PFA Ponderings

This week’s blog post is being written on the first of November.  October has gone by, and here in Maine, the leaves have been falling almost as quickly as stock prices. While declining stock prices are not a popular thing in and of themselves, the fact is that it is…

The 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act, like most tax code overhauls, was born out of bits and pieces of manipulation. The most memorable of these was an initiative brought forth by Senator William Roth of Delaware.  The Individual Retirement Account, legislated into existence in 1974, had become a staple of individual…

While I can’t put the whole day together in my mind (and while many of my co-workers weren’t born yet), I do recall that I had film class that evening.  Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra was the film we were breaking down. It took a while to get to the subject…

Having children is one of the great joys in life.  I speak from experience, having been a child at one point and seeing how much enjoyment I provided my parents. As to whether or not having kids is prudent from a strictly financial standpoint, that’s subject to a wide range…

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know that just ain’t so.” (Unknown: Not Mark Twain, although frequently attributed to him) There’s perhaps no more the longstanding piece of conventional wisdom in personal finance:  “Don’t throw your money away at rent.  Buy a…

Fifteen years after they were rolled out, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) remain one of the least understood tax-advantaged savings vehicles in existence.  They came into being as part of the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush.  These plans allow certain…

My mother still objects vehemently.  These are her funds!  She squirreled these away for years! She should be able to spend them – or not – as she deems appropriate!  Who is the government to tell her she has to take money out of her retirement plan?! Required Minimum Distributions…

  In the universe of capital market investments, it seems there’s no area more confounding than the ‘debt markets’.  Clients and advisors alike project a look of semi-understanding when bonds and all of their quirky dynamics come into the equation. Bonds are easy, as long as we remember one thing: …

As I write this blog, it’s sunny, dry and 73 degrees.  There’s a slight breeze.  This is, I believe, the best possible meteorological condition for human existence.  Extremely liveable. Of course, as anyone living in Maine is well aware, this kind of day is the exception to the rule.  Generally,…

We’re looking at what some economists call the longest bull market in history, and it’s creating problems. They’re not really bad problems.  We’ll just call them challenges.  More specifically, we’ll call them Capital Gains – and the IRS will be looking to take a portion of those in taxes.  Fortunately,…