Capital Conversations (Spring 2019): Seniors, Exploitation and Red Flags

  |  May 6, 2019

Estimates are that older Americans lose approximately $2.9 billion a year to a growing assortment of financial exploitation schemes and frauds, according to the 2019 Fraud Book recently released by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Criminals, foreign and domestic, are targeting seniors with the goal of depriving them of their savings, including retirement savings. Over the years, a number of our clients have asked that question and been surprised at the answer. Read more. Read More

The Value of Due Diligence to a Business Transaction

  |  May 3, 2019

You’ve decided to sell your company. How do you make sure you will receive fair value for the true worth of the business? After all, you have spent years building a brand, a reputation, and success of your business. Now that you’re finally considering your exit strategy, it is vital that you can meet your objectives when the exit is imminent. Read more. Read More

Market View (April 2019) – Rules vs. Principles: A Talk by Andrew Fastow

  |  April 17, 2019

The CFA Society of New Mexico recently hosted a fireside chat by Andrew Fastow, the former CFO of Enron. Mr. Fastow began the time by acknowledging that what he did was wrong, unethical, and illegal. He also took full responsibility for his actions and apologized.

For the rest of his talk, however, Mr. Fastow did not focus on Enron, but rather the way we work to rationalize questionable behavior. Mr. Fastow led us through a few thought exercises that might appear to be unethical, but upon further examination and with a little more information were actually examples of routine business practices. Read more. Read More

NM Legislature Enacts Multiple Changes to Tax Law

  |  April 5, 2019

On April 4, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 6 into law, initiating complex changes to New Mexico tax laws over a two-year period, some of which are effective immediately and others that will be phased in thru July 2026.

The new laws include changes to the personal income tax, corporate income tax, gross receipts tax (GRT), and several excise taxes. Here are some key provisions of the bill that affect New Mexico’s taxpayers. Read more. Read More

Planning Matters (March 2019) – Time Is Running Out for Certain Social Security Claiming Strategies

  |  March 31, 2019

compass on top of money

he universe of potential Social Security retirement benefit claimants is divided into two groups that are separated by one date: January 2, 1954. All individuals who were born on or after that date are limited to one Social Security benefit claim when it comes time to file for benefits. Married (or formerly married) workers born prior to that date have the potential ability to claim one Social Security benefit while allowing the second, the larger benefit, to grow by up to 32% before claiming it. The first benefit in question is called the spousal benefit and it has a special application for households with claimants born prior to January 2, 1954. Read more. Read More

REDW Renews Commitment to American Indian Graduate Center – Pledges $23,000 in Scholarships

  |  March 4, 2019

REDW LLC, one of the Southwest’s 10 largest public accounting and business consulting firms, announced today it has made a financial commitment of $23,000 to the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC), a national organization providing educational assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native college students throughout the United States.

The scholarship, which was also offered in 2014, is designed to encourage undergraduate and graduate level Native American students pursue a degree in the field of accounting and finance. Named the REDW Native American Scholarship in Accounting and administered by the AIGC, the scholarship will be funded through an annual commitment of $5,750 for the next four years. Read more. Read More