Top 12 Financial Planning Issues for American Citizens Living in the UK
American citizens living in the UK face a complex interaction of U.S. and UK tax law as applied to their investments and retirement savings. The U.S. government taxes American citizens on their worldwide income based upon citizenship rather than residency. In addition to paying U.S. taxes, a U.S. citizen [...]
Webinar: U.S./UK Financial Planning Strategies
WEBINAR: U.S./UK FINANCIAL PLANNING STRATEGIES May 21, 2019 • 1:00 PM London, UK Event Details American expats in the UK face many obstacles to successfully growing their wealth. These cross-border financial planning issues are complex, but do not have to be overwhelming. [...]
Estate Planning in the Digital Age
You are likely familiar with traditional estate planning that utilizes documents like wills and trusts to dictate how your assets such as your bank and investment accounts, home, and personal belongings are distributed after your passing. But have you also planned for what happens to your digital assets after [...]
Tangible Opportunities in Emerging Markets
This past Tuesday, Round Table’s Chief Investment Officer Robert Davis had the pleasure of moderating a panel for the CFA Society of New York discussing Tangible Opportunities in Emerging Markets. The panel, comprised of prominent economists and investment managers on the forefront of emerging markets, discussed topics ranging from [...]
Steven Giacona at TD Ameritrade’s LINC Conference
In an interview at TD Ameritrade's LINC conference, our founder and CEO, Steven Giacona, shares his thoughts on why he chose to start an RIA as well as offering advice to those looking to pursue a career in the industry.
Personal Financial Health Seminar: U.S. Expats
Last week, Frederic Behrens, JD, CFP and Steven Giacona, CPA, MS, TEP had the pleasure of speaking to a captivated crowd at Chicago Booth MBA School’s London campus, sharing US/UK financial planning strategies to maximize American expats long-term, after-tax wealth potential. Both Frederic and Steven shared [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Marriage Equality: The 10 Most Significant Changes in Planning for Same-Sex Couples
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) ruled in a 5-4 decision that the right to marry is a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment.1 In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Court states that “[t]he limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples may long have [...]
Quarterly Review – Fourth Quarter 2017
Happy New Year! But to be honest, 2017 was pretty great! Nearly every asset class and global market was positive for the year. Looking forward, we don’t think the clock has struck midnight on this market just yet, and that’s not the champagne talking either! Corporate earnings in both [...]
Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2017
A market in motion stays in motion…unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.1 We suspect this is how Sir Isaac Newton, as a 21st century market strategist, would view the current capital market trends. Global equity and fixed income markets continued their 2017 upward trajectory during the quarter. The [...]
Quarterly Review – Second Quarter 2017
Is Goldilocks back in town? During the previous economic cycle (2003-2007), Wall Street referred to the U.S. economy as the “Goldilocks Economy” …not too hot, not too cold, just right. It was also during this time that market risk metrics, such as volatility, were low. Presently, investors find themselves [...]
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 [...]