Category Archives: Investing

Charitable Deductions

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There are many ways to give to charitable causes without risk of IRS wrath. We agree that there is a lot of value in making contributions to charities partly with dollars that would be paid in income taxes, but each person has to recognize that you must simultaneously give away non-tax money. For example, a gift of $1M can in some cases reduce your taxes by about $400K (or 40% of the donated dollars) BUT you must accept that the other $600k will be funded from your savings (non-tax dollars).

The tools used to make charitable contributions can be simple direct donations to a charity or to many using Donor Advised Funds (DAF), or a specific group using a charitable trust or use of Family Private Foundations. The type of contributions can be cash, stock, shares in a company, or any asset. What is important is that the charitable deduction follow IRS proven process to the letter. This will prevent negative consequences of having to pay taxes and tax penalties years later.

This month, we have a case (Braen, et. al v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, TC) that disallowed a $5.22 million charitable income tax deduction claimed by the Braen family in connection with a sale of a property in NY made through S Corp shares. The rejection appears to be based on not adhering to standard timing/practices and on property valuation misstatements. Unless they appeal, the family will have no deduction and must pay substantial penalties to the IRS.

What does this mean for you? There is nothing risky about using known and established ways to reduce your tax liability and particularly advantageous if you can also use it to fulfill your philanthropic plan, but this must be implemented using proven processes. Let us know if you are ready to create your philanthropic financial plan.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

US credit downgrade by Fitch

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As you have no doubt heard, Fitch downgraded US credit to double A plus from triple A. Many reasons have been given for their decision though I think only one is at the core of the downgrade — “the increasing failure of politicians to tackle pressing reforms” and demonstrate a stable process for making long-term country-wide financial decisions. I can’t argue with that . . . the debt ceiling crisis demonstrated that our politicians are disinterested in an orderly financial decision process.

A bit of history to provide perspective on these credit rating companies:
Fitch Ratings Inc., Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s are the “Big Three” credit rating agencies nationally recognized to evaluate financial products/companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since 1975.

In 2011, the S&P Global Rating was the first to drop US credit to double A. The market mostly ignored this downgrade since this is the same credit rating company that continued to sustain a AAA rating for Lehmann Brothers even as LB filed for bankruptcy. Making matters worse, when the dust settled, this credit agency was found to have benefited from providing high credit ratings to packaged subprime mortgages (i.e., those with no-job, no income) that were then sold to unwary investors.

Moody’s is the remaining credit agency that still believes that the US will pay off its bills and deserves the AAA rating.

Though the remaining countries with triple A credit ratings from all three agencies have stable financial process around debt management many of them have high national debt levels. The countries are Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Luxemburg, Singapore, and Australia.

What does this downgrade mean? For now, not too much since the US dollar remains the go-to currency and US Treasuries are still considered the risk-free asset to have, particularly during a crisis. Unfortunately, this downgrade does mean that the debt service payments will increase and erode faith in the US dollar.

To resolve this issue, the US needs to deal with long-term fiscal issues in an organized and responsible manner.

What does this mean for your portfolio? Not much in the short-term. It does though remind us to maintain a globally allocated portfolio.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Volatility (Bear & Bull Markets) and Market Behavior

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Since this year’s market is expected to continue to be volatile, I want to remind you that in times of market volatility, going to safer alternatives is tempting but can be costly. Safer alternatives should only be used for money that you want to use in the short-term and not as a response to potential market downturn fears.

We would all like to miss market drops (Bear market) but avoiding short-term declines by exiting the market often results in missing large market increases (Bull market). In fact, if you missed the market’s 10 best days over the past 30 years, your returns would have been cut in half. And missing the best 30 days would have reduced your returns by an astonishing 83%.

S&P 500 Index Average Annual Total Returns: 1993–2022*

*Past performance does not guarantee future results. [Data Source: Morningstar 2/23].

The bottom line – “Good Days Happen in Bad Markets” and exiting to safer allocations due to fear usually results in significant losses.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

The Market and Commentary on US Debt

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So far this year, we’ve seen improvements with increased investment opportunities as businesses appear to be recovering and new ventures are obtaining needed capital. We are expecting that portfolio recovery will continue in parallel with improving inflation and business growth rather than the current politically created debt ceiling crisis.

This debt ceiling extension (currently at $31.5T) crisis is causing the US irreparable damage in the eyes of those who buy our debt. For many it is a demonstration that the US debt is no longer a low-risk investment of choice.  Hopefully this deadlock will be resolved without further damage to our financial standing. According to Yellen, it needs to be approved by June 5th.

The current agreement caps military spending at $886B and nonmilitary discretionary spending at $704B and would only allow increases of $9B and $7B respectively in the following year. This means a claw-back of the unspent COVID relief ($28B) and shift of $20B to nondefense items. Also elimination of at least $1.4B funding for the IRS. There are increased work requirements for some recipients of Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). A requirement to streamline permitting in the National Environmental Policy Act was also added to the list. These are some of the requirements to extend the Debt limit beyond the next election.  So far the agreement has no impact on Medicare/Social Security/climate change and promotion of clean energy.

As soon as this crisis is resolved we will refocus on economic activity and inflation to prepare for the next Federal Reserve meeting on June 14th. On June 2nd we expect the employment report and June 13th the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Together this information will guide the Federal Reserve on whether to implement the current expected ¼% interest increase.

Finally, it is hard to understand how we willingly accept debt accumulation levels for the US that we wouldn’t accept for ourselves. As you know from your own finances, if you take on too much debt then you may not have a lender for additional debt. In the same manner as we saw recently with the runs on the SVB and First Republic Bank, when the US debt exceeds the amount that willing buyers want to buy, then central banks do not have anyone to provide us with liquidity, so they have to increase interest rates or print dollars. This crisis would be worth the turmoil if it actually generated actions that deal with the long-term accumulation of US Debt regardless of who is in government. The last time we attempted to deal with US Debt was in 2010-11 with the Simpson-Bowles plan under Obama and yet our debt accumulation has continued to grow.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Key Points of a Divorce that Everyone should know

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It is our goal to provide each client with education and empower them to integrate finances into their lives so that they can support their wishes now and for the future. We should all know the financial impact behind our decisions before making our choices. Couples can find that finances along with shared future goals can empower and strengthen their relationship but at times, future goals are no longer aligned, and couples choose to go their separate ways.

A divorce is a legal process to address the separation of two lives in an orderly and legal manner and allow each adult to move forward in their new lives. In California, it doesn’t matter if this is a traditional marriage or a domestic partnership nor does it matter if it is with same or opposite sex partners.

Over the years I’ve attended many divorce financial planning events and, last weekend one that was particularly good, so I thought I’d share what these professionals said about the next most important step after deciding to divorce.1

My goal below is to educate everyone and is not intended only for those considering a divorce.

What needs to happen to obtain a divorce?

A divorce is granted either by an agreement generated by a judge or one generated by negotiation— or usually both. A divorce judgment is a legal document that declares that the marriage (or domestic partnership) is dissolved and typically includes an agreement on income, debt, assets, and parenting responsibilities. To receive a divorce judgment requires that a petition be filed, a declaration of disclosure, and then wait 6 months plus a day. [Keep in mind that the professionals, at this event1, were all talking about California which is a “no-fault state.” In California it doesn’t matter who serves the divorce petition but in other states the process can be significantly different.]

In the divorce process there is a great deal of paperwork particularly around finances and parenting that is easier to assemble if you have a non-adversarial approach. For finances there is a requirement to file Declarations of Disclosure (initial & final) which includes income & expenses, assets & liabilities (emphasis on all assets), and income tax returns.

How can you go about obtaining a divorce?

  • DIY – Do It Yourself divorce. This process has the fewest fees and couples retain most of the control, but it does require agreement on the process and terms. Together you must cover the legal, financial, and emotional conversations in a respectful and non-threatening manner.
    We recommend that, at minimum, you have an attorney review your agreement before submitting it to the court. The costs will be limited to a filing fee and payment for the attorney and any other professional(s).
  • Traditional divorce, where the decision is ultimately made by a judge, takes control out of your hands. Instead, the judge will apply the law to determine your rights, responsibilities, and entitlements in what is an adversarial platform. This process is the most familiar, most expensive, and often most aggravating. The courts are swamped with cases, so this approach takes the longest to complete. The judge, moreover, doesn’t know you and will, nevertheless, pass judgments that will be binding. The law defines your rights, and the court can compel a party to adhere to the terms regardless of fairness.
  • Mediation is the polar opposite of the traditional divorce. It is a facilitated process to help the divorcing individuals come to an agreement using neutral professionals. In this process it is important to hire a mediator who knows family law and is not adversarial in nature. This private and voluntary process will require conversations and thinking outside the box so as to deliver an outcome that is acceptable to both. The intent is for an agreement that will last, take shorter time and be less expensive than traditional divorce, BUT equally binding. We find this process requires compromise and a willingness to reach a settlement. The challenges for this type of divorce are that each person MUST be able to remain civil and even friendly during mediation since both will need to compromise. This process is, therefore, not appropriate when there is a coercive, substance abusing or violent relationship. Unlike the traditional process you can’t force anyone to keep to their process or make decisions but once an agreement is signed and approved by the court then it is enforceable.
  • Collaborative process. Collaborative divorce is similar to mediation but is structured so that decisions are made together with a team of legal, financial, and mental health professionals on both sides that follow the same ‘collaborative’ approach. The goal of this process goes beyond the agreement and is particularly important for those who have children or will need to interact with each other for a period of time after the divorce (such as for co-parenting tasks that can last the life of the children). The process often results in private confidential and controlled agreements, but it can be very expensive since all the professionals concerned must be experienced and trained in the collaborative process, which is not the usual adversarial legal system. Although it can be the most expensive, the process may yield a more workable outcome. Like mediation, a collaborative divorce doesn’t work for anyone experiencing violence, coercion, or substance abuse.

Divorce is a dramatic change and is often accompanied by conflicting emotions of grief, anger, fear, and anxiety. It is therefore very difficult to make complex decisions during these emotionally intense periods. We have to acknowledge that humans are wired to perceive and respond to danger/fear with an automatic survival response which is the opposite of calm thoughtful thinking. The goal is to generate a calm and thoughtful environment. It is, therefore, particularly important to ensure that the behaviors, words, and actions be those you would find acceptable in the long-term, particularly in front of children. If children are involved, you must also follow Standard Family Law Restraining Orders.

What is AIKAPA’s Role?

We are not divorce professionals. Our role is to provide each of our clients with support regarding their finances by generating needed documents and answering specific questions. For some, this can be done by giving us permission to discuss your finances with your divorce professionals and for others it is done by answering questions posed by each client in individual or in joint conversations. When requested, we also create new financial plans for each client so that they can visualize their finances in the future. In Domestic Partnership dissolution we must also consider federal and state rules that will allow for the same outcome as is experienced for those in traditional marriages.

As a fiduciary, AIKAPA, must respond to both parties openly and completely.

We will not execute financial transactions without approval from both clients once we are aware that you’ve decided to divorce. We work to provide the necessary supporting financial materials in a balanced, sensitive, and factual manner.

Since we understand that a financial agreement in a divorce is a very personal and emotional document, we do not participate in creating the agreement with our clients. We encourage our clients to work together and ask us questions or hire individual divorce professionals to ensure that your agreement represents your wishes today and in the future.

Once there is a joint agreement and a court divorce judgment, we are tasked to ensure that the family portfolio assets are split as indicated in the agreement/court decision.

AIKAPA is here to support the family in each financial decision, but the choices and preferred actions rest with the family.

1Much of the content for this article was from a presentation by Collaborative Practices California – Collaborative Divorce North Bay. If you request it, we can share notes with you or you can join one of their Saturday morning webinars on this topic.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure and the FDIC

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As many of you are aware, the FDIC placed a California bank (SVB) under receivership. The FDIC took this action to protect depositors in the face of unsustainable withdrawals (a “run on the bank”). SVB is a regional bank best known for supporting new venture businesses (in technology and biotechnology) and with assets worldwide. An additional small regional bank located in New York (Signature Bank or SBNY) was also placed into FDIC receivership just two days later.

What happened? SVB sold assets (long term bonds) at a significant loss just to cover deposit outflows which triggered more outflows.

What impact does an FDIC takeover have on your deposited money? None, if the account is FDIC insured and the balance is under $250K, though there may be a delay to access this cash. This is why we recommend that you retain an emergency account in an FDIC savings account at a separate bank.

In this case, the Federal government also stepped in and guaranteed all deposits to ensure accounts were made whole. The timing was particularly important since mid-month liquidity was needed to make business payroll and loan payments. Except in the Venture Capital space, SVB and SBNY are not household names, so why was prompt action required? The concern was that fear would spread to other institutions even though most other financial institutions are well capitalized, highly liquid, diversified, and risk compliant. In fact, we did see contagion to banks like First Republic Bank (FRB—which, incidentally, is popular with several of our clients) which had to obtain additional liquidity from the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan. In our view this failure was isolated and is nothing like the 2008 bank crisis. It was a result of regulatory exemptions (approved by the US Senate which was extensively lobbied by the CEO of SVB) and poor Risk Management at SVB.

As a consequence, the regulatory environment will likely tighten for regional banks and the Federal government will expect a fixed Balance Sheet within a year. In the meantime, the Justice Department has already launched an inquiry into the collapse of SVB and the actions of its executives who sold bank shares just prior to the collapse.

What long-term and short-term impact will this collapse have on your portfolio? We do not expect any long-term negative effects. In the short-term, we are expecting more volatility and a delayed recovery for technology, financial services, and fixed income sectors. It is also worth noting that this crisis affords a long-term opportunity to buy into this downturn ahead of the recovery.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Family Loans

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Lending money to family is often intended to be a gift of love and to provide assistance, but it is also rife with perils, for both the lender and the borrower.  It goes without saying that lending money should only be considered when permitted by your financial plan. In other words, don’t give money away at the expense of your future cash flow.

If all goes well, the loan will be repaid in a timely manner and will be a win-win for the lender and the borrower. In our experience, this is not usually the case.

In fact, most family loans are forgiven and often turn into gifts. In some cases, family discord and financial stress derail the family relationship when the borrower is unable to repay, and the lender needs the funds for their financial well-being. At other times the loan repayment is not the issue, but other squabbles (like unequal lending to family members) arise which can cause defaults and family resentments.

Lending money to a family member in exchange for a promissory note must follow IRS rules. The IRS requirements are clear, the loan must charge a minimum interest rate, must document transactions, and require repayments. If it is instead a gift (no repayment expected), then it must be stated as such and recorded for gift tax purposes (and may require filing an IRS Gift Tax Form).

The recent highly publicized case of Bank of America independent director David Yost’s daughter’s divorce is an appropriate example. Yost appears to have made $8M in loans to the couple years earlier and on divorce demanded repayment from his soon to be ex-son-in-law. The ex- claimed they were not loans but gifts that Yost made to appear as loans to evade taxes. This landed both families in court with suits on both sides and the IRS watching from the sideline.

It is common for highly affluent families to make private loans with assets they do not need in their retirement. It is particularly beneficial when loans are used to purchase assets for the next generation without tax liability and to simultaneously reduce the size of the lender’s estate while avoiding future estate taxes (currently, this estate tax reduction strategy is relevant for families with estates greater than $12M).

My concern over family loans arise when the financial plan doesn’t comfortably cover the loan and yet the lender feels emotionally inclined to make the loan despite the projected shortfall in future cash flow. I find that lenders who are family members do not recognize that despite best intentions the possibility exists that the money will not be repaid, and money not market invested is missing out on gain that will be needed later in retirement. In addition, most are not aware that without proper documentation the IRS can label this transaction as a tax avoidance technique.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Manipulative Investment Products:  Politics and Emotion

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The investment world frequently capitalizes on emotions by creating products (funds) that cater to the latest fads or emotionally charged topic. A recent trend has been to create funds that filter companies based on political views.

A recently concocted fund demonstrates this trend precisely. The adviser ostensibly boycotts certain companies in the S&P 500 perceived to be too liberal and calls it a new fund. The fund’s very name is designed to excite and exploit political passions, irrespective of what the client might need in their portfolio. In addition, defining one company as “left-leaning” or another as being “more Conservative” is not only arbitrary in practice, but also contrary to the entire idea of diversification, and the “rational investor.” The marketing pitch captures people who believe that filtering using personal conservative ideals, beliefs, and values will yield needed market returns while investing in companies they think fit with their political beliefs. This is not likely to have the expected outcome since markets seldom behave how we want or expect them. They are encouraged to invest dollars without regard to capital market behavior or diversification. Amazingly they do claim to be ‘diversified’ and not to compromise performance without much history.

Whether “pro Right” or “pro Left”, I consider this trend more insidious than other marketing techniques because it encourages investors to use politics and emotions to select investments for a retirement portfolio. Retirement portfolio allocation shouldn’t be derailed by fads or emotions but capture gains when others react emotionally.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Market Volatility – Panic has a Price

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Market volatility is part of the deal when investing for the long-term. Currently, some of the volatility is due to inflation and the invasion of Ukraine but most of the volatility is from fear of the unknown (by market participants). We’ve had many periods that generated panic and each time an emotional reaction or seeking ‘safety’ had a price.

Since 1960, the markets have dropped more than 30% during seven crises.

Instead of seeking ‘safety’ during a crisis, we encourage you to let us do what we do best and make the most of these crises and instead focus on things that you directly control.  The best way to handle market volatility is to have a plan in place and let it be executed without ‘fear’.

So, what should you do during periods of volatility?

  1. Take care of your health by not over focusing on media hype – crises are a bonanza for media outlets. For example, CNN searches were up from 89% to 193% during March of 2020. ‘Googling’ trending topics only makes us more anxious. Online searches will not guide you to how your portfolio and your finances should be managed to get you to your goals.
  2. Do not check your portfolio every day but do evaluate your anxiety level – if you find that you are overly anxious then we need to re-examine your asset allocation once the market recovers. Keep in mind that unless you depend on the portfolio for cash support, what happens in the market today is not relevant.
  3. Monitor your cash flow – ensure that you have the cash flow you need and that you have the necessary emergency fund.
  4. If you have a long-term horizon (meaning that you are not planning to draw from your portfolio over the next 3 years) then view the volatility as dips that we will use to reallocate your portfolio.
  5. If you depend on the portfolio for ongoing cash flow and we developed a distribution plan for you then you have a withdrawal plan for the next 3-5 years regardless of the market dip. Stay within planned spending.

I don’t deny that there is good reason to be anxious about the war in Ukraine and the impact it will have on our lives and the economy. Even so, this is not the time to decide that you want to make your portfolio ‘safer’. ‘Safer’ often means going to cash or bonds but the time to move to cash is when markets are doing well not during a crisis. During a crisis the ideal action is to use cash to buy positions that will benefit your portfolio in the long-term even if they underperform in the short-term.

The graph below illustrates how a hypothetical “fearful” investor, who chose safety during market downturns of 30%, missed gains time and time again during market recoveries. This investor traded long-term results for short-term comfort likely because the constant drumbeat of negative news made it difficult to stay true to the investment plan.

But how about market timing? Research shows that market timing strategies do not work well for individual investors. Dalbar’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior measured the effects of individual investors moving into and out of mutual funds. They found that the average individual investor returns are less—in many cases, much less—than market indices return held through the crisis.

But how about, “it is different this time”? Of course, each crisis is different BUT the US has experienced 26 bear markets since 1929 and the markets recovered all 26 times though some took a long period of time to recover. The key to market recovery is that businesses must continue to make profits.
If you find that you are overly anxious about your portfolio, then record this in your Aikapa folder and let us seriously address your portfolio allocation and the tradeoff to your long-term goals once the market has recovered.

If you find you have unexpected/unplanned cash flow needs from your portfolio, then let’s talk about it and find ways to provide what you need today minimizing damage to your long-term plans.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com

Student Government Loan Repayments to Restart in May

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The Department of Education has announced that it will restart student loan payments that were frozen at the start of the pandemic. This was intended to allow for increased cash flow and savings during the pandemic. So far, it does NOT appear that the government will create new student loan forgiveness programs. If you were able to save over the last two years, then let’s review if paying down your student loans is the best use of your additional savings.

Action for those with a federal government student loan:

  1. Review the terms and balance of your loan.
  2. Make sure that you understand if it falls under any of the existing (and not yet honored) forgiveness programs.
  3. Log on and update your contact information.
  4. Determine your new payment amount and if you can consider paying it earlier. We recommend that you start paying it sooner than May if your cash flow allows so that you lower the loan before May, but this may not be ideal for all.Let us know and we can go over your specific situation.
  5. If the loan repayment amount doesn’t work within your current budget, then let’s work on a different solution before the May due date.
  6. Don’t count on blanket loan forgiveness – although it may arrive, it is not likely – the current government goal appears to be focused on fulfilling existing forgiveness programs not creating new ones.
  7. Check with us BEFORE you accept loan forgiveness offers – they may not be legit – anyone offering that they can easily forgive your student loan without details should be suspect.

Finally, when working online to obtain information on your student loans (or other financial transactions) please err on the side of caution and check with us and your CPA to ensure that you avoid scammers. They get more sophisticated each day.

Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS

www.aikapa.com