• Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Is the Risk-Free Rate Really Risk Free?

    February 18, 2026

    Deconstructing the Idea of the Risk-Free Rate To evaluate future risk factors, analysts should understand the composition of the risk-free rate and consider the data influencing U.S. Treasury Bond yields. This article analyzes the criteria for evaluating the risk-free rate for use in engagements involving business valuations and economic damages. The general notion of a “risk-free rate” is the return available as of the valuation date on a security that the market generally regards as free of the risk of default.[1] U.S. Treasuries have fit this profile for decades, providing minimum, safe alternatives for risk-averse investors. They also provide a…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Impact of Inflation

    December 21, 2022

    On Business Valuation The effects of inflation on consumers’ spending and psyche are well-known. The difficulties each causes in day-to-day life are often discussed. Inflation has affected everything from the cost of transportation to the cost of food and housing. What is less discussed, however, is how the current inflationary period is affecting small business owners and their companies. In this article the author shares his impression. U.S. Inflation Calculated annually, the U.S. Inflation Rate reflects the average percentage by which the price of a specific basket of goods and services purchased in the United States has increased. The U.S.…

  • Mergers and Acquisitions/Exit Planning - QuickRead Top Story

    Updates in the Exit Planning Market

    September 21, 2022

    Third Quarter 2022 2021 was a significant year for business owners who chose to exit via a sale of their privately held businesses. The government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic pumped billions of dollars into the economy, helping to drive a robust mergers and acquisitions market led by aging baby boomers preparing to retire and concerned about the prospect that the Biden administration was potentially eliminating the favorable capital gains tax. This article is written to provide an exit planning market update following this historic M&A cycle against some economic headwinds and challenges in today’s market. The article focuses on…

  • Mergers and Acquisitions/Exit Planning - QuickRead Top Story

    Outrunning Inflation to Achieve a Successful Exit in 2022

    April 6, 2022

    Rising Levels of High Mental Readiness for an Exit Business owners often-times see exit planning as a complicated, overwhelming, and emotional process. Accordingly, few owners adequately prepare for this significant event. However, an exit plan is essential to help business owners manage the illiquid wealth in their businesses, particularly in turbulent times such as these marked by strife that is present in local and global economies, national and international politics, and market disruption. The International Exit Planning Association sees the present challenges as an opportunity to provide advice to these owners considering an exit. This article discusses the dynamics of…

  • QuickPress

    The Worst Retirement Advice I Ever Gave

    July 18, 2018

    Five years ago, I made the biggest mistake of my career.  I gave some untimely advice to a new client and quickly realized the full impact our work can have on our clients’ lives—not just on their wallets. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: The Worst Retirement Advice I Ever Gave.

  • Accounting - QuickRead Featured

    Excessive Government Spending

    April 20, 2016

    Are We Heading Towards the Next Financial Crisis? (Part II of II) In this second part of the two-part article, the author, a valuation professional and trained economist, shares his thoughts on whether we are headed towards another financial crisis. Here, he shares his views on the size of the U.S. debt, low interest rates and whether the low interest environment is sustainable, and what he sees are solutions to the U.S. economic problems. (The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author; QuickRead invites its readers to respond or submit an article of their own on…

  • Practice Management - QuickRead Featured

    Excessive Government Spending

    April 13, 2016

    Are We Heading Towards the Next Financial Crisis? (Part I of II) In this two-part article, the author, a valuation professional and trained economist, shares his thoughts on whether we are headed towards another financial crisis. (The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, QuickRead invites its readers to respond or submit an article of their own on this important topic.)

  • QuickPress

    Several Fed Officials Say They are Ready to Raise Rates

    November 18, 2015

    Economists Predict an Interest-Rate Hike in December Ninety-two percent of the private economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal believe the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates at the policy meeting to be held on December 15-16.  In recent comments, Federal Reserve officials have suggested they were ready to act and have discussed the pace of future increases.  Binyamin Appelbaum, of The New York Times, looks at what held up this decision and what the impact of this change will be. To find out more on this The New York Times article, click: Several Fed Officials Say They are…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Featured

    Lost Profits, Business Cycles, and the Reasonable Certainty Standard

    March 18, 2015

    Part 1: Find Industry and Location-Specific Data Courts standards require that damages analysis results be within “reasonable certainty”, and objective rather than speculative. And while the terms “reasonable certainty” and “speculative” are more terms of art than science, given these standards, it is of vital importance to analyze all relevant factors to the extent permitted by the best data available. And it is the responsibility of the damages expert to present an analysis that is both reasonably certain and objective by engaging in reasonable effort to request and/or research the best data available. The expert that is unable to isolate…

  • QuickPress - Tax

    IRS Announces 2015 Tax Adjustments

    November 19, 2014

      The IRS has released the annual inflation adjustments for a number of provisions for tax year 2015, including tax rate schedules, tax tables, and cost of living adjustments for some items. In total, the IRS posted more than 40 updates. You can read them in full here. You can also find an excellent overview of all the changes at Forbes.com through the link below. [button color=”blue” link=”http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/10/30/irs-announces-2015-tax-brackets-standard-deduction-amounts-and-more/” target=”_blank” font=”arial” align=”left”]Read More[/button]

  • Mergers and Acquisitions/Exit Planning - QuickPress

    The Bond Vigilantes Have Been Taken Out Back And Shot —Seeking Alpha

    February 5, 2013

    Fed Buying Is Having Profound Implications. Bond Vigilantes Have Been Selling Heavily and May Continue. That Means We Still We Won’t See Much of an Impact on Interest Rates. Paul Santos at Seeking Alpha claims you don’t need to worry about the bond vigilantes anymore.  I, personally, have always been a big fan, and think they will return.  But hey: This is Mr. Santos’ opinion piece, not mine, so I’ll let him cut to the chase.  Santos doesn’t claim they’re in hiding.  He simply claims they’re gone. Santos asks:  “So when did the mass killings take place in the U.S.?…

  • Practice Management - QuickPress

    Bill Gross: We’re Witnessing the Death of Equities —WSJ Market Beat

    August 5, 2012

    Bond King Says Stocks are Dead:  Believes Consistent, Annual Returns Are “Thing of the Past.”  On the Horizon?  Inflation. “The cult of equity is dying,” Bill Gross wrote in his August Investment Outlook, the Wall Street Journal’s Market Beat blog reports.    “Like a once bright green aspen turning to subtle shades of yellow then red in the Colorado fall, investors’ impressions of ‘stocks for the long run’ or any run have mellowed as well.”   Gross points out stocks have averaged a 6.6% annual gain on an inflation-adjusted basis since 1912. But he labels that rate of return as an “historical freak”…