In order to enforce our tax laws, the IRS has to take a tough stand with taxpayers. They hold them accountable for their tax. But sometimes that stance is unfair, especially in the case of tax returns filed as Married Filing Joint. There are times where the tax debt is the responsibility of only one [...]

After we went and got the pizzas for the birthday celebration of my youngest son, my second-youngest daughter (younger still) said, “Elizabeth [oldest daughter] says that gas prices will reach $6/gallon this summer.”  I said, “If it were that certain, it would have happened already.”  I added that there is a tendency for gas prices [...]

The due date passed this last week and I am fairly positive that many of you took some days off to unwind, recuperate and, hopefully, recharge so you will be ready for the challenges and opportunities for your firm during the rest of 2011.  There should be several important initiatives on your list.

But for [...]

My recent article 

Product Infatuation, or focusing only on how great your product is, must be balanced with an even greater focus on the needs of your customers. 

Marketing [...]

Jeff Hall 

When forming, planning, building, and growing a successful entrepreneurial venture, entrepreneurs need to be very familiar with their cap table. It is not enough to assign that to your legal counsel. The cap table will make all the difference in [...]

When I started my asset management business, I did not know what I was doing.  I probably still don’t, though finally I have a little more assets under management than I have of my own assets managed by my strategies.  I learned that I needed to manage both stocks and bonds, in order to provide [...]

This week I have been following the Mike Peters cartoon, Mother Goose & Grimm.  It seems that Ralph has decided to become a Lemming:

Ralph: What do I need to do to become a Lemming?
#1 Lemming: You must recite the Lemming Oath. Here, I’ll show you.
#1 Lemming: Repeat after me.
Group of Lemmings:  Repeat after [...]

All of OZ (the tax prep community) rejoices at the news that the 1099 reporting requirements for both businesses and rentals is dead. Thousands of exhausted but happy tax professionals are dancing around their desk throwing 1040 forms in the air to celebrate that Congress has finally got it right and that as soon as [...]

Unconstrained strategies for bonds are hot now with yields so low.  But wait. Let’s take a step back.  What do we mean by a constrained strategy?

A constrained strategy is one that limits the investments one can engage in either through:

Specifying an index that the manager is charged with beating
Specifying percentage limits for investments, split by [...]

Have you heard it said inside your firm? Have you said it yourself?

“We are moving the firm upstream. We need larger clients. We need more high-end clients”

You talk about it as part of your strategic planning exercises. You discuss it every year at your partner retreat. You hire the best marketing/sales consultants to teach your [...]