Are You an Accredited Investor?

Are You an Accredited Investor?

This is a follow up to my blog several weeks ago about crowd funding.  The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is additionally considering modifying the definition of an accredited investor as part of a proposal to amend the rule that permits the sale of private-placement securities.  Lawmakers want the SEC to expand the definition so…
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Will Boomers Sink Equities During Retirement?

There’s been lots of speculation that Baby Boomers – the wealthiest generation in American history, not to mention one of the largest – have the potential to seriously impact equity returns as they use up their savings during their retirement years.  A newly released Vanguard research paper offers a number of reasons why investors have…
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Is Crowdfunding Safe for Investors?

The success of Twitter’s recent IPO was the culmination of a simplified IPO process aimed at making it easier for smaller companies to raise capital. Under the JOBS Act of 2012 a so-called Emerging Growth Company would be allowed to do the following: Submit a draft registration statement to the SEC for confidential nonpublic review…
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What Is Your Risk Tolerance?

If you have an investment account at a brokerage firm, chances are you’ve encountered a risk tolerance questionnaire.  Such a document purports to determine how comfortable you are with investment risk.  Questions range from the simple – “Are you investing primarily for income or for growth?” – to the sublime – “If you are offered…
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Should You Increase Equity Allocation in Retirement?

Conventional wisdom has it that young investors should allocate a large portion of their savings to stocks – a high return, high risk asset class – when they first start investing their savings, and then slowly reduce their stock allocation as they approach and then surpass retirement age.  By the time they reach their eighties,…
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Five End-of-Year Tax Tips

Since we’re approaching the end of another fiscal year, this is a good time to start developing your tax strategies.  Here are five tips to consider. Try to avoid selling investments that you have held for less than one year.  The gains on such investments are taxed at the short-term capital gains tax rate, which…
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