A Quick Analysis of the Proposed Tax Brackets The proposed tax legislation is broad in scope. But the most popular component is the change in income tax brackets, and what that may mean for all of us. So far, all that we’ve read simply lists the new brackets. We thought doing a little math, too, might be helpful. The charts below compare outcomes based on income after deductions, and before any credits or additional taxes. Their purpose is simply to compare current brackets with the proposed brackets. Of course, we’ll keep you updated, as none of this is yet etched in …
Truth: Annuities Are Bad
Here’s Some Convincing Evidence Last week, we came across this headline in InvestmentNews: DOL fiduciary rule delay boosts prospects for annuity sales Indexed and variable annuities are likely to get a big bump in sales if the rule is delayed until July 2019 Here’s why this matters. The Department of Labor, and every other decent person, wants all advisors to be fiduciaries, whereby advisors would have to, by law, do what’s in their client’s best interest at all times. This effort almost became law recently, but will likely be pushed back to 2019 – or never enacted at all. So …
The True Costs of Investing: Part 2
Ignoring Science Can Cost You Like physics, chemistry, and math, investing is a science. The body of peer reviewed, unbiased research and evidence supporting this branch of science is vast and deep. Some of the lessons science has taught us, such as keeping costs low (see Part 1) and diversifying, are well known. Others, not so much. In particular, the effect of investment “factors” on your portfolio, while well-established through decades of research, is widely unknown by the average investor and, consequently, widely unused. In short, a “factor” is a source of return generated by a grouping of similar stocks …
The Equifax Data Breach – What To Do
Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies, recently reported a giant data breach. According to the company, between mid-May and July, hackers accessed personal information of 143 million Americans. This information included names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers, and in some cases, driver’s license numbers. Additionally, 209,000 credit card numbers were exposed, as was the personal identifying information of 182,000 Americans involved in credit report disputes. First, here’s what you should do to know if you’ve been affected by this breach: Go to equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/. Sharing your last name and last six digits of your …