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Ballentine Partners Viewpoint

Giving Away the IRA

Since their introduction in 1974 under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) have been widely used by investors as a tax-efficient way to prepare for retirement. Savers take a deduction on contributions during working years, investments grow tax-deferred, then income tax is assessed as the funds are distributed in […]

December 14, 2023

Sophisticated Wealth Planning for a Hollywood Ending: Down market strategies and their cult film counterparts

Hindsight is always 20/20, and there’s no question the investment markets have been challenging in 2022. Investment losses don’t have to be the whole story, though. Just like a good plot twist or unexpected movie ending, there are a few planning strategies that, if implemented properly, could provide a material impact and ease the pain of investment losses.

December 15, 2022

Family Compounds: A Tale of Two Properties

Homes are a place where hopes and dreams are formed, where accomplishments are celebrated, and where we feel sheltered through tough times. Many wealthy families have the goal to keep a particularly meaningful property in the family for future generations to enjoy and form their own memories in. However, it is challenging to execute this effectively.

December 14, 2022

Thinking about spending more time abroad? What to consider

Your summer trip to France was fantastic (even if you lost a bag or two at Charles de Gaulle) and now that you’re back, you want to find a way to spend more time there.

September 29, 2022

Hopefully Helpful Reading Suggestions

Let’s face it. Many business books should have been produced as short articles rather than 200 page books, or not written at all. But, there are a few gems. Here we mention some of our favorite reading suggestions. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey This is not just another of […]

April 21, 2022

Setting (and Resetting) Your Focus in 2021

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall” The Great Gatsby ― F. Scott Fitzgerald The fall is upon us: the season for planning and restarting ― the school year, the busy season, the end of summer, and the return to routine. Only three months stand between us and […]

September 30, 2021

Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS): A “Unicorn” Tax Benefit for Unicorns

Once used to describe a mythical creature, the term “unicorn” has been used recently to describe startups that have achieved a valuation greater than $1BN. With speculation of tax increases dominating recent headlines, there remain some equally rare provisions in the tax code that greatly benefit the founders, executives, and investors of these enterprises. Section […]

September 30, 2021

A New Start: Celebrity Divorces and Crafting a Post-Marriage Life

If you’ve been through a divorce recently and are facing these daunting tasks, what can you learn from the experiences of others that can help as you start to rebuild and craft your new life post-divorce?

June 11, 2021

We (Actually) Care a Lot

While it is easy to believe we would never fall victim to fraudulent schemes, criminals are getting more sophisticated each day.

June 11, 2021

The Ethos of Ballentine Partners

Seeking and valuing diverse perspectives has always been a value of our firm – see Roy Ballentine's ethos paper on other core values we hold dear and that we trust will continue to shape our firm into the future.

March 11, 2021

All That Glitters is not in The Golden State

Executive Summary Two tax bills in the California State Assembly propose to increase income taxes and add wealth tax on affluent California residents. If passed, this legislation would have major implications for our California-based clients. Two bills, referred to as AB-1253 and AB-2088, have recently been introduced in the California State Assembly and, if passed, […]

December 9, 2020

Coping With Radical Uncertainty

“You have got to expect the unexpected.”[1] “Stuff happens.”[2] How should a private investor respond to radical uncertainty? History, including very recent history, presents many examples of radical uncertainty that roiled investment markets. The collapse of the global financial system (2007 – 2009) and the world-wide pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (2019 – ?), […]

December 8, 2020