The Wealth Counselor Many of your clients are baby boomers (now ages 50-68) moving into retirement and dealing with all the issues related to aging: elderly parents, kids in college, saving enough to last a lifetime and protecting what they have. With a dizzying array of financial instruments to choose from, complex federal and state…
DetailsEstate planning is not only about having a plan in place to deal with what happens after a client’s death, it is also about having a plan in place to deal with what happens if a client becomes mentally incapacitated. In this issue you will learn: What happens without an incapacity plan. The essential documents…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Visit EstatePlanning.com for free resources, including a one-hour webinar on Planning Opportunities Not to Miss in 2012, November 16, 2012, at 2 p.m. E.T. Does it seem like you are hearing more about estate planning lately? Well, you probably are. The financial press and estate planning professionals (lawyers, CPAs and financial advisors) have all…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor The new Pension Protection Act of 2006 (signed into law on August 17, 2006) creates significant planning opportunities for advisors and their clients who understand it. This newsletter focuses on two key provisions: (1) non-spousal rollovers from a qualified plan to an inherited IRA and (2) charitable contributions of IRAs during lifetime.…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor The new Pension Protection Act of 2006 (signed into law on August 17, 2006) creates significant planning opportunities for advisors and their clients who understand it. This newsletter focuses on two key provisions: (1) non-spousal rollovers from a qualified plan to an inherited IRA and (2) charitable contributions of IRAs during lifetime.…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Asset Protection Philosophy 101 The Most Important Parts of Estate Planning Can’t Get Legislated Away Matthew T. McClintock, JD, Vice President, Education, WealthCounsel There is always a media swarm around the death of a celebrity, especially when they’re young, active in their careers, beloved, and tragic. The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in…
DetailsEstate planning for couples in a second or later marriage who have disproportionate estates can be tricky. One solution for allowing the well-to-do spouse to maintain control of their assets but keep their other half happy is the Lifetime QTIP Trust. The Basics of Creating a Lifetime QTIP Trust In the estate planning…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor 2012 is truly an exceptional year to do estate planning. The estate, gift, income and generation skipping transfer (GST) tax laws are the most favorable to taxpayers since the 1940s, or possibly ever, and are scheduled to become far less favorable in 2013. That gives taxpayers like you just five more months…
DetailsThe Wealth Advisor Actually, they do have something very important in common: your estate plan. In this issue of The Wealth Advisor, we will look at what the recent debt ceiling debate can tell us about the estate tax. Then we will look at several specialized trusts designed to solve particular estate planning problems, including…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Last month’s issue of The Wealth Counselor examined the various educational savings vehicles available to clients, including 529 plans, UGMA/UTMAs, Coverdell Education IRAs and life insurance. Using life insurance as an education savings vehicle prompted several questions about other uses for life insurance. Therefore, this issue of the Wealth Counselor examines some…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Last month’s issue of The Wealth Counselor examined the various educational savings vehicles available to clients, including 529 plans, UGMA/UTMAs, Coverdell Education IRAs and life insurance. Using life insurance as an education savings vehicle prompted several questions about other uses for life insurance. Therefore, this issue of the Wealth Counselor examines some…
DetailsYou and your spouse have worked hard and saved. You’ve enjoyed the good fortune of having assets that have appreciated over time. At the same time, you’re confused about which estate planning solutions can help you preserve your assets and allow you to pass on your wealth without your having to pay exorbitant state or…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Knowing the ins and outs of reducing income in view of the new tax laws will add value to your client relationships. In this issue you will learn how: Charitable trust-based planning can be used by individual clients to reduce their taxable income. Distributions, trust reformation or decanting, and investment shifting can…
DetailsEntrepreneurs often want to know what type of business entity they should set up for their companies. Limited liability companies (LLC) offer several surprising advantages, whether you’re expanding a brick and mortar retail operation or scaling an online business. Traditional corporations, also called C corporations, pay taxes on profits, while shareholders pay taxes on dividends,…
DetailsAs of July 1, 2015, Connecticut probate courts earned the dubious distinction of charging the highest probate fees in the U.S. Amazingly, the Connecticut legislature voted to completely cut general fund support for the state’s probate courts for the next two fiscal years, thereby creating a $32 million deficit. In order to cover the shortfall,…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor The last issue of The Wealth Counselor examined trusts and the asset protection benefits provided to trust makers and their beneficiaries through the utilization of ongoing trusts. This issue of The Wealth Counselor addresses related and important questions about the taxation of trusts, which are important to all wealth planning professionals. Trusts…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Asset protection planning is a powerful way to provide additional value to your clients. In this newsletter you will learn about seven trust-based asset protection strategies and how they can:- Protect your client’s assets from creditors, lawsuits, and divorcing spouses. – Protect client’s assets gifted to, or inherited by,…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor You don’t have to make your family’s assets easy for creditors to reach. Protecting your hard-earned assets for the benefit of yourself and your family can be accomplished through careful planning. These seven trust-based asset protection strategies can put significant (and often insurmountable) obstacles in the way of a creditor. In this…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Coordinating retirement plans with wealth transfer planning can be challenging. This is primarily because retirement accounts are driven by income tax laws designed to encourage Americans to accumulate wealth for retirement, not for transferring wealth upon death. In this edition of The Wealth Counselor, we will examine some of the critical rules…
DetailsPerhaps you and your spouse worry about succession of your farm – whether you’ll be able to keep it in your family or you’ll need to sell it. Or maybe you’re facing an imminent medical problem in the family. In either case, you’re understandably concerned that so-called “creditors and predators” might undo all your…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Portability laws and the opportunities they create have significantly increased advisors’ roles in estate planning. No longer is the standard credit shelter trust (with QTIP or outright distribution to spouse) the only way for married couples to plan. Now, CPAs, insurance professionals, and financial advisors have a larger and more complex role…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor This issue of The Wealth Counselor explores many of the common misperceptions about trust owned life insurance – plus a process for you to add significant value for your clients by incorporating policy reviews of trust owned life insurance. Although trust owned life insurance (TOLI) is a common planning vehicle for high net worth…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor This issue of The Wealth Counselor explores many of the common misperceptions about trust owned life insurance – plus a process for you to add significant value for your clients by incorporating policy reviews of trust owned life insurance. Although trust owned life insurance (TOLI) is a common planning vehicle for high net worth…
DetailsPrivate Counsel For the vast majority of Americans, planning is not discretionary. These individuals continue to have – or perhaps for the first time have – personal concerns that they need to address now because these concerns are unrelated to the economy. In fact, some of these concerns may even be made worse by our current economic…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Financial planning has become a generic term. You find it mentioned across media channels from banks to brokerages to accounting firms to personal finance. While the term itself may be diluted, planning is the first step in securing your long-term security. But this security is only realized when the plan is implemented.…
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