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“Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it” declared President Obama when he announced his deficit-reduction plan. “It is wrong that in the United States of America a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50000 should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million.”

In their well-known and oft-quoted 1986 study of 91 large pension plans “Determinants of Portfolio Performance” published in the Financial Analysts Journal Gary P. Brinson L. Randolph Hood and Gilbert L. Beebower found 94% of portfolio returns were determined by the asset allocation plan and just 6% attributable to market timing and security selection.

PIMCO bond fund legend Bill Gross grabbed the spotlight a few weeks ago when he questioned the value of a college education in today’s economy.

Our ever changing tax laws seem perpetually riddled with sunset clauses. And that makes estate planning opportunities fleeting. For instance the Tax Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (TRA) increased the federal gift tax exclusion to $5 million.

After a period of growth and semi-stability where many hoped that the worst of the market volatility was behind us last month we experienced dramatic downturns not seen since the dark days of 2008. Some will blame the Dow’s freefall on Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade U.S. Government debt from its AAA to a lesser AA+ credit rating.

I am sure the hearts and minds of every American reflected with great sadness on the events that took place ten years ago.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lost a loved one on 9/11 or as a result of the terrorist attacks on America.

Following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt during the week of August 10th investors pulled $40.3 billion out of long-term mutual funds of all types according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Articles instructing us how to trim our budgets often target the coffee shop specialty coffees: $3.00 a day compounds to $15 a week $60 a month and so on through your working career. I recently heard a compelling rebuttal to the instruction that we do without our morning caffeine stop. “I’m not expecting any great inheritance” the twenty-something employee declared.

In an investment environment that’s seen endowment assets drop and administrative costs climb many families nationwide are eschewing the cache of small foundations for donor-advised funds. Why? Lower administrative costs and flexibility mean that more money goes to their charitable causes.

In an effort to ensure everyone pays their fair share of taxes on January 1st of this year the Federal government began requiring brokerage firms and other custodians to calculate and report gains or losses on certain customer trades to the IRS.