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An 83-year-old Massachusetts man who held Swiss bank accounts at Credit Suisse Group AG and Wegelin & Co. pleaded guilty to hiding $5.7 million from U.S. tax authorities. He will pay civil penalties of $2.84 million and restitution of $419,940. Under advisory guidelines, he faces 30 months to 37 months in prison at sentencing on Dec. 20.

See more on http://www.fa-mag.com/news/ex-credit-suisse-client-83-admits-to-hiding-57-million-11675.html?site=pw#!

The European crisis created lots of volatility, uncertainty, fear... but also opportunities. Furthermore, the Merkozy alliance is over and Europe may focus more on growth.

See more affects of globalization at http://www.tinyurl.com/BFM-July2012-GoGlobal

The Real Estate crisis has been one of the trigger elements of the 2008 financial crisis. Prices have already fallen by 50% in some U.S. cities. The depth and duration of this bear market is one of the worst ever. It is comparable with the bursting of the Japanese real estate bubble in the late 1980s.

Discover the charts and a bullish view of the housing market at http://www.tinyurl.com/bfm-march2012-realestate

Did you know that your vision can literally “trick” you whenever it can? That human attention is limited and that we can’t analyze all the information we receive? Find these and dozens of more tips in the attached.

As we begin a new cycle, the media may be pessimistic but we know that many people are optimistic about 2012 (U.S. Markets up close to 100% since March 2009; up 8 of the last 9 calendar years…). While optimism is certainly in the air, it’s also more important than ever to keep a level head about your investments.

See the Best of BFM Newsletters at http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Jan2012-Best-Nwslet

Be aware of your own emotions and cognitive traps to make smarter decisions.

Step away from yourselves to be more rational.

Remember that we unconsciously make decisions based on positive memories.

Learn about financial history to reduce the number of mistakes. Click here http://tinyurl.com/bfm-nwslet-Nov2011-Emotions

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