We often receive the question from our law firm clients, as well as estate planning professionals, about why the standalone IRA Beneficiary Trust, also known as either the IRA Inheritance Trust®, Retirement Beneficiary Trust, or Standalone Retirement Trust (“SRT”), is a better option than using the Living Trust. There are both technical and practical reasons why a standalone trust is a preferable planning option. Our President and estate planning attorney, Philip Kavesh, who drafted the IRA Inheritance Trust® and, with the help of Keebler & Associates, LLP, received the IRS’ stamp of approval through a Private Letter Ruling back in…
Happy Anniversary, Kristina!
On July 23, 2004, what has now evolved into The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. began. Our Executive Director, Kristina Schneider, began working for our President, Philip Kavesh. Fresh from graduating with her Bachelors degree from Pepperdine University just a couple of months prior, Kristina’s first assignment was to hop on a plane to Denver with Phil to attend the WealthCounsel’s National Conference. Phil had not one, but two, speaking engagements. One was on utilizing seminars to market your law practice and the second was to effectively advertise his brand new 2-day “Missing Link” Boot Camp program. It was this assignment alone…
WealthCounsel Conference Discount Ends Today!
Don’t forget that if you’re attending the WealthCounsel 2014 Planning for the Generations Symposium, TODAY is the last day to take advantage of special conference prices. We will be at our booth until the conference concludes at 12pm. Special 25% discount off your product order Payment plans are available Special IRA Inheritance Trust® Marketing Bundle Package (available only at the conference!) Save $100 on July 23rd’s Practice-Building Program on Time Management by signing up today! The EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS for our upcoming Ultimate LevelSM 2½ Day Practice-Building Programs expires on July 31st, so be sure to sign up right away:…
What’s the Truth About Life Settlements?
By Daxton Fryer, Senior Life Settlement Analyst Whether you call it a life settlement, a lifetime settlement or a senior settlement, Life Settlements have become a very popular option for today’s financial planners and trusted advisors and their clients who may want to cash out their life insurance policies. Life Settlements have also become a powerful option for corporations, trusts and individuals who have poorly performing or thinly funded senior client policies. This specialty is fast becoming a mainstream financial planning tool for insurance agents, CPA’s, tax attorneys, estate planners, elder law attorneys and trust companies. As a financial professional,…
Top Five Life Insurance Myths
By Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) Understanding life insurance is important for everybody in the estate planning industry. Whether you are a financial advisor, an attorney, an accountant or a banker, you have plenty of opportunities to help your clients make good life insurance decisions. With any complex topic, there are always myths that exist that cause people to make bad purchase decisions. The life insurance industry is no different than other industries in that numerous myths have been repeated over and over through the years. MYTH #1- Buying term insurance and investing the difference is better than buying…
Naming IRA Beneficiaries
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished), CGMA Earlier this year, the IRS released PLR 201417027 in which it refused to extend the deadline to begin required minimum distributions (RMDs), for taxpayers who were not even aware that they were beneficiaries of a decedent’s retirement plan. Because of their seemingly innocent mistake, the missed RMDs might be sliced in half by the 50% excise tax for missed distributions under IRC § 4947(a) and the beneficiaries might be exposed to negligence and understatement penalties under IRC § 6662. This ruling is a reminder of the importance of proper naming of…
I Had a Successful Practice, Now What?
By Joseph J. Strazzeri, Esq. At industry conferences you hear it all the time. The first day is all about friends connecting and sharing their successes since they last saw each other. Over dinner and wine, or maybe the next day, you start to hear the challenges they are facing such as fewer clients, lower compensation, more hours, and administrative team breakdowns. Practitioners that have been in the business more than half-a-dozen years have seen these ups and downs of market driven forces, and they no longer try to address the symptoms, but rather the underlying cause. Understanding that the…
Estate Analyst—Clark v. Rameker: No Bankruptcy Exemption for Inherited IRA
By Robert L. Moshman, Esq. It is not often that the Supreme Court provides a clear rule on any aspect of financial planning (or even graces our niche with a passing reference), so these occasions call for special attention. On June 12, 2014, the Supreme Court’s decision in Clark v. Rameker clarified that an inherited IRA is not a protected retirement fund for bankruptcy purposes. Here, we analyze the decision and its impact on planning issues and review the applicable rules and caveats that apply to inherited IRAs. Note: The following discussion of IRAs is about traditional tax-deferred IRAs only…
BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Decision on IRA Bankruptcy Case!
A Supreme Court Decision was made in an Inherited IRA bankruptcy case (Clark v. Raemaker), which brought to light the importance for estate planners and clients to utilize a standalone IRA beneficiary trust to better protect IRA assets! As a result of this exciting news, we are pleased to bring to you a very special, limited-time offer… Get 25% off ALL of Our IRA Inheritance Trust® Products! PLUS, we have a very special Bundle Package that allows you to purchase all of our products at an even greater discount (and the option for a monthly payment plan). You will want…
The 2014 Stanley Cup Champs Pass by UEP
We break the usual estate planning-related content of our blog to bring you some urgent and important news. Our beloved Los Angeles Kings and 2014 Stanley Cup Champions passed by our office earlier today during a parade through the South Bay. Our President, Phil Kavesh, captured this perfect photo opportunity of this momentous occasion. GO! KINGS! GO!