FREQUENTY ASKED QUESTIONS
About Us
No, we do utilize some hedge fund techniques in efforts to reduce risk and increase income.
We do not hold your money. We help clients onboard the custodian, Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab has now merged with TD Ameritrade and the combined company holds over $6 Trillion in assets.
We reach out to you at least quarterly and more often at urgent times.
No, we do not have any trading fees. Most investment advisors have trading fees in addition to their AUM fee. We are only compensated by a flat % AUM fee, nothing else.
Please see our service section. Our portfolios are a completely diversified mix of investments. The portfolios will look different depending on your needs and risk tolerances. They are designed to be tax-efficient and dynamic for easier access to your funds without large tax bills.
Yes, you have come to the right place. When a client requests this, we can make a socially responsible portfolio. Most often, when you build these, they behave differently than the overall stock market. From our in-depth research, we can actually make these behave more like a typical diversified portfolio. We can even incorporate some alternative strategies that are socially responsible into them.
No. One place cannot be the best at everything and we rather spend the time researching better investments for you. We have heard compliments from other accountants though we really clean up the tax mess. We work directly with your accountant and can supply them with the items they need. We can also help you shop for an accountant if you are looking for one. We can also help you find an insurance agent or attorney since we stay only in our expertise.
Yes. We are looking at potential new clients on a case-by-case basis. Please reach out to us to see if you would be a good fit.
For in person interactions, we generally serve NJ and the NYC Metro Area. With zoom or google meets, we can engage with clients in most states.
What We See*
We are happy to take a look; please send us a statement. You may be surprised at what we find.
Exchange-traded funds can primarily invest in the same instruments as a mutual fund but tend to be more passive. During the peak of the covid crisis, we saw many etfs behave erratically. As of 2021, we researched the entire ETF spectrum and found that, in many cases, it may only partially deliver the diversification we desire.
They are basically telling you that all their investments are better than everyone else's. Clearly, that is not the case. We aim to buy the best products for you from many different companies.
Yes, we are one of the most innovative RIAs. We have some solutions that can keep your investments tax sheltered, keeping your 1031 status.
No, there are counterparty risks in insurance companies and individual bonds. Also, long term bonds are very risky. A treasury that matures in 20 years or longer could lose up to 20% or more of its value if interest rates increased by 1%.
No, it is a common misconception that high yield is good and safe. Most of the time, when something has a high yield, it is because something is wrong. The owner has seen private REITS pitched to seniors with an 8% yield only to see the product lose 40% of its value. Be careful and do not chase yield.
You are not alone
Investment Outlook
Forecasts are typically nonsense. We have seen recent forecasts for stock over the next several years; it ranged from anywhere from less than 5% to over 10%. The reality is that governments from all over the world have taken unprecedented stimulus measures. These measures will need to be eventually unwound and when this happens, stock returns will not be so great. We would not be surprised if we soon enter a lost decade of stock market returns, such as in the years following 2000. In Japan, the Nikkei took more than three decades to recover.
Publicly traded companies overall had grown earnings at a record pace. These earnings were primarily driven by consumer spending, which was impacted mainly by massive government stimulus. Record low-interest rates and government bond purchasing programs that flooded the market with cash which is being forced into risk assets such as stocks.
The level of economic stimulus was unprecedented in 2020 & 2021. Since the pandemic began, the US government had bought over $100 billion in bonds each month. It will be challenging for them to unwind without rates rising too fast. Higher interest rates cause bond prices to fall. The US bond market felt this pain in 2022, with a loss of over 13%, its worst historical calendar year return.
No one has a crystal ball. We feel that once all of the government's quantitative easing ends, the US stock market will have many challenges.
Other Questions
Reach out to us. We can explain our process in detail. We start off by getting to know each other and discover the services that you need and if we can help. If we cannot, we are happy to jump on the phone with some other providers you are considering.
You will likely receive a step-up in basis, so much of your taxable unrealized gains will go away. We can help you determine your best payout options and get your portfolio working for you.
Yes, speak to us first before your current investment company has you realize these gains. If you are an accredited investor, I am also able to get you into certain products that can delay or spread out these gains.
Yes, please reach out to us there are many solutions to that issue.
Insurance is best used to protect. There are many kinds of insurance products available. The significant issues with insurance products are the high fees and commissions. We do not sell insurance products, but we can get your nonqualified annuity into a variable lower cost transparent annuity on some occasions.
We are a small RIA with decades of experience analyzing products, while most firms come from a background of pure sales. Also, larger firms have too many transactions to handle in a day. Some of their required purchases would be huge, and it could adversely move the purchase price, so they may stay out of certain types of investments, or at least they should. Quite frankly, they do not want to put any time into your investment portfolio and, in our opinion, a client suffers from that.
