Preparing for the Death of the Stretch IRA

From: wealthmanagement.com

What savvy financial professionals can do to protect their clients’ retirement savings.

The term “stretching” an individual retirement account refers to the practice of partially sustaining the tax-deferred status of an IRA when, after the death of the owner, the account is left to a non-spouse beneficiary (typically a child or grandchild or perhaps more than one). Stretching an IRA, or a qualified…

The Problem With Naming A Trust As The Beneficiary Of An Annuity, And Using A Beneficiary Designation With Restricted Payout Form As An Alternative

From: kitces.com

Retirement accounts and annuities used as accumulation vehicles can create significant tax-deferred account balances over time, with the caveat that eventually the tax bill must still come due. If the accounts are liquidated during life, the account owner faces the tax consequences; if the accounts are…

Little Sign of Recession Risk in 2016

From: etftrends.com

A recent CNNMoney survey of economists pegs the odds of the U.S. entering a recession this year at 18%. Considering the duality of the current market turmoil caused by Chinese capital flight and the propensity of news-outlets to give time and space to the most outrageous of economic doomsayers, it’s no wonder investors are scared. Yet, a reasoned analysis of economic…

Investors: Keep your itchy finger off the trigger

From: cnbc.com

What followed the 2008 mass exodus from stock funds? A five-year, cumulative 8.6 percent return for the S&P 500.

How about that 550-point intraday dive last week in the Dow! Did that finally get you to sell?

Or was it one of the many headlines about the trillions of dollars that have been wiped out of the stock market in the worst start for…

U.S. GDP fizzles in the fourth quarter

From: marketwatch.com

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The economy bogged down at the end of 2015, raising questions about whether U.S. growth is losing momentum.

Gross domestic product — the value of everything a nation produces — expanded at a 0.7% annual rate from October to December. That’s a big markdown from 2% growth in the fall and 3.9% last spring.

The economy expanded at a 2.4% clip last…

Active vs Passive
An Embirical Review for the Taxable Investor

From: Investment Management Consultants Association

The active versus passive debate goes back more than 40 years, to when Jack Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group Inc., launched the Vanguard 500, the first index mutual fund. Ever since, ever-changing market dynamics have squashed and subsequently rekindled the debate in sequential cycles of boom and busts.

Tax Law Changes Affecting Your Clients

From: thinkadvisor.com

Yes, it’s tax filing season again, already!! And again for this year, we had some tax laws extended by Congress through 2016 or 2019, but some were actually made permanent.

So for the context of this article, we’ll discuss only those changes affecting your individual clients.

As we start a new year, many of us have made a resolution to get healthier in 2016. Most New Year’s resolutions are focused on physical health—but financial health is equally important. We contend that advisors are essential to the financial health of their clients. More than ever, they provide immense value, due to the digital advice movement. At the same time, they also are required to better articulate the value they bring to…

Worried about stocks? Smart investors do these 3 things

From: money.cnn.com

Stocks are off to their worst start to a year ever.

No wonder “sell stocks” is a popular Internet search term these days. The phrase just hit its highest search frequency since 2008 (the year of the financial crisis), according to Google Trends statistics compiled by the blog Daily Shot.

It’s human nature to look at this massive wave of selling and panic.

But…