Since the Great Recession, American banks have been squeezed by failures, mergers and now a wave of lenders making loans only via the Internet. The number of banks has fallen from 7,279 in 2007 to less than 5,000 today. Community banks, those with less than $10 billion in assets, have been hardest hit, but those…
Alternative assets have exhibited very different return characteristics from public equities since the 2007 financial crisis. A decade ago, massive declines in financial assets and movement in asset-class prices were highly correlated, yet alternative strategies served to protect capital against some of the declines. Hedge funds protected on the downside as expected, but private equity…
A new refund scam has emerged that threatens to ensnare thousands of unwary taxpayers who use direct deposit.
QUESTION: I just lost my state and local tax deductions in the recent tax reform, and I have no mortgage interest to deduct. Is there anything I can do to lower my taxes? ANSWER: The new tax law eliminates miscellaneous deductions, and limits state and local tax deductions to $10,000. This means married taxpayers without…
Thanks to recent federal tax reform, you can now use your kids’ college funds, or 529 plans, to pay for up to $10,000 a year for primary and high school expenses.
