Examining Three Common Mistakes Of Estate Planning

More than half of the world’s wealthiest investors are hedging for a sharp drop in financial markets before the end of next year, says UBS.

James Barr Haines, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Fidelity Investments, Boston, Massachusetts, has issued a public comment on the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s proposed rule entitled “Open MEPs and Other Issues Under Section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act”. The comment was written and posted on Oct. 29,…

Trump’s own 2020 election stakes mean there’s a good chance of a phase-one China trade deal, but there’s growing reason to worry that it won’t happen.

Fed chief Powell tells Congress federal debt is on ‘unsustainable path,’ limiting ability to support economy in a downturn

US Student Debt Report: 6% of Borrowers Owe More Than $100,000. A new report from the public policy nonprofit Brookings Institution clarifies where all of that $1.5 trillion student debt comes and goes. Six percent of borrowers owe more than $100,000 in debt, with 2% owing more than $200,000, “the report by Brookings’ Kadija Yilla and David Wessel found.

–Americans are taking proactive steps to keep their holiday spending in check and making sure they’re financially ready for next year, according to an Experian national consumer survey. A majority of those surveyed say they’re motivated to improve their finances this holiday season with 66 percent paying for gifts in cash this year and 62 percent planning to…

Stocks on Wall Street closed with modest gains Tuesday after an early rally lost momentum toward the end of the day. “There was some excitement on breaking 3,100, that perhaps we could continue higher on the S&P,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. President Donald Trump gave an update Tuesday afternoon on trade negotiations with China,…

Morgan Stanley reported the launch of the Jewish Values Tool Kit designed to facilitate meaningful conversations about the wellspring of values shared among families, boards and the Financial Advisors and Institutional Consultants who serve them. According to a media release, the Jewish Values Tool Kit, a collaboration between Morgan Stanley’s…

—Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is due to testify Wednesday in Congress about the outlook for the U.S. economy, giving his perspective two weeks after the Fed cut interest rates for a third time this year. The three cuts, which lowered the interest rate the Fed controls to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%, were intended to offset drags from slower global growth and…

Investors put their recession umbrellas back in the closet last week and broke out their party hats, as all three major U.S. stock indexes hit fresh record highs. The market is bullish on the expected pause in President Trump’s trade war with China and market participants have plenty of ammo to drive stocks higher. What’s happening: Investors are moving back into risky assets like…

The IRS has proposed trimming required minimum distributions (RMD), the withdrawals that retirees must take from accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s.

In October, our firm marked its 32nd anniversary in business. We opened our doors on an interesting day, Monday. Two key “fundamental” concerns that contributed to Black Monday were a weakening dollar and Federal Reserve rate increases.

Many people use their last will and testament to make bequests to charity. She considered outright gifts and contributions to a Donor Advised Fund or Charitable Remainder Trust, but ultimately decided that she was not ready to part with control of the assets for fear she may need them someday and would regret the irrevocable donation. A PPVA is a uniquely…

According to the Federal Reserve, the value of household equity in real estate has more than doubled since the 2012 housing bottom. CoreLogic, a real estate data firm, reports that among households with mortgages, equity is at a record high. Not to be a killjoy, but there’s a growing risk in that good news.

November and December arrive bearing a handful of full or partial stock market holidays. Is the stock market open or closed on Veterans Day this year?

—New York City says it’s finalizing plans to relocate Wall Street’s famous “Charging Bull” statue. A spokeswoman for Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio tells The Wall Street Journal that the bull will be placed in a new location somewhere near the New York Stock Exchange. In 2017, State Street Global Advisors commissioned another bronze sculpture, “Fearless Girl,” to…

Independent registered investment advisor practices tend to charge lower fees on managed assets than dually-registered RIAs, and the former also tended to hire fewer advisors with investment-related Securities and Exchange Commission violations, according to a new report from advisor digital lead generation firm Zoe Financial.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the following statement by Commissioner Hester M. Peirce on proposed amendments to improve accuracy and transparency of proxy voting advice:. “Thank you to the Chairman, Commissioner Roisman, the staff in the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Economic and Risk Analysis, and other staff throughout the…

Wall Street donors have a new favorite candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential field: Pete Buttigieg.. The mayor of South Bend, Ind., the fourth-largest city in the 17th- largest state may be an unlikely candidate for Wall Street largesse. But Buttigieg leads his rivals in collecting contributions from the securities and investment industry, pulling in…

Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones believes that a Warren presidency would sink the S&P 500 25%.

Our results are based on the estimated state and local tax burden in each state for a hypothetical retired couple with a mixture of income from Social Security, an IRA, a private pension, interest and dividends, and capital gains. We also gave them a $400,000 home and $10,000 in deductible medical expenses. All the states on our “most tax-friendly” list exempt Social…

Fidelity Charitable issued the following news release:. Half of surveyed taxpayers made at least one change in their charitable giving strategy after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, according to a survey analysis released today by Fidelity Charitable, an independent public charity and the nation’s largest grantmaker. “It is encouraging to see that those with the…

Mounting liabilities from the national debt, pensions and healthcare will compel lawmakers to act, he says.

by: Jennifer Hill, Baillie Gifford, for IRIS.xyz. The BBC documentary War on Plastic and David Attenborough’ s Blue Planet II have helped to bring the scourge of plastic and effects of climate change into sharp focus. “Ethical, or responsible investing, has become a hot topic in 2019,” said Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services.“ Recent…

In an effort to maintain strong client relationships, some financial advisors are starting to use an automated behavioral coaching tool.

The News: Two Republican and two Democratic senators have introduced a bill to exempt small brokers from having to use…

Technology is improving communication with clients. Even local clients prefer to avoid driving to their advisor’s office and instead meet via video.

Advisors who look for ways to surprise prospects and clients with exceptionally thoughtful gestures can build a sterling reputation.

In learning how to build a client base as a financial advisor, enterprising advisors find ways to differentiate themselves and deliver superior service in a variety of ways from office design to smart use of tech tools.

Over the past decade, the investment firm David A. Noyes& Co. has helped raise money for companies-including Indianapolis- based Digonex Technologies Inc. and Fishers-based SteadyServ Technologies LLC- by persuading its clients to invest. Since May 2017, Noyes’ clients have filed 12 complaints with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA,…

And why your portfolio should be protected against it anyway

According to the SEC’s order, First Global Credit used a variety of marketing methods to target and solicit U.S. individuals to deposit and use bitcoins to buy and sell a variety of investment products. “Federal securities laws impose specific requirements for offering and selling security-based swaps to retail investors in the U.S.,” said David Peavler,…

The Labor Department’ s monthly data was held down in part by the General Motors strike. ■128,000 jobs were added last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday. But the figure looks stronger accounting for the strike at General Motors, which shaved close to 50,000 workers from the employment rolls.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance issued the following news release:. And with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 71 percent of all U.S. workers have access to retirement benefits, offering a 401 to employees has become necessary in order to competitively attract and retain talent in today’s strong, steady labor market. “Our latest survey shows employers are…

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the July-September performance for the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, was just below the 2% rate of growth in the second quarter. Growth could slow from an annual rate of about 2% to 1.6% next year as businesses cope with lower profitability, which could depress hiring…

Consumer spending remained solid, but business investment declined. Gross domestic product— the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the economy— grew at a 1.9 percent annual rate for the third quarter, according to preliminary data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday. While the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates later in the…

Small cap stocks lagged Wednesday, while the rest of the market saw only mild losses. Transportation stocks also were down sharply.

—Stocks fell in midday trading Wednesday as investors held back ahead of an anticipated decision by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. The central bank has been using its power to cut short-term interest rates as a way to shore up the economy amid the costly impact from the U.S.- China trade war. Lower yields and interest rates make it more difficult for…

The Federal Reserve reduced the benchmark U.S. interest rate for the third time this year Wednesday in an effort to boost the economy as the trade war and a global slowdown threaten to drag the U.S. economy down. But it also signaled that its campaign of rate cuts has likely come to an end for now, with Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell telling reporters that the current…

Elizabeth Warren wins the 2020 presidential election. Last month, Leon Cooperman, the founder of Omega Advisors, told a conference of investors, “They won’t open the stock market if Elizabeth Warren is the next president.” Heck, Warren’s so powerful, the market will fall if she’s simply the Democratic nominee for president, proclaimed both billionaire investor…

History can be a good guide for the Fed’s next move.

While the majority of Americans believe they are financially literate, tasks like interest rate and inflation calculations are beyond many of us. Here are three ways to bridge the financial literacy gap for a better financial future.

Stocks Touch Record Amid a Thaw in U.S.- China Trade Fight. The S&P 500 was on track to hit a record on Monday, as optimism surrounding trade talks between China and the United States lifted consumer and technology stocks. And comments from President Trump gave the broad market a lift, after he suggested that trade talks with China were going better than expected.

A change to the Internal Revenue Service code, set to take effect Jan. 1, allows employers to stop providing insurance for employees– and instead pay workers pretax funds to buy coverage themselves. Michael Kolber, a partner with Manatt Health, which counsels companies on health coverage and access, said in an August op-ed that the new health reimbursement…

The Billings Gazette reports that the state Department of Public Health and Human Services received 1,599 calls this year from residents concerned an older citizen they know might be subjected to financial exploitation. Adult Protective Services received more than 11,000 calls for service reporting financial exploitation, abuse or neglect.

Iean Deliso, CFP said she started calling her investment clients several days ago to gauge how they’re feeling amid some growing turence for the economy- and on Wall Street. As she talked with BusinessWest about this initiative, she paraphrased the messageshe would leave if she encountered voicemail. On a scale of 1 to 5, how are you feeling about volatility,…

WASHINGTON- The Federal Reserve finds itself in an unusually delicate spot as it considers how much more to try to stimulate an economy that’s still growing and adding jobs but also appears vulnerable. Will a U.S. manufacturing sector that is essentially in recession weaken the rest of the economy? Will a shaky truce in the U.S.- China trade war hold?

Scharf replaces Wells’ former CEO Tim Sloan, who stepped down in March. Scharf had previously served as CEO of Bank of New York Mellon since 2017. Before Bank of New York Mellon, Scharf was CEO of Visa Inc. and managing director of the private investment arm of JPMorgan Chase& Co. He also held the roles of CEO of Retail Financial Services at JPMorgan Chase and CEO of the…

Help clients identify what they need to address, what steps it will take to get there, and how to gain the discipline they need to achieve those goals.

American companies spent more than $800 billion on their own shares last year, taking a windfall from deep corporate tax cuts to try to bolster their share prices and improve the look of their quarterly earnings reports. “If you’ re at a point where trade and politics are stymieing the ability to plan for the future, I think that that’ s another huge factor in terms of…

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, issued the following news release:. Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JAMES T. BOOTH pled guilty to securities fraud in connection with his years-long scheme to defraud customers of his financial services firm, Booth…

Fidelity Investments said Monday it is pulling its $500 million from Fisher. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that New Hampshire’s state pension system pulled $239 million it had invested with Fisher, bringing the total amount divested from the billionaire’s firm to more than $2 billion since Fisher made a string of vulgar comments at a San Francisco…

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Senator Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to heads of the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and…

To help navigate these changes, Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, has issued “Tax Planning: 2019 Year-End Guide.” According to Gary Fox, managing partner of tax services at Crowe, smart timing of income and expenses can reduce tax liability, and poor timing can unnecessarily increase it. “

According to the SEC’s order, Pryor was a senior advisor to the American Bondholders Foundation, LLC, a Delaware company based in Tennessee that pursues collection of long-defaulted bonds issued by the Republic of China between 1912 and 1942.. According to the SEC’s order, ABF uses these investor funds to, among other things, lobby the U.S. government to purchase…

At the Envestnet conference this past May, the late Jud Bergman was asked about his thoughts around technology’ s place in our industry. He astutely concluded,“ It’ s counter-intuitive that great technology can contribute to a stronger human relationship.” It’ s conference season once again, and in my conversations this fall, advisors are still questioning if…

The income needed to exit the bottom 99% of U.S. taxpayers hit $515,371 in 2017, according to Internal Revenue Service data released this week. Since 2011, when Occupy Wall Street protesters rallied under the slogan “We are the 99%,” the income threshold for the top 1% is up an inflation-adjusted 33%. To join the top 0.1%, you would have needed to earn $2.4 million in…

Traders anticipate a drop to the $6,000 region. But, based on historical data, 40% pullbacks are often followed with extended rallies.

Home values could fall significantly. Banks could stop lending to flood-prone communities. Towns could lose the tax money they need to build sea walls and other protections.

The global economy is slowing, largely because of the U.S. trade war with China, according to the 189- member International Monetary Fund. The IMF predicts U.S. growth will slow to 2.4% this year from 2.9% in 2018. The trade war between the U.S. and China has dragged on for 15 months.

The Federal Reserve is poised to begin at least a six-month operation to buy about $60 billion of Treasury bills per month, as the central bank seeks to ease cash shortages that caused a recent spike in the overnight cost of borrowing. “They are going for it,” said Ralph Axel, an interest rate strategist at Bank of America. The Federal Open Market Committee said it had…

When Facebook unveiled ambitious plans in June to spearhead the creation of a global digital currency, co-founder David Marcus promised unprecedented cooperation among some of the biggest names in technology and payments. Some former members told the Financial Times that they felt Facebook underestimated the regulatory scrutiny that the project would…

According to the National Cancer Institute, one in three women and one in two men will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551998 That means no professional advisor can avoid dealing with the impact of cancer on clients and their families and loved ones. While dealing with the more technical ramifications…

–To Charles Schwab, who brought stock-market investing to the masses with his eponymous discount brokerage, socialism evokes a grim, unremitting sameness– a death knell for creativity. “If you’ d like socialism, we all drive the same car or have the same color house or same size of house, blah, blah, blah– we’ re all the same fundamentally,” he said recently in an interview at…

Fidelity Investments and the state of Florida pension fund said Tuesday they’ re examining their relationship with Fisher Investments. The Philadelphia Board of Pensions said it plans to divest the $54 million in assets held with the firm. The Florida State Board of Administration, which has about $175 million with Fisher, was concerned enough about the…