US Federal taxes are complicated enough, but residents of most US states know that state and local taxes (sometimes known as “SALT”) add an additional level payments and possible complexity. While US persons (citizens and permanent residents) are generally taxed on our worldwide income and estates regardless of where we live in the world, many […]
I have long argued that the S&P 500 is an overrated, overused stock market index benchmark, while also admitting it is still one of the best constructed and balanced benchmarks globally. By comparison, the flagship benchmarks of Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and other countries tend to be far more lopsided with industry concentrations in […]
While I am often asked “is now a good time to invest?” in both booming and declining economic times, I have recently been asked more and more about whether the economy is due for its first global recession since 2008-2009, and how to invest in preparation for the next recession. I recently wrote a short […]
For the third factor in this series, I wanted to highlight two of the most “classical” factors for classifying and selecting stocks: size (large vs small) and cheapness (growth vs value). These factors were perhaps most famously identified by academics Eugene Fama and Kenneth French, and popularised in the 3×3 grid used by Morningstar to […]
Buyback yield is one of the top factors I look for in stocks of companies I buy. Buyback yield can be thought of one of at least four components of total shareholder return, the others being book value growth, debt reduction / deleveraging yield (familiar to anyone who has paid down principal on a mortgage), […]
California-based attorney and asset protection expert Vivian Yuan is back in Hong Kong as a visiting speaker on Wednesday, December 13th at 6:30pm for our US trusts and estate planning seminar. Alaska, Wyoming, and South Dakota trusts are among those can be used by both American and non-Americans to better control investment and business assets […]
After changing jobs, or even getting posted on an expat assignment by the same company, employees generally have the freedom to do a 401k rollover of their retirement savings account to an IRA account at their choice of brokerage firm or mutual fund company. Doing a 401k rollover to an IRA, and consolidating all your […]
Although ETFs have become the exchange-traded investment vehicle of choice over the past 25 years, closed-end funds remain a relevant way to access less liquid and less scalable assets, and for this reason they are often available at a discount to their net asset value with many paying high dividend yields. As a handy reference, […]
The US is by far the largest market for listed real estate investment trusts (REITs), with over US$1 trillion in market cap, including some large foreign REITs trading over the counter as ADRs. US REITs are especially attractive for IRA and other tax-deferred accounts. For reference, here is a list of 200 of the largest […]
Looking forward to catching up with my colleagues in the San Francisco Bay Area tomorrow, even though I know this is last minute. Â You can reach me via WhatsApp, my US number, or through the contact form below: Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons