HNW households, those with over $500,000 of investable assets, represent 10.5 million households in the United States. HNW households that file joint tax returns, and who have ordinary taxable income of over $100,000, have a minimum federal tax rate of over 25%. Add State taxes onto this and the percentage goes even higher! With this hefty chunk coming out of the pockets of these affluent investors, tax planning and finding ways to reduce this burden should be of paramount importance. Who do these households turn to for advice?
Everyone knows about Google, right? Okay, sure but how about Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? And those crazy-looking Bluetooth headsets? Who uses those? Wait, what is “Bluetooth”, exactly? Do you want that? And RSS? It sounds like a syndrome. What will it do for me?
Considering that jobless rates hit a four-year high, GM and other companies posted massive losses, and the price of oil rose again, it is not surprising that Stock Market Conditions is what the affluent feel affect their investment plans the most.
Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII) and the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII) both fell 9 points to their all-time lows in one of the most dramatic months in American financial history. The SAII plummeted to –22 and the SMII down to –18.
The closing days of September 2008, finds the U.S. Congress and Treasury heatedly debating and fine-tuning a $700 billion financial rescue plan, meant to fend off almost certain economic disaster. Not since the Great Depression has the nation seen such an extensive period of government intervention into the financial system, and in so short a time period.
Within this issue is the alarming reality that women, even wealthier women, on average, are saving less than men for a retirement that will start sooner and last longer. External political, economic and financial factors, as well as life situations, shape the attitudes and behaviors of wealthy women. The respondents to Spectrem’s research on wealthy women were focused on the long-term security issues of retirement in an uncertain environment.