Bear Mountain Capital Inc.

Why Is The Dollar In a Free Fall Against the Euro and the Pound?

| February 12, 2018

Every now and again, we get questions from clients that we think we should share. In this post, we respond to the question in the subject line: why is the dollar in a free fall against the euro and the pound? To be sure, the US dollar is currently not in a “free-fall”. However, it is fair to ask what is behind last years drop in value of the US…

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Is a Backdoor Roth IRA a Good Strategy for Me?

| December 8, 2017

  Many people are aware of the benefits of a Roth IRA: you put your after-tax money into it, after 20 or 30 years when you retire, you pull all of the money out tax-free.  This can be a big benefit when you consider the effect of compounding returns over time. There are other benefits such as that you may be in a lower tax bracket when you pay taxes…

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What’s (not) in a Word: Trade Deficit

| November 15, 2017

  Last month, we wrote about the sometimes misleading terminology used to describe relative currency values: the “strong” and “weak” dollar. Another example of labels that can mislead us about economic issues is one that has been in the news of late: the so-called “trade deficit.” The United States runs a trade deficit with another country when it imports more from that country than it exports to it. The opposite…

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Social Security Benefits for US and Non-US Citizens

| November 13, 2017

  Who is eligible for benefits? Social Security is a significant payroll tax as well as an important source of retirement income for many US and non-US citizens, alike. Workers pay into Social Security while they are working and receive the benefits when they retire. The size of Social Security benefits depends on your earnings history as well as when you begin to take benefits. But what if you are…

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What’s (not) in a Word: Strong Dollar

| October 27, 2017

  Economics is a numerical discipline. Economists count things, measure their value, calculate ratios between those values, and project how the counts and values will change over time. But to communicate economic ideas, we rely largely on language. And for the most part, language is very useful for this purpose, because language is a powerful tool. Sometimes, however, language’s very power can overwhelm the concepts it is supposed to communicate,…

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What Do I Need to Know About Medicare?

| September 28, 2017

(Credit for this post goes to Rehberg Law Group. More information about Rehberg Law Group can be found at the bottom of this page.) “How can I clear up the confusion surrounding Medicare for myself or my parent(s)?”  If that is your concern and with open enrollment right around the corner, retirees will be inundated with advertisements regarding their insurance options.  This information can be conflicting and confusing.  For many…

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Equifax Credit Breach

| September 25, 2017

  If you are concerned about the Equifax credit breach, this site is extremely useful: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs    

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The Debt Ceiling

| September 19, 2017

  The United States of America always pays its debts. Since the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government has been borrowing money to fund its operations, and it has never failed to make good on its obligations. According to the award-winning financial history, This Time Is Different, no other major power can make that claim. The founding father of this legacy is Alexander Hamilton, who as Secretary of the Treasury argued…

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Dodd Frank: Repeal and Replace?

| April 10, 2017

  The 2016 U.S. election was among the most colorful and dramatic in our history. While it remains to be seen how consequential it will be, one potential impact of particular interest to us at Bear Mountain Capital is the fate of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank was a complex legislative package enacted with the broad goal of preventing a repeat of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Shortly after taking office,…

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2017 Estate Tax and Planning Update

| January 13, 2017

  Our friends at Helsell Fetterman have prepared a 2017 Estate Planning Update which we are providing below.  Helsell Fetterman is a local law firm located in Seattle, WA, whose Estate Planning and Probate group is headed by Laura Hoexter.  Her group maintains expertise in many areas, including estate planning, trust administration, generation skipping transfers, and family business succession planning. Estate Tax Update Federal Estate Tax, Gift Tax and Generation-Skipping…

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