Ambassador Wealth representatives speak with our clients about their investment goals and retirement planning objectives on a daily basis. Each of our clients has a unique story and a diverse lifestyle—some are experts in their field, business owners, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs. Despite their individuality, they seek out our help for the same common need—to be successful in retirement.

By walking alongside our clients and helping them through their retirement planning, we glean many insights on how they became so successful.

We also get to see firsthand what they are doing to maximize their lifestyles today. To better share these insights, we’ve compiled our top 75 retirement tips into one easy-to-read guide.

To get your copy of 75 Retirement Tips from Petr Burunov, click the button below to download.

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The post 75 Retirement Tips from Petr Burunov appeared first on AWM.

Precisely where people have the greatest need is also when they are most vulnerable to misunderstanding. Making mistakes with income risks lowering your future standard of living.

We continuously run into clients who seek income, but who have misunderstood what they will actually receive.

• Oftentimes, we find people who mistake yield for total return (and forget that they need to earn at least their principal back with some positive return).
• In other situations, investors fail to consider taxes into their overall equation.
• Sometimes, people lock up their money in hopes of a greater coupon. Yet, they leave a lot of money on the table because they fail to understand the intricacies of illiquid investments.
• One of the greatest pitfalls we see is people who buy into the promise of durable, high-income payment. Because they forget about risk, the investment might not live up to its promise. Thus, investors suffer losses, including reduced income.

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The post 3 Ways Reaching for Income Can Make You Broke appeared first on AWM.

It’s not all good news for taxpayers, however. The TCJA also eliminates or limits many tax breaks, and much of the tax relief provided is only temporary (unless
Congress acts to make it permanent). The combined impact of these changes will ultimately determine whether you see reduced taxes. It also will dictate which tax
strategies will make sense for you this year, such as the best way to time income and expenses.

This guide provides an overview of the most consequential changes under the TCJA and other key tax provisions you need to be aware of. It offers a variety of strategies to help higher-income taxpayers minimize their taxes in the new tax environment. It will be important to work closely with your tax advisor this year. He or she can help you identify which changes affect you and the best strategies for maximizing the new tax law’s benefits and minimizing any negative tax ramifications. Plus, more tax legislation could be signed into law this year. Your tax advisor can keep you apprised of the latest information.

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The post 2018-19 Tax Guide: Don’t Get Trumped by the Tax Reform appeared first on AWM.

Believe it or not, we have now enjoyed a bull market running through the last decade.  What information will help us to know if a bull or a bear is around the corner?

When I started my career nearly 30 years ago, the challenge was too little information.  The Wall Street firm for whom I worked was just beginning to use Lotus Notes spreadsheets and WordPerfect word processing.  Many older analysts continued to use notepads and fax machines.

You had to pick up the phone and read newsprint and microfiche to find worthwhile information.  It took effort to find good information.  That meant you were forced to focus only on finding the information truly relevant to making important decisions.

Today is quite different.

We are spoiled by huge advances in technology with the advent of smart phones and the Internet.  We have a plethora of sources for news and research.  Based on the glut of information we have today, we should be far better informed now than in the past.

Yet, all this information might not necessarily empower us to make better decisions.  In fact, it is quite possible that more information brings more “noise” and “fake news” that might even paralyze us.  (See Nicholas Carr’s article on “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” [source] in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic magazine.)

We want to help you see the main issues that could influence the next leg in the markets.  Your investments depend upon having the right information to guide how you should be positioned.

We present a series of simple charts (7 to be exact) to help you navigate through the noise and get to the real issues.  Part One displays 7 charts critical to understanding the state of stocks and bonds.  Part Two will present 7 more charts that focus on key issues in the economy, both US and overseas.

Please let us know of any questions.

Regards,

Stuart P. Quint, CFA

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The post Investment Dashboard 2018 (Part 1: Stocks vs. Bonds) appeared first on AWM.

Believe it or not, we have now enjoyed a bull market running through the last decade.  What information will help us to know if a bull or a bear is around the corner?

When I started my career nearly 30 years ago, the challenge was too little information.  The Wall Street firm for whom I worked was just beginning to use Lotus Notes spreadsheets and WordPerfect word processing.  Many older analysts continued to use notepads and fax machines.  You had to pick up the phone and read newsprint and microfiche to find worthwhile information.  It took effort to find good information.  That meant you were forced to focus only on finding the information truly relevant to making important decisions.

Today is quite different.

We are spoiled by huge advances in technology with the advent of smart phones and the Internet.  We have a plethora of sources for news and research.  Based on the glut of information we have today, we should be far better informed now than in the past.

Yet, all this information might not necessarily empower us to make better decisions.  In fact, it is quite possible that more information brings more “noise” and “fake news” that might even paralyze us.  (See Nicholas Carr’s article on “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” [source] in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic magazine.)

We want to help you see the main issues that could influence the next leg in the markets.  Your investments depend upon having the right information to guide how you should be positioned.

We present a series of simple charts (7 to be exact) to help you navigate through the noise and get to the real issues.  Part One displays 7 charts critical to understanding the state of stocks and bonds.  Part Two will present 7 more charts that focus on key issues in the economy, both US and overseas.

Please let us know of any questions.

Regards,

Stuart P. Quint, CFA

Get my free guide

The post Investment Dashboard 2018 (Part 2: Economies: US and International) appeared first on AWM.