Read Doug’s articles originally printed in The Jerusalem Post.
Profile Perspectives
Proper financial planning can change your relationship with money.
How Your Financial Decisions Are Biased and What You Should Do to Fix Them
When it comes to the world of investing, what you don’t know can hurt you. Michael Roberto, author of Know What You Don’t Know, explained the ramifications of unawareness to me when we spoke on The Goldstein on Gelt Show. Mr. Roberto explained,… Read more
How to Protect Yourself When You Get Old
When a person starts to lose his mental faculties, this affects how he handles his money. Chronic forgetfulness and a lack of reasoning can lead to financial disaster. Worse still, vulnerable seniors are targets for financial fraudsters because their impaired thinking makes them less cautious and more trusting. Examples include:
–… Read more
Why Transferring Money Could Be Expensive
When it comes to transferring money, the big question is often whether to use a licensed money changer or go to the bank. Rather than recommend one over the other, I’ll just explain what I’ve learned over the years as a financial planner who helps people in Israel with their U.S…. Read more
How Punitive U.S. Financial Regulations Can Hurt You
If you are a U.S. citizen living overseas, your Social Security, foreign bank account, and investment accounts may cause you the following challenges:
Social Security challenges
If you retire overseas and receive a foreign pension and then apply for Social Security, this can adversely affect your eligibility to receive your full benefit…. Read more
What You Need to Know About Social Security
I recently gave a webinar on the subject of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which generated lots of feedback. Evidently, the WEP affects many American olim. Many American citizens who have made aliya weren’t aware that their moving to Israel and receiving a pension in Israel would affect Social Security payments…. Read more
Do You Know About These Hidden Dangers In Currencies?
If you’re ready to get serious about a multicurrency life, here are some key ideas you need to know.
Reference and Living Currency
The first thing you have to know is the difference between a reference currency and a living currency. A reference currency is the currency that you use to measure your net worth…. Read more
Did Your Brokerage Firm Ask You to Leave?
As a result of the Patriot Act, regulations were enacted that have made it difficult for U.S. investment firms to work overseas. Many firms have chosen to close down their operations outside the United States rather than adjust their compliance procedures. In fact, people living outside America have been receiving termination letters from companies like Wells Fargo,… Read more
Transferring Wealth with Stocks, Bonds, and Bicycles
Wealth transfer is a hot topic in financial planning. Thinking about how to pass funds from one generation to the next can be emotionally difficult. Perhaps the older generation doesn’t approve of the way the younger spends the money, or the younger generation isn’t involved in the family business…. Read more
Are You Too Scared to Invest
With the current news, investing can be a scary business. It’s great when you make money, but terrible when you lose. Even paper losses can hurt.
While investing can be nerve racking, it doesn’t need to be. If your investments are made according to your financial plan, and you maintain your desired asset allocation, … Read more
How Anti-Money-Laundering Legislation Hurts U.S. Citizens
As a result of anti-money-laundering legislation that was supposed to dry up the cash flow to terrorists, a great deal of trouble has befallen U.S. citizens living overseas. Not only do Americans now have to file IRS tax returns, but any of them who hold an aggregate of $10,000 in overseas accounts needs to file additional forms with the American government…. Read more