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If you have the time, desire, experience and knowledge of building your own investment and retirement portfolios, this newsletter is for you!

At BFM, we are very analytical and we believe that asset allocation is more important than stocks or mutual fund selection…but many of you have asked us to share our disciplined due diligence process to selecting investment managers and mutual funds.

See my suggestions at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Oct2011-FundPicks

Why did the IRS announce a new special offshore voluntary disclosure initiative at this time?

The IRS’s prior Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (2009 OVDP), which closed on October 15, 2009, demonstrated the value of a uniform penalty structure for taxpayers who came forward voluntarily and reported their previously undisclosed foreign accounts and assets. Not only did the initiative offer consistency and predictability to taxpayers in determining the amount of tax and penalties they faced, it also enabled the IRS to centralize the civil processing of offshore voluntary disclosures. Therefore, it was determined that a similar initiative should be available to the large number of taxpayers with offshore accounts and assets who applied to IRS Criminal Investigation’s traditional voluntary disclosure practice since the October 15 deadline. This new initiative, the 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (2011 OVDI) will be available to those taxpayers and other similarly situated taxpayers who come forward and complete all requirements on or before September 9, 2011.

See more Q&A at http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/International-Businesses/2011-Offshore-Voluntary-Disclosure-Initiative-Frequently-Asked-Questions-and-Answers#!

We decided this time to send you some charts to help you put things in perspective since the U.S. stock market went down 8% in July and August. Note that the market is still up 5% in the last 12 months and up 70% since March 2009.

The charts attached may help you draw your own conclusions without being manipulated by the media, friends…

See the charts at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Sep2011-Perspective 

In today’s world, especially after the recent financial meltdown, understanding the human emotions and sentiments before investing money is capturing interests of researchers and advisers. We too continue our long love with Behavioral Finance and present you some interesting findings by researchers in this area.

- Intuitive and Reflective Minds

- Investor Paralysis

- Lack of Investor Discipline

- Regaining and Maintaining Trust

- Overcoming Loss Aversion

- Overcoming Procrastination

- The Ulysses Strategy

Learn more about these click http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Jul2011-Emotions 

Have you analyzed why Chinese exhibit higher risk tolerance than Americans?  Have you ever wondered how Muslims invest money? And did you know a country’s corruption level has an impact on its own diplomats?

See my opinions at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Jun2011-VCR-Culture

Since many of you like Behavioral Finance research to help you improve your decision making process, please find attached some research papers on:

• Asset Allocation
• Information Overload
• The Effect of Myopia and Loss Aversion on Risk Taking
• Making Intelligent Decisions

See the papers here at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-May2011-Decision

Some of you have recently asked for our opinion on the financial markets and trends. Let me present here our view.

See our views at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Mar2011-Bull-Japan

First, we offer our most heartfelt condolences to all those who lost their lives, to their families, and to all those now in unbearable circumstances. Placing numerical values on the economic losses is an intolerable insult to all those who lost their lives and to their families and relatives, and is morally indefensible.

Uncertainty is the operative word in Japan, but as we take a step back and think about the broader economic impact, it’s worth noting that this natural disaster is happening at a time when the U.S. data looks solid (good valuation vs. bonds/cash, the market has a free cash flow yield close to 7%, among the highest in history,  and balance sheets have never been better, confidence, consumer spending, hiring, and the availability of credit are increasing, and equity funds see inflows).

See more at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Mar2011-Bull-Japan

On December 16, 2010, Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. President Obama is scheduled to sign the Bill later today. This legislation, negotiated by the White House and select members of the House and Senate, provides for a short-term extension of tax cuts made in 2001. It also addresses the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Estate, Gift and Generation-skipping Transfer taxes.

See details at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Feb2011-Tax-Stock

I hope you all had a very good holiday season. May 2011 bring you good health and heartfelt happiness.

We decided to start the year by sharing some Behavioral Economics experiments from Professor Ariely from MIT. Behavioral Economics explains how the process of decision making functions among common people. It elaborates on the role of emotions and vision.

See details at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Jan2011-Behavioral