Posts by Kristina Schneider
Top Ten Asset Protection Mistakes Attorneys Make
By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Asset protection has become one of the hottest areas of practice, especially over the last decade. Although asset protection planning should be a fixture in every estate planner’s repertoire, there are still many asset protection opportunities that are missed. This article describes ten asset protection opportunities that are…
Read MoreForm 8960—The Net Investment Income Tax
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) In 2013, a new tax planning focus area, the net investment income tax (NIIT), was added to the already long list of hot topics all trust and estate practitioners must understand– charitable trusts, gain harvesting, loss harvesting, income smoothing strategies,…
Read MoreIs Your Receptionist Losing You Business?
By Kristina Schneider, Executive Assistant | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) In a time when a lot of people utilize e-mail communication, the telephone is still, by far, one of the most common forms of communication for businesses. In a personal service industry such as estate planning – – regardless of whether you’re an…
Read MoreWhole Life as a Unique Planning Tool
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA Given the financial condition of many families today, we’d be remiss not to explore whether more powerful retirement strategies exist than the ones typically employed. The traditional retirement strategy involves funding various financial vehicles during working years and then living off the income generated by these assets during retirement.…
Read MoreThe End of the Great Migration Into Bonds (Part 1 of 3)
A Once in 30-Year Opportunity to Build Your Practice in 2014 By Jeffrey Dunham, Financial Advisor | Volume 2, Issue 1 (January 2014) As The End of the Great Migration into BondsSM continues, it is presenting financial advisors with a unique opportunity to build their practice while simultaneously helping investors avoid a destruction of wealth that we…
Read MoreThe Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)—After the Final Regulations
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) | Volume 2, Issue 1 (January 2014) The Final Regulations for Section 1411 and the NIIT were released on December 2, 2013. Along with the release of the Final Regulations, new 2013 Proposed Regulations were also released. While the Final Regulations generally made the 2012 Proposed…
Read MoreTop Ten Reasons Why People with Even Modest Estates Need Estate Planning
By Heidi C. Freeman, J.D. | Volume 2, Issue 1 (January 2014) The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (actually passed on January 1, 2013), permanently increased the gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to $5 million per person. In 2014, adjusted for inflation, the amount is actually $5.34 million per person ($10.68 million…
Read More2013 Year-End Tax Planning Ideas (Part 3)
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) As we near the end of 2013, year-end tax planning again takes center stage. In the last two newsletters we covered two of the most important year-end planning strategies in detail—loss harvesting and Roth IRA conversions. In this newsletter we summarize a number of other strategies that…
Read MoreTop Ten Reasons to Decant an Irrevocable Trust
By Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) Trust decanting is the act of distributing assets from one trust to a new trust with different terms. Just as one can decant wine by pouring it from its original bottle into a new bottle, leaving the unwanted sediment in the original bottle, one can pour the assets…
Read MoreEstate Planning for Same-Sex Couples
By Alma Soongi Beck, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law After the historic rulings in United States v. Windsor and Rev. Ruling 2013-17, the playing field for same-sex couples has equalized dramatically. When married, same-sex couples are finally eligible for the same kinds of planning benefits that…
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