Capital flow, both equity and debt, continues to find superior returns in the self storage sector. Based on total returns by property sector published by NAREIT, self storage outperforms other core sectors such as apartment, office, retail, industrial and office with five-, 10- and 15- year returns of 18.85 percent, 20.48 percent and 16.54 percent, […]

If your business paid qualified employment opportunity relocation costs to move your employees from an area outside of New York State to New York City, you may be able to reduce or receive a refund from your New York City business taxes by taking advantage of the employment opportunity relocation costs credit. Qualified employment opportunity […]

Valentine’s Day.  A time of giving.  A time of love.  A time to express one’s appreciation for that significant other by advancing the relationship into a whole new tax bracket (there are approximately 6 million marriage proposals on Valentine’s Day). According to CNN.com, below is a guestimate of what Americans spent on Valentine’s Day in […]

It is a little known fact, and hardly discussed, that ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) regulates employer sponsored Healthcare plans. Seems odd given that ERISA is commonly thought to regulate pensions, and the law does not require companies to offer Healthcare plans.  But because ERISA covers benefits generally, it governs health insurance as well. […]

Commercial and Industrial (C&I) loans have become a larger part of many institutions’ portfolios due to market demand, examiner feedback and pressures to stay profitable. But there are risks in C&I lending, such as inexperience in the area and inadequate strategic planning. In order to approach it conservatively, here are six key processes to help. Reevaluate […]

If you are searching for a location to start up, relocate or expand their business, consider New York as a possibility, if applicable.  In an effort to bring businesses back into New York, New York State launched the START-UP NY program effective January 1, 2014.  The START-UP NY program allows qualified companies and their employees […]

Biodiesel Backs Off The Obama Administration is significantly paring back Biodiesel requirements for all fuel distributed in America. This was foreshadowed in October of 2013 when a preliminary report was leaked and suggested that the Administration was going to lower the requirements for Biodiesel fuel nationally.  The reason?  Not, regrettably, concern for the high cost […]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA aka ‘Obamacare’) came into being in 2013 with much fan fair and plenty of problems.  Not only did the Website for enrolling not work properly, President Obama’s promise that ‘if you like your health care plan, you can keep it’ turned out to be not entirely true […]

By Richard Ascher The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) actions in 2014 will be a key driver for the U.S. economy which will be less predictable with a new Fed Chair in Janet Yellen.  The Fed is unlikely to tighten aggressively, so rates at the short end of the yield curve should not change significantly. U.S. economic […]