There was a recent change in the tax law that you might not be familiar with – yet it may entitle you to significant tax savings. Beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing through December 31, 2010 (unless extended by Congress), a zero tax rate may apply to long-term capital gain and dividend income that would…
DetailsPlanning for the New “Zero Percent” Tax Bracket There was a recent change in the tax law that you might not be familiar with – yet it may entitle you to significant tax savings. Beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing through December 31, 2010 (unless extended by Congress), a zero tax rate may apply to…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Planning for tax-qualified plans, which includes IRAs, 401(k)s and qualified retirement plans, requires a careful examination of the potential taxes that impact these assets. Unlike most other assets that receive a “basis step-up” to current fair market value upon the owner’s death, IRAs, 401(k)s and other qualified retirement plans do not step-up…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Planning for tax-qualified plans, which includes IRAs, 401(k)s and qualified retirement plans, requires a careful examination of the potential taxes that impact these assets. Unlike most other assets that receive a “basis step-up” to current fair market value upon the owner’s death, IRAs, 401(k)s and other qualified retirement plans do not step-up…
DetailsThe Wealth Advisor For many pet owners, pets are members of the family. These individuals often say that if something happens to them, they are more concerned with what will happen to their pets than to their children or spouse. This issue of The Wealth Advisor examines the issues surrounding caring for pets after the…
DetailsThe Wealth Advisor No one likes to think about the possibility of their own disability or the disability of a loved one. However, as we’ll see below, the statistics are clear that we should all plan for at least a temporary disability. This issue of The Wealth Advisor examines the eye-opening statistics surrounding disability and…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor No one likes to think about the possibility of their own disability or the disability of a loved one. However, as we’ll see below, the statistics are clear that we should all plan for at least a temporary disability. This issue of The Wealth Counselor examines the eye-opening statistics surrounding disability and…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor It is vital for each member of the advisory team to understand the roles of the other members in meeting their client’s needs. Therefore, in this issue of The Wealth Counselor, we will focus on how the estate planning attorney uses the initial interview in a blended-family situation. Blended-family clients often require…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor The “blended family” comprises a fast-growing segment of US households. Whether an attorney or investment advisor, fine-tune your intake or initial interview process to determine the desirability of representing a blended-family client, assess the accepted client to determine your counseling strategy, and hit the ground running with the information you need to…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Asset protection is vitally important in our ever more litigious society, and more wealth planning teams are needed who understand the intricacies of this area and can collaboratively implement advanced strategies. Whether creating an entire plan for the client or creating additional asset protection measures added on to an existing plan, you…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor According to the College Board, the average cost of attending an in-state four-year public college in 2011-2012 is more than $19,000 per year; for a four-year private college it is nearly $40,000 per year. Over the last decade, published tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges and universities increased…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor For many clients, pets are members of the family. These clients often say that if something happens to them, they are more concerned with what will happen to their pets than to their children or spouse. This issue of The Wealth Counselor examines the issues surrounding caring for pets after the disability…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Revocable Living, Irrevocable Life Insurance, Charitable Lead, and Grantor Retained Annuity – these are trust descriptors that are familiar to estate planning professionals. However, there are many less well-known types of trusts that clients may ask about or benefit from having. Some of those other types of trusts will fill an estate…
DetailsThe Veteran’s Administration (VA) offers a pension benefit to low-income veterans (or their spouses) who are in nursing homes or who need help at home with everyday tasks like dressing or bathing. The pension, called Aid and Attendance, is currently underused, but impending regulations will soon make it available to even fewer veterans. The new regulations will for the first time specify asset limits for qualification and impose a look-back period and transfer penalties similar to Medicaid’s. The looming changes mean that those considering applying for Aid and Attendance should act quickly.
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Before 2007, a non-spouse beneficiary of a qualified plan was stuck taking distributions under the terms of the plan, which typically required full distribution within five or fewer years of the participant’s death. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) authorized non-spouse beneficiaries (before it was only surviving spouses) to roll…
DetailsThe Wealth Advisor The purpose of this newsletter is to inform you of changes in the law and to provide planning information and general financial news. These newsletters also give me a chance to share new techniques to enhance your planning, as well as to help you to stay current with tactics designed to maximize…
DetailsThe Wealth Advisor With the rash of bank failures, you may wonder whether – and to what extent – the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) will protect your bank accounts. Fortunately, new rules from the FDIC clarify how you can ensure maximum FDIC insurance coverage. You may need to modify your planning slightly to take…
DetailsThe latest news released by the Social Security Administration has not been well-received by the 65 million retirees, disabled workers and their families who rely on Social Security benefits for their day-to-day living expenses: For the third time in seven years, Social Security recipients will not see a cost of living increase to their…
DetailsWhat is a Lifetime QTIP Trust? One traditional estate planning model for married couples makes use of the “AB Trust” strategy. After the first spouse dies, the “B Trust” holds an amount equal to the federal estate tax exemption (currently $5.34 million in 2014), and the “A Trust” holds the excess. The “A Trust” is…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor This month’s issue of The Wealth Counselor addresses a topic that many professionals do not understand fully, life settlements. For the right clients, a life settlement offers a significant advantage over the alternatives – and one that the client and the planning team should at least consider. Life Settlements – The Basics…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor The aging, healthcare and special needs conversation is vitally important to you and your family. Except for government employees and Social Security, retirement plans that pay benefits until death are pretty much a thing of the past. Plus, people today are living longer. Yet retirees’ need for income that is sustainable and…
DetailsI’ve been doing some business out in Las Cruces, New Mexico recently. This was my first time to visit this part of the United States, and I have to say I’m glad I discovered this part of the world. I had always thought of Southern New Mexico as a desert, and the White Sands National…
DetailsTo celebrate my birthday each year, I’ve started going to Key West, FL, on Columbus Day weekend to run(and by run, I mean jog-walk-shuffle-cry-hobble) in the Southernmost Marathon*. Now, most people think I’m crazy-bananas for wanting to spend my vacation pounding the pavement in the sweltering humidity of the Keys…and to those people, I say “You…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Estate planning is not only about having a plan in place to deal with what happens at your death, it is also about having a plan in place to deal with what happens if you become mentally incapacitated. In this issue you will learn: What happens without an incapacity plan. The essential…
DetailsThe Wealth Counselor Estate 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.…
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