By now most of you will have received a 2014 Tax Document Checklist. This is the first year these have been provided and we’re hopeful they will simplify and clarify which slips you can expect to receive and the timing. We welcome any feedback you may have, and hope we can make the experience even better going forward. We do anticipate there will be a few slips missing from the checklist.

Here is the link to “Your Guide to 2014 Income Tax Reporting”.

Resist the Rate — Hike Huff

In June 2013, then-Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke hinted the time to “moderate” quantitative easing was approaching. The press called this “tapering”. The Fed would end QE gradually, by slowly shrinking its asset purchases rather than going cold turkey. What happened? Within a week, US equities had sold off about 5% and the 10-year Treasury yield shot up about 40 basis points, from 2.2% to 2.6%.

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Dwight’s trip to Guatemala

Three years ago, my wife and I made a charitable donation to help fund AGUDESA, a micro-finance lender in Guatemala. Last month, I visited Guatemala to see how our donation had been deployed, and to better understand micro-finance lending. My trip was eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and inspiring at the same time. Click below to read about life in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country (with over 56% of the population living in poverty), and how the power of the human spirit can lift people beyond their humble circumstances.

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Book review: The Goldfinch

Review by Jessica

I just finished reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt for my book club. It begins with Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, whose world is turned violently upside down. While on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his mother, a terrorist bomb goes off, killing her and many other innocent bystanders.

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