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…
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,…
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…
College is expensive. Being prepared and putting money aside in a qualified 529 college savings plan can help you get ready for the onslaught of expenses you and your child will face when your child is ready to leave home for the college experience. Our friends at American Funds have put together a summary list of qualified and non-qualified distributions from a college savings plan for college expenses, updated for…
Currently, one of the nation’s biggest banks, Wells Fargo, is in the middle of a serious scandal. The company fraudulently opened extra customer accounts without their consent or knowledge in order to boost revenue. (Click here to read story) Prior to the latest news, Wells Fargo was considered to be one of the darlings of Wall Street. Warren Buffett, a major stakeholder, loved to talk about the bank. However, since the…
We get questions from clients all the time asking about life insurance. What type should I get? How much coverage should I purchase? Where should I get a good policy? There are two types of life insurance: term and permanent life insurance. Permanent life insurance can be broken down into several other categories: whole, universal, variable or variable-universal. Permanent life insurance is just that, permanent, as long as you continue to…
The global investment community has been focused on the recent vote by the UK to leave the European Union, broadly referred to as the “Brexit.” This historic event will have economic impacts on the UK and the European Union, as well as their trading partners. Unsurprisingly, equity markets experienced sharp declines in the days following Brexit and have since seen a significant rebound. If you haven’t already, please read…
The global investment community has been focused on the recent vote by the UK to leave the European Union, broadly referred to as the “Brexit.” This historic event will have economic impacts on the UK and the European Union, as well as their trading partners. Unsurprisingly, equity markets experienced sharp declines in the days following Brexit and have since seen a significant rebound. If you haven’t already, please read our…
Yesterday, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. While a close vote was highly anticipated, the markets had discounted the possibility of a “Brexit” the last several days by pushing the markets upward. After the final results came out last night, the markets had to reverse course. The “Leave” group had voted 51.9% in favor of leaving the union. Unsurprisingly, the result was a big sell-off today across…
As we navigate tax season, it is important to remind ourselves that tax strategies should not be employed once a year but rather year-round. Here are some tips to consider from our friends at Accountability Services: Top 10 Tax Tips 1. MAXIMIZE YOUR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS There are many flavors of retirement accounts and there is one that best fits you and your family’s needs. You can fund an account for…
