Financial Symmetry News & Views

Archive for 2009

Even though 2010 is almost here, you still have time to take advantage of some 2009 tax planning strategies.  Here are some suggestions to consider before ringing in the New Year.

Should you take losses or pull in capital gains?  It depends on your likely tax bracket…Take a look at [...]

As many of you know, it can be hard to create a budget and even harder to stick to it. To do so, we generally recommend using software like Quicken that is designed specifically for expense tracking.

Will Holt, CFP®, CPA was recently quoted in the Saturday Evening Post.
Will discussed tax-loss harvesting, an important but often over-looked tax strategy.  Click here to read the article, “Taking the Sting Out of Investment Loses” by Russell Wild, MBA.

After 10 years in the same location, we’ve outgrown our space. We have moved to a new building next door to our old one.  As we settle in, we may be slow to respond to voice mail or email messages.
Our new address is:
1511 Sunday Drive
Suite 120
Raleigh, NC 27607
Thank you for your patience, we look forward [...]

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is offering as much as 330% of a brokers annual production to join the firm.

Click here to view the article from Investment News: “Morgan Stanley Smith Barney pumps up recruiting packages to lure top producers.”

With all the problems that big Wall Street firms caused for the global economy, it is absolutely [...]

Bill Ramsay, CFP®, was recently quoted in the November 2009 Investment Advisor magazine.

Bill Ramsay, CFP®, recently participated in his third Triangle Business Journal roundtable event.  The 2009 Financial Roundtable: Wealth Strategies was held at the Triangle Business Journal office on September 29th, 2009, with the full article appearing in the October 16th, 2009 issue.
Bill also participated in the Triangle Busniess Journal’s rountables on August 23, 2007 and [...]

Financial Symmetry Inc. is proud to announce that Will Holt, CPA, has earned the CFP® designation. Congratulations Will!
The following is Will’s recent letter to our clients announcing his achievement.

When I joined Financial Symmetry a little over three years ago, I came in with a broad goal of using my extensive experience in accounting and taxation [...]

Understanding the difference between a fiduciary standard and a suitability standard could pay major dividends in a relationship with a financial professional.  Operating under the fiduciary standard requires a planner to put the client’s interest ahead of his or her own.  In other words, don’t be afraid to ask your financial advisor the motivation behind [...]

When researching mutual funds to invest client funds, we evaluate numerous aspects including corporate culture, manager experience and compensation, research philosophy, and expenses. One of our primary concerns is that fund managers have their interests aligned with those of shareholders. In our view we find one of the best measures of this to [...]