John Gay named as Five Star Wealth Manager in August Texas Monthly

John Gay named as Five Star Wealth Manager in August Texas Monthly

Selection process:

Five Star Professional's research team contacted consumers in the Dallas/Fort Worth region and asked if they had experience working with a wealth manager. Consumers who agreed to participate in the survey provided the name of the wealth manager and rated that individual according to key criteria such as integrity, communication and customer service. 

Surveys were sent to one in four high-net-worth households (more than 129,500 consumers) and more than 16,200 registered financial services professionals within the Dallas/Fort Worth region.

The survey data was collected and scored, resulting in the list of 2011 Dallas/Fort Worth Five Star Wealth Managers. The research methodology allows only 7% or fewer wealth managers in a given market to qualify for the Five Star Award. 

Five Star Professional adheres to the five criteria and six representations stated in the DALBAR SEC Staff No-Action Letter and the eight guidelines stated in the Investment Advisor Association SEC Staff No-Action Letter regarding third party recognition.

Five Star Professional follows standard sampling and survey practices used by other professional research organizations. Their research also includes feedback from industry peers and leaders, and a regulatory review to provide necessary checks and balances.

Your investments and the debt ceiling

For the past several weeks, there has been much hand-wringing going on over the continuing "debt ceiling deadline."

Yet the excessive amount of political rhetoric can't conceal two obvious conclusions:

1)  It is highly likely that our politicians will renew their own license to print money.  Whether or not they do it by the August 2nd "deadline" is immaterial.

When push comes to shove (ie, when Social Security checks become threatened), they will act to raise the debt limit.  If interest rates rise or if a ratings downgrade happens, it can be attributed to the sorry state of the country's finances, not to the lawmakers' failure to raise the debt ceiling.

2)  The current and future fiscal expectations in the U.S. are what drive the financial markets, not the debt ceiling squabble nor the "debt rating" handed down by the ratings agencies.

The financial markets and the American people are clearly unhappy with our deficit spending and investors "vote" every day based on their actions in the financial markets.

With all of the political posturing going on in D.C., you might be tempted to make changes to your investment portfolio.

My advice is to fight that urge, stay the course, and do nothing.
(assuming you have a sound, diversified portfolio in place that reflects your goals, timeframe, and risk tolerance)

It is most assuredly a losing proposition to attempt to "outsmart" the consensus of the market with knee-jerk reactionary investment changes. As always, the market consensus is constantly processing new information and acting accordingly.

Any "common knowledge" has long since been reflected in security prices and has no hope of being exploited.

The good news is that the debt ceiling is forcing the politicians to confront the ballooning government spending problem sooner rather than later and we can only hope that meaningful progress will be made.

In the meantime, expect high volatility in the markets during the short-term-- markets hate uncertainty and that seems to be what we will have for the foreseeable future.

Here is a recent commentary on this debate that gives a very thoughtful perspective:

 Hysteria and the debt debate

 

 

Fiscal Illusion: 11 strategies for government to squeeze money out of its population

Nearly 100 years ago, the Italian economist, Amilcare Puviani, suggested 11 strategies that a government could use if its goal were to squeeze as much money as possible out of its population:

1)  Use indirect, rather than direct taxes to hide the tax in the price of the goods.

2)  Inflation (via a state-controlled central bank).

3)  Borrowing (to postpone the necessary taxation).

4)  Gift and luxury taxes (wrap the tax in the purchase of a "special" purchase, reducing the "annoyance" of the tax).

5)  Institute "temporary" taxes (and then never repeal them).

6)  Tax unpopular minority groups (ie, the rich, smokers, windfall profit recipients).

7)  Threaten social collapse or withholding of monopoly government services if taxes are reduced.

8)  Collect taxes in small increments (ie, sales tax or income tax withholding).

9)  Create taxes whose amount (and the amount of the programs it funds) and incidence can't be predicted in advance (ie, Medicare).

10)  Extraordinary budget complexity to obfuscate public understanding.

11)  Use generalized expense categories to make assessment of individual components difficult.