Did you know that with the exact same assets and the exact same beneficiaries, your estate plan may pay out significantly different amounts to your beneficiaries? In other words, the structure of your estate plan can make all the difference in the world to how much Uncle Sam gets as opposed to how much your [...]
Much has been made of Barack Obama’s pledge to reduce taxes on 95% of American citizens while at the same time allowing the Bush tax cuts favoring the wealthiest Americans to expire. Ari Fleischer, former press secretary under President Bush editorialized in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion page that it is unhealthy to increase [...]
John C. Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group lectured a Columbia University audience earlier this month and what he said was both surprising and illuminating. His lecture focused on the problems leading up to our current financial crisis. While pointing a finger at the usual suspects (lenders, mortgage brokers, regulators, Wall Street traders, borrowers), he [...]
I have had the recent honor of co-authoring a nationally published book entitled WealthCounsel Estate Planning Strategies: Collective Wisdom, Proven Techniques. Several attorneys throughout the country contributed to its production. My chapter is devoted to understanding trust administrations.
Often I’m asked to recommend an estate planning book that covers topics my clients are attempting [...]
Despite our rough economy, there are many who have moved here from another state and either have become Florida residents or are considering becoming a resident.
Florida residency offers several advantages. Since Florida does not have a state income tax, the tax on unearned income that may have occurred in the former home state is [...]
My retired law partner John Sheppard used the phrase “getting the oxcart out of the ditch” to describe his theory on why not to procrastinate tackling difficult problems. Along with the multitude of government bailouts, loans and other measures designed to get our economic oxcart out of the proverbial ditch one of them may actually [...]