Frank Aragona Trust: What Now Constitutes Trustee “Material Participation”?

By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished), CGMA | Volume 2, Issue 5 (May 2014) [1] In Frank Aragona Trust v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court held that a trust can qualify for the IRC Section 469(c)(7) real estate professional exception.[2] Furthermore, the court held that the trust materially participated in real property businesses it owned.  Don’t…

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Stock Market Forecast

By E. Dryden Pence III, CPM®, AIF®, LPL Registered Principal, CIO Pence Wealth Management Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. | Volume 2, Issue 5 (May 2014) Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of periodic market watch articles provided by E. Dryden Pence III, whose investment advisory…

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The Top Four Mistakes Individual Trustees Make

By Mark Dreschler, CFP®, President & CEO at Premier Trust and Deborah Erdmann, QKA, CISP, Vice President & Trust Officer at Premier Trust | Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 2014) Whatever your connection with a trust, whether it is as an attorney, trustee, beneficiary, trust creator or financial advisor, you need to be aware of…

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Where is the Stock Market Headed?

By E. Dryden Pence III, CPM®, AIF®, LPL Registered Principal, CIO Pence Wealth Management Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. | Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 2014)Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of periodic market watch articles provided by E. Dryden Pence III, whose investment advisory firm…

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How You & Your Assistant Can Work Better Together

Download Printable Article By Kristina Schneider, Executive Assistant (UPDATED JULY 2015) Trust in the workplace is always a difficult, but necessary, part of running a successful practice.  A lot of estate planners, regardless of his or her professional designation, struggle with this concept.  Although just about every single one of these professionals could benefit from…

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The End of the Great Migration Into Bonds (Part 3 of 3)

Allocation Risk Budgeting for Equities By Jeffrey Dunham, Financial Advisor | Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 2014) This is the final installment of The End of the Great Migration into BondsSM article series. In January, we began the series with a discussion about a turnkey marketing campaign that provides FINRA-reviewed sales and marketing tools designed to allow…

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Understanding Portability

By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) | Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 2014) An interesting provision within the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (“2010 Tax Relief Act”) allows an executor of an estate of a married decedent the option to transfer any unused estate tax exemption amount…

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The Importance of Periodic Life Insurance Policy Reviews

By Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, J.D. | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) Everyone who owns an insurance policy should be certain to conduct insurance reviews.  A recent study found that in 75% of cases, the person insured could have reduced their premium outlay by an average of 40%, or increased their coverage by…

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The End of the Great Migration Into Bonds (Part 2 of 3)

Allocation Risk Budgeting for Income Overview By Jeffrey Dunham, Financial Advisor | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) As The End of the Great Migration into BondsSM continues, fixed income investors may experience detrimental consequences to their bond investments as interest rates rise. For investors who depend on the distributions from their bond funds, the challenge will…

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