A Pitfall of the “Backdoor” Roth IRA Conversion
Every few months, a reputable financial news website like MarketWatch, CNBC, or The Wall Street Journal releases an article about the benefits of contributing to a non-deductible IRA and converting that contribution to a Roth IRA (a “backdoor” Roth IRA contribution). However, these articles seemingly gloss over the complexity [...]
Guide to Giving: What to Give
This is the second article in a Guide to Giving blog series by contributing editor Richard B. Freeman. Richard is a Senior Director, Wealth Advisor at Round Table Wealth Management and a member of FCCF’s Professional Advisors Council. You are at a point in your life where you feel [...]
Guide to Giving: Ways to Give
This is the first article in a Guide to Giving blog series by contributing editor Richard B. Freeman. Richard is a Senior Director, Wealth Advisor at Round Table Wealth Management and a member of FCCF’s Professional Advisors Council. You have decided that “giving back” by donating to charity is something [...]
American Expat: Brokerage Account Closures and Restrictions
American citizens living abroad face many complicated investing and compliance issues. Careful attention must be paid to their selection of investments, filing a U.S. expat tax return, dealing with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and understanding country of residence tax rules. Savvy American expat investors ultimately realize [...]
Medicare: Understand Your Options and Meet the Deadlines
Are you retiring soon, recently retired or nearing your 65th birthday? If so, you need to understand Medicare and the necessary steps you need to take to ensure proper healthcare coverage in retirement. Even if you don’t fall into one of the categories above, I’m sure you know someone [...]
2018 Federal Estate Tax Law Changes
Federal estate taxes changed under the new tax law, resulting in substantially less taxes for individuals with estates greater than $5.49 million and couples with estates greater than $10.98 million. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act more than doubles the estate tax exemption—but only for years 2018-2025. For the [...]
Serving as a Trustee – What to Know
With a growing number of trusts being created every year in the United States, the possibility that you may be named as a trustee may also be increasing. Maybe you were chosen by a sibling, a parent, a colleague or a friend to serve as trustee of the trust [...]
The Hidden Tax Consequences of Mutual Fund Investing
As bull markets develop, many investors are lured by the low volatility and cheery market sentiment. However, as rallies stretch over a number of years, as they have recently, a hazard emerges for investors seeking to invest in mutual funds. First-time investors purchasing shares bear the risk of inheriting [...]
UBTI: The Hidden Tax for the Tax-Exempt
With the recent increases in interest rates, many investors begin to question their allocations to fixed income. These questions and doubts are not without reason: bond values move in the opposite direction as interest rates, so if rates continue to increase, it is only natural to assume that bond [...]
Life Insurance Problems and Solutions: A “Non-Agent” Perspective
Life insurance can be an important component of a comprehensive financial plan. However, problems related to life insurance can arise for a variety of reasons: client needs and tax laws may have changed; policy performance may not have met expectations; or the client may have purchased policies without fully [...]
Using Mortgage Interest to Fund Investments: The Interest Tracing Rules
Life insurance can be an important component of a comprehensive financial plan. However, problems related to life insurance can arise for a variety of reasons: client needs and tax laws may have changed; policy performance may not have met expectations, or the client may have purchased policies without [...]
The Quarter Million Dollar Question: Wealth Transfer & College Savings Strategies
For children born this year, the expected cost of attending four years at a public university has reached a staggering $250,000, and that projection continues to rise at a rate of almost twice that of inflation. 1 For many wealthy families, funding a child’s or grandchild’s college education [...]
Quarterly Review – First Quarter 2017
The “Trump Rally” continued through the first quarter with most asset classes, both domestic and international, generating strong, risk-adjusted returns. The rally’s underlying support is in part due to investors “pricing-in” near certain approval of Trump’s stated policy initiatives (healthcare, tax, foreign profits, infrastructure and military). But the rally [...]
Quarterly Review – Fourth Quarter 2016
The year 2016 will be remembered as an example of the need to always consider the unexpected – from BREXIT to the Trump victory to the ensuing market rally that wasn’t supposed to happen. We began the year with the S&P 500 declining approximately 10.5% through February 11. Several [...]
Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2016
Perhaps one thing that we can all agree on, and that which doesn’t need debating is the strong performance of risk assets during the last quarter. The S&P 500 was up 3.9%, non-U.S. developed markets were up 6.4%, and emerging markets were a top performer, up 9.2%. Not to [...]
Quarterly Review – Second Quarter 2016
The morning after the Brexit referendum confirmed the “Leave” victory, Bloomberg News ran an article titled, “Can we talk about last night?” And as funny as it is to compare the referendum decision to a one-night stand, the implications of Brexit will last far longer than until the new [...]
2016 Partners for Parks
Partners for Parks is an award-winning corporate volunteer program, offered by the Land Conservancy of New Jersey, that addresses the growing need for open space stewardship in our communities by providing corporations and civic groups with an opportunity to learn and apply leadership principles. These projects not only work [...]
Scottrade Acquisition Could be a Boon to TD Ameritrade RIAs
Steven Giacona, Partner & CEO of Round Table Wealth Management, was recently quoted in an Investment News article titled: "Scottrade Acquisition Could be a Boon to TD Ameritrade RIAs". He offered his insights on the acquisition and how it could benefit the TD Ameritrade "Advisor Direct" referral program, of which Round Table is [...]
An Evening of Cooking & Conversation
On September 28th, Round Table Wealth Management hosted a professional networking event at Healthy Italia in Madison, NJ. Moderated by Mariella Foley, the evening included great food, cocktails and a cooking demonstration in addition to networking. The well-attended event included professionals across various industries throughout New Jersey coming together [...]
The Price of Gold and the Federal Reserve
As a Wealth Advisor, I am constantly looking at the investment universe for profitable opportunities for my clients’ portfolios. Many clients are curious to know if adding an investment in gold to their portfolio would be a wise decision at this point in time. Gold, like most investments, is [...]
Financial-advice firms see record 2015 earnings yet slowest growth since crisis, study shows
Steven Giacona, Partner & CEO of Round Table Wealth Management, was recently quoted in an Investment News article titled: "Financial-advice firms see record 2015 earnings yet slowest growth since the crisis, study shows". “Compliance costs are a big deal to the industry,” which may start to see earnings flatten out as result, [...]
Round Table Gives Back!
When we’re not busy managing investments or handling financial planning matters for our clients, the employees of Round Table Wealth Management can often be found giving back to the community by volunteering their time or participating in fundraising events.The seminars were held at the elegant Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch [...]