses how to pay your Virginia state tax bills using less expensive Virginia land preservation credits.
“Imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won’t ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it?”
Life planning takes a holistic look at what you truly value. And for most people, their life is more important than their money. Only after exploring your life goals can you structure your finances to help you realize your dreams.
If the tax code permits a huge deduction for brushing your teeth with your left hand while standing on one foot, it is still worth doing.
Tax credits are much more valuable than tax deductions. Deductions only reduce the amount you are taxed on. One dollar of deduction might only be worth 35 cents. In contrast, tax credits are a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax bill. And a refundable tax credit could mean the government will owe you money you never paid in the first place.
A professional tax expert can help you get the correct deductions. But he or she likely won’t motivate you to keep the right records unless you understand the benefits for yourself.
Retirement planning consists of a wild scatter plot of potential projections. Navigating successfully through possible outcomes requires regular corrections and adjustments.
The most common request we get is for a back-of-the-napkin calculation of future yield, interest or income. But rather than being a conservative withdrawal rate, this strategy may actually lead people to spend too much.
A few months ago Bill Gross, co-founder of PIMCO and the country’s most prominent bond expert, singled out those countries heaping significant deficits on their mountain of debt and called them “The Ring of Fire.” We recommend that you reduce your investments in these countries.
Thousands of investment advisors recommended stop loss orders to their clients. Now it looks like this advice may have been the cause of the May 6, 2010 market plummet.
Everyone is expecting real estate to underperform the stock market for many years going forward.
When the saying first circulated, May was flat. Since 1987, however, May has done phenomenally well, averaging 2.11%.
Your investments should be working for you, appreciating more than inflation to become an engine of growth that pays you money and provides some measure of financial freedom.
In just three short years we’ve added more to the deficit as a percentage of GDP than in the three decades before.
In 1977 economist Milton Friedman wrote an article “The Line We Dare Not Cross: The Fragility of Freedom at ‘60%.'” We are in danger of crossing that line.
David Marotta discusses how to shield your personal assets from the corrosive influence of government policies.
All assets are not equal. Some investments appreciate better on average than others.
Everyone in our risk pool will order filet mignon. First the costs will skyrocket. And then the meat will be rotten.
Sometimes we make the mistake of deliberately budgeting the impossible. If you purposefully set the required spending in one category too high, you won’t be able to trim other categories to bring your overall spending into harmony.
Many budgets are doomed to failure because of the challenge of planning for unplanned spending. Here are some of the items you either did not put in your budget or they shouldn’t be in your spending.
George Marotta is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution pursuing research on international finance.
Get control of the spending that breaks the bank. Certain purchases that are typically both unnecessary and unplanned are budget busters. Avoiding these financial slips requires hedging some of our worst impulses and constraining our desire for instant gratification.
Good things do come from France. Frenchman Antoine Deneriaz captured Olympic gold in the men’s downhill skiing event beating out favorites Austria’s Michael Walchhofer and America’s Bode Miller. His win meant flying madly off jumps and being determined to finish first or break every bone in his body. Your investments shouldn’t be like that.
They say that as long as Americans keep spending, the economy will be strong and unemployment will remain low. “Spend now and pay later” is poor personal policy.
In both good times and bad times, investing is really about managing your emotions. If you want to be an investor, you have to grow to understand not only the relationship between risk and return, but also your own reaction to it.
The returns offered by immediate fixed annuities aren’t as good as they sound. The slight of hand in this case is the immediate loss of 100% of your principal. They are fixed for you to lose and the insurance company to win.
Every University student knows they should have a credit card. You have to have a second form of ID on many financial transactions. You have to have one to establish good credit. And, the more you use them, the more you will accrue bonus points toward cash, mileage credits and various “free gifts”. P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” But it doesn’t have to be you.
Everyone knows a family with financial debt. Stop the bleeding. Apply emergency medicine.
Every year problems of debt and overspending frustrate millions of families. The problem has little to do with income, a lot to do with spending. Spending less than you earn is the essential foundation that creates the capital for investing and wealth building.
No matter how rich or poor you are, thrift is an integral part of your budget. Being thrifty is a godly and biblical virtue.