Last week we went over the primary effects and differences between Donald Trump’s tax plan and the tax reform proposal from the House GOP. Unless you were following closely, you may have glossed over some of the specifics. Instead of a new topic this week, we put together a tax reform chart summarizing the two proposals, side-by-side.
This article is based on information released in December of 2016 concerning the Trump Administrations plans for tax reform. For analysis concerning information released in September 2017, click HERE.
Through some combination of hard work and great fortune, a small subset of us may find all of our materials needs and wants are met. Perhaps, in lieu of satisfying your every desire, you feel a calling to give back. Maybe you just want to save some money on your taxes. Whatever the reason, this time of year often motivates many people to engage in charitable giving.
Prediction season is upon us. Towards the end of each calendar year, financial news outlets bring all sorts of voices to our TVs and radios to make predictions of what’s to come next year. In the coming weeks, you will see all manner of assertions and guarantees. Some will emphatically tell you to invest in one place or avoid another. Others may offer a forecast of the economy or what will happen in Donald Trump’s presidency. Note that at no point will you see an accounting or reckoning for the mountain of incorrect predictions from last year’s prognostication. Nevertheless, the networks soldier on and continue to peddle their advice.
Diversification is hailed as “the only free lunch on Wall Street”, based on the famous quote by Harry Markowitz. Some of us accept this as a fact and take a diversified approach to our portfolios. Then, a stock our buddy picked quadruples its value or the S&P 500 outperforms other asset classes over a multi-year period (as we’ve seen in the last few years). In times like these, it is easy to lose sight of why diversification is so important.