Read Doug’s articles originally printed in The Jerusalem Post.
Profile Perspectives
Proper financial planning can change your relationship with money.
Can a Trust Protect Your Children Without Causing Conflict?
A client called to discuss how to protect his sons after he was gone… without creating any conflict.
Several years earlier, he had worked with an attorney to establish a trust. A professional trustee would manage the assets, a trust protector would provide oversight, and both sons would be protected from outside pressure or impulsive decisions. … Read more
Scattered U.S. Accounts Are Costing Americans in Israel More Than They Realize
A woman in her early 80s called for a financial planning discussion along with her son. She lives comfortably in Jerusalem, managing expenses from Social Security, Bituach Leumi, and a pension from her time as a teacher. Her American accounts had been scattered across a few financial institutions for years, untouched and slowly leaking value she didn’t realize she was losing. … Read more
The Portfolio Your Spouse Built May Not Be the One You Need
A prospective client sat across from me wanting to review her portfolio. She had moved to Israel several years earlier with accounts managed by a firm in the U.S. and wanted to know if she should stay or switch to someone local.
I pulled up the statement. About half the portfolio was in equity funds and structured products linked to the S&P 500…. Read more
Blockchain Is Not Bitcoin: What Investors Confuse and Why It Matters
“I keep hearing about this blockchain thing,” a client said on a recent call. “Now it seems like it’s actually happening in a big way.” She wanted to invest in a blockchain ETF, but when I asked what caught her interest, the conversation revealed a pattern I see often: investors confuse the blockchain with Bitcoin. … Read more
Retirement Income Gaps: What Americans in Israel Often Overlook
A client called recently because he wasn’t sure what to do next. He and his wife had just sold an inherited property in Israel and received a little over a million shekels. It should have felt like a windfall, but when we walked through the numbers, the reality became clear. Even with the proceeds deposited,… Read more
When Semiconductors Soar in Your Portfolio, Should You Sell or Hold?
A client called while commuting between cities in Israel. The connection was noisy, but the question came through clearly: semiconductors had been performing exceptionally well in his portfolio, and he wanted to know if it was time to trim before a correction.
We reviewed his holdings. He owned several major chip stocks and a semiconductor-focused fund…. Read more
Inherited a U.S. Portfolio? Why the Structure May No Longer Fit
A woman called recently about a retirement account she had inherited. She mentioned Warren Buffett’s advice about simplicity and low-cost index funds, then asked whether she should restructure what she owned. But the real issue surfaced quickly. She was holding about 30 individual stocks, most of them small positions. She had never chosen any of them. … Read more
When Fear of Rising Rent in Israel Leads to Riskier Financial Decisions
A client paused during our conversation and admitted what had been driving her thinking for months. “A lot of what’s behind this is fear,” she said. “Fear that eventually rent will go so high I won’t have anywhere to go.” She had been researching land purchases, imagining that owning property would solve the anxiety she felt about rising housing costs in Israel…. Read more
Balancing Risk and Reward in Inherited Investments
A client recently asked me about an inherited IRA that was sitting almost entirely in a money market fund. The returns were modest, and the client wondered whether it made sense to stay the course or shift toward something with more growth potential. It is a question that comes up often among Americans living in Israel who manage U.S…. Read more
When Credit Card Debt Beats Market Returns
A client called about a maturing bank deposit (CD). She had significant cash available and wanted to discuss reinvestment options. But halfway through the conversation, she paused and asked about something else: credit card debt she’d been carrying for months.
She hesitated before bringing it up. The debt wasn’t from careless spending…. Read more