Plain-speaking authors tell tactics, strategies. Tax-Smart Investing: Maximizing Your Client's Profits" by Andrew Westhem and Stewart Weissman could easily be subtitled "How to Keep Money From the Tax Man."
In 168 pages, the authors tell you the "tactics and strategies" they use to protect their clients' wealth in basic, simple language. There are an additional 85 pages of tables, charts and key information from insurance contracts.
The book broadly looks at the tax consequences of various investment vehicles such as mutual funds, "marvelous" munis, partnerships, 401(k)s, modified endowment contracts and trusts. The authors hit on tax-saving ideas throughout each chapter and then conclude with a helpful bullet-point recap.
Advice is dispensed in a free-form, matter-of-fact manner, to the point of being blunt. Example: "Clients who are old or ill may find a modified endowment contract virtually impossible to obtain." (In those cases, look into a single-premium deferred annuity.)
This book may be a review for tax-aware planners, but its plain-speaking style can help brokers cut through the confusion of tax issues.
"Tax-Smart Investing: Maximizing Your Client's Profits" is published by John Wiley & Sons (ISBN 0471332615). It costs $49.95 at selected bookstores and online services.
