Tag archive for ‘Wealth Management’

• Club Madoff

  17 June 10 • 1 comment

  

  Twenty-nine Madoff victims have banded together to tell their stories. I can hardly wait to read their book which is appropriately titled: The Club No Wanted to Join—Madoff Victims in Their Own Words.

  I have not seen the book. My copy has not shipped yet. But I look forward to reading about the investment experiences with Madoff and his intermediaries. I also look forward to reading what the authors report about Irving Picard, the trustee.

  Click on the title above to read more, including my recipe for “Spaghetti alla Madoff.”

• Estate Tax Solutions from Danny Devito and Billy Crystal

  8 June 10 • 3 comments

  For the first time since 1916, there is no federal estate tax. As a result of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush, the federal estate tax disappeared on January 1 of this year. So what’s next?

  Click to read more and get groundbreaking commentary from Hollywood on this tax issue.

• Does Orrin Hatch Want to Bail Out the Hamptons?

  18 May 10 • 3 comments

  In today’s New York Times, Andrew Sorkin describes the sweetheart taxes for hedge-fund and private-equity partners as follows:

  General partners at private equity funds, who take a cut of the investment gains they earn for their investors in the form of “carried interest,” have been paying federal taxes worth only 15 percent of that cut.

  This means the “gods of Greenwich” receive about a 24.6 percent tax break. That’s because the highest bracket on ordinary income—currently 35 percent—is expected to return to 39.6 percent. And the gods don’t pay taxes on their carried interests until they liquidate and pull out the cash.

• Why Jim Cramer is Completely, Totally Wrong

  13 May 10 • Comments Off

  I admire Jim Cramer – I think he’s a very talented macroeconomist. However, I think Jim’s been drinking too much Kool-Aide. Either that or he’s stressed out from all of the recent market volatility. Last week, he predicted that by 2011 there would be a housing shortage.

  That’s right, a shortage.

• Fatal Flaws of Asset Protection Planning

  13 May 10 • 4 comments

  There is no such thing as a legally recognized “specialist” in the field of Asset Protection, as the Bar Associations of most jurisdictions recognize only a handful of certified specialties including personal injury, maritime law, domestic relations law, and bankruptcy, among others.

  That being said, there are practitioners that have achieved “expert status” simply by doing good work that withstood the test of time for many people. Despite the differences in strategy and opinion many of these reputable planners may employ, there are some factors that we all have to address in both new plans and in the all too common instances where we have to rehab or salvage poorly executed planning.

  Here is a short summary of issues to keep in mind when addressing this crucial issue; please bear in mind that information in forums like this is not specific to you, is written in the broadest terms and is never a substitute for consulting with an experienced professional:

• Morgan Stanley and Dead Presidents

  12 May 10 • Comments Off

  The news is out. US prosecutors are investigating several Morgan Stanley CDOs. Like the Abacus inquiry at Goldman Sachs, the issue is what representations Morgan Stanley made to clients. How did the bank market those Weapons of Money Destruction? Here’s what The Wall Street Journal reports:

  Among the deals that have been scrutinized are two named after U.S. Presidents James Buchanan and Andrew Jackson, a person familiar with the matter said. Morgan Stanley helped design the deals and bet against them but didn’t market them to clients. Traders called them the “Dead Presidents” deals.

  So without further ado, I’d like to play a little song for my friends from Morgan Stanley. I give you Little Walter and Dead Presidents:

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