Just like I hate predicting future investment returns, I also hate talking about proposed tax legislation. The struggle comes from talking about things that may never come to pass, or may change by the time you read this. However, there are a couple of things in the current proposals that call for attention before the end of 2017.
Last month marked the 30th anniversary of Black Monday, October 19th, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points and the S&P 500 saw a one-day loss of -20.5%. The market has certainly come a long way since then, having weathered two more bear markets and continuing to reach all-time highs.
This month marks the fifth anniversary of Vision Wealth Planning. In 2012, I set out to take the best of what I had learned in my previous 20 years of experience to provide a service that is personal, professional and directly addresses the wealth management needs of a select group of individuals and families.
In the midst of two natural disasters in the last two weeks, Equifax announced a man-made disaster that could cause financial issues for years to come. Equifax, one of the big three credit bureaus, has itself been hacked, exposing millions of citizens’ personal identification. We are writing to share some information with you about the breach, Equifax’s current course of action, and, most important, what you can do to protect yourself.
A recent audit report of the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General estimates that the SSA has underpaid 110,000 widow(er)s $285 million. While SSA is working to correct the 101 widow(er)s that were actually discovered in their sampling of 200, it is unclear how others affected by this error will be identified and corrected.
Social Security benefit claiming strategies continue to perplex much of the working public. Adding to the confusion are changes in late 2015, so let’s address those changes, hopefully in a straightforward, easy to understand format as possible given the subject. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 affected two primary areas of Social Security benefits.
I recently wrote about why I Hate Predicting Investment Returns. As I continue to meet with clients and potential clients, the reality of return expectations continues to be a necessary part of the discussion. Toward the end of the previous post, I made the statement, “This (lower return) expectation is being baked into my discussions with clients and the planning projections we do.” Here is what that means in practice using an example.
I generally spend little time talking about investments, investment returns and the outlook for the markets. Instead, my focus tends to be more on planning, be it investment, financial, estate, risk management, etc.