Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Decades ago, Jane Fonda made the phrase “feel the burn” popular in her highly successful aerobic exercise videotapes. More recently, “feel the Bern” became popular as the de facto slogan during Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid. But in advanced estate tax planning, we feel a different kind of burn called the “tax burn”. Very simply, our client transfers assets to an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (“IDGT”) and continues to pay all income taxes on income produced by the transferred assets, including capital gains taxes on sales of those assets. By continuing…
Knowing What You Don’t Know: What an Effective Financial Plan Anticipates
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA Mark Twain said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” More often than not, planning is done as though the world is linear. Financial Advisors and clients make assumptions as though life moves in a straight line and nothing unexpected ever occurs. Then, when the unexpected occurs – and it will – the plan collapses. An effective plan is dynamic, anticipating and addressing what it can, and preventing the unexpected from derailing a desired future existence. Furthermore, it builds in…
Reducing Or Eliminating Capital Gains On The Sale Of Businesses And Real Estate
Download Printable Article By Bruce Givner, Esq. Most people are familiar with the use of a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange as a way to handle the disposition of real estate. Some people are familiar with the use of a charitable remainder trust as a way to handle the disposition of unmortgaged real estate and stock in a “C” corporation. However, Section 1031 exchanges have undesired time constraints; CRTs are disliked because (i) the taxpayer can’t use the sales proceeds and (ii) nothing is left to go to the children (not necessarily true). The best approach is to talk to clients…
Planning for 2704 Proposed Regs: Be Wary of the Step Transaction Doctrine
Download Printable Article By Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, PFS, AEP, JD The Ultimate Estate Planner recently ran a series of teleconferences on the 2704 Proposed Regs and received numerous responses from our attorney community. Here’s one we wanted to share with you. Introduction Practitioners are still grappling with the intricacies and complexities of the Proposed 2704 Regulations. But it is vital to start addressing some of the long existing tax doctrines that might undermine planning for the new Regs. Because of the incredible focus on the Regs themselves, little has been written yet on ancillary considerations. Once such potential…
How to Write a Proper Business Letter
Download Printable Article By Kristina Schneider, Executive Assistant Writing a business letter seems somewhat common knowledge or perhaps common sense to most people; however, it’s sometimes shocking to see how many administrative staff members – – even those with a college education – – are completely incapable of writing business letters. In this article, we will walk you through each step on how to properly write a business letter so that you can quickly and easily write correspondence on behalf of or for your boss without too much editing. Company Letterhead The first step to writing business letters is to…
Pardon My Bloopers!
Download Printable Article By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law My law firm recently welcomed aboard a new, young attorney, straight out of law school and it got me thinking back – – what was it like when I first started out as a lawyer, some 38 years ago? (Wow, time does fly!) You know how, sometimes, our most vivid memories are about things that went inexplicably wrong? That’s where my mind immediately went when recalling my early days as an attorney. I remember getting out…
Net, Net Gifts: Why NOW May Be the Best Time to Use This Strategy
By Michael J. Jones, CPA Estate and gift tax rates have never been lower. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton would like to change that, making this an especially important time to engage in lifetime gift planning. As if that isn’t enough to encourage gifts, proposed Treasury Regulations would all but eliminate family business valuation discounts for lack of marketability. However, paying gift taxes is hard to swallow. For some, the solution is not to pay gift taxes. Instead, have the donee pay gift taxes. Generally, when a taxable gift is made, the donor must pay gift taxes, once the gift exceeds…
You, Inc.: Branding Yourself in a Competitive Estate Planning Industry
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) We are Brands Whether you are an attorney, a CPA, a trust officer or a financial advisor, you are who people think you are. Public perception is often more important than reality, at least in regard to the business you generate and the advisors and clients who contact you. You could be the smartest advisor in the world, but if nobody knows it then you won’t get the types of clients that you should be getting. We’re all brands, whether we like it or not. Other advisors think of us…
Sometimes It Sucks To Be Right – IRS Wins, Business Founders and Their Families Lose
Download Printable Article By Carl L. Sheeler, PhD, ASA About six years ago, I was on a family office panel put on by Opal Financial in Newport, RI. About $2 Trillion in wealth is represented at such events. The gist of my presentation was March 2009 marked the lowest decline in public stock market values since the Great Depression. It was a key tipping point – perhaps more extreme given tepid growth in its aftermath. Much of the attendees wealth was derived from investment in distressed assets (real estate, company debt and equity) acquired at steep discounts. These families had…
The Private Decanting: A Do-Over Trust with your Privacy Intact
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) What is Trust Decanting? For many years, practitioners have struggled to find ways to change the terms of an irrevocable trust. However, through common law and through the decanting statutes that have been enacted in many jurisdictions, it is now possible to modify an irrevocable trust. The rationale for allowing such a modification is that a trustee who has the power to distribute the trust property to or for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries should be able to make the distribution to them in trust and dictate the…