Wealth Management
(Washington)
Ask any high earning northerner about the worst element of Trump’s tax cuts, and you will invariably here the same answer: the introduction of the SALT cap (state and local taxes). The puny cap sent effective tax rates spiking in higher tax states and helped propel a migration southward. Well, that mostly hated legislation might be headed for extinction as calls from lawmakers are growing louder to get rid of it. Interestingly, the push to get rid of it is not coming from Republicans, but Biden’s own party, since it disproportionately affects blue states with high taxes. According to CNBC, “More than 20 Democrats and nine Republicans have joined a bipartisan caucus that has pledged not to vote for any legislation that doesn’t include a repeal of the SALT cap”.
FINSUM: This has always been a pretty rough piece of legislation (logical as it may be), and it is easy to see that Biden may have to compromise on this.
(New York)
The annuities business has long been “plagued’ by commissions. High fees paid out to sales people had a multi-part effect that hurt the industry’s reputation. On the one hand it made the products look less competitive, and on the other it led to some bad behaviors among brokers. However, as the industry has been changing, so have the fees structures, with commission-free annuities now an important fixture of the market.
FINSUM: DPL Financial specializes in providing commission free annuities from top providers so that RIAs can now sell annuities.
(Washington)
Joe Biden jut rocked markets in a big way. Yesterday afternoon, Bloomberg reported that Biden was planning to increase the capital gains tax rate on the wealthiest Americans by double, or up to just under 40%. The same rate as income taxes. Market reversed very sharply, but have been strong today. The tax would only affect Americans earning over $1m per year, which is 0.3% of the population, but taken in conjunction with other proposals to change the basis for capital gains taxes as it concerns inheritance, this is another big step.
FINSUM: The full scale tax overhaul on the wealthy has begun in earnest. Inheritance taxes and now capital gains taxes look likely to soar, with the latter not only on the wealthy. Advisors need to be very mindful of these changes as they disproportionately affect those who employ financial advisors.
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(New York)
There are a number of forces propelling annuities forward at the moment. Not only is their component of tax deferral getting more and more valuable given the new administration’s tax plans, but the need and desire to lock-in guaranteed income has grown over the last year. The single biggest force, however, is the US demographic trend. An astonishing 10,000 people per day are turning 65, and 16.5% of the population is now 65 or older. By 2030 all Baby Boomers will be over 65. That means this gigantic cohort is moving out of their wealth accumulating years and into their drawdown years. Many need guaranteed income.
FINSUM: A lot of advisors have an automatically negative reaction to annuities, but the market has improved a great deal in recent years, and for any clients they are a good option.
(New York)
Not a lot of people think about the tax benefits of annuities. This is partly because 401(k)s are also a key retirement product and get most of the “tax-deferred” attention, and partly because annuities just aren’t all that well understood. But what they allow is the tax-free accumulation of interest and gains over time. This feature is growing increasingly popular, especially this year, as tax rates look likely to rise under the new administration/Congress.
FINSUM: This is just one of several reason why annuities are being seen as more valuable, but it is certainly a good one as taxes even on middle class Americans looks likely to rise.
(New York)
Whether you are thinking of changing firms or just keeping an eye on the market, it is always good to know where you could maximize your take-home pay. With that in mind, here are the firms where you can get the best pay as a $1m producer. It is important to note that these are pretty bullish times for the industry given high market pricing and how that inflates fee income. Additionally, the totals shown have assumptions in them, for example an average balance of AUM across asset classes, length of service at 10 years etc. Here they are: Merrill Lynch, $485,000; UBS, $475,000, Wells Fargo, $472,325; Morgan Stanley, $445,000; Edward Jones, $543,350; Stifel, $514,000; Janney, $510,000; Raymond James $493,000.
FINSUM: The advantage of being at an independent really sinks in when you see these stats. There is nearly a full $100,000 spread between Ed Jones’ payout and Morgan Stanley’s at the same production level.