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 attorney, financial advisor, CPA, life insurance agent, trust officer or some other kind of advisor to clients – – telephone communication plays an even bigger role for having a successful business. So, why is that we see so many estate planning professionals have flawed systems…
Registration is Open to the Next Ultimate Level Program
Registration for our next Ultimate Level program is now open. As of today, we have only 10 spots left and you have until February 28th to take advantage of a $500 Early Bird registration discount and 3-month payment plan. For more information about our Ultimate Level program and to determine if this program is right for you or not, click here.
Come See Us at The Gathering in San Diego!
The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. is pleased to announce that we are a Premier Sponsor at Laureate Center for Wealth Advisors’ upcoming 2-day Gathering program down in San Diego on February 27th and 28th. The Gathering is the premiere wealth, business, and estate planning event in our industry. This valuable program provides a practical understanding of current events in estate, business, tax, insurance and wealth strategies planning to keep you and your Independent Collaborative Advisor on the cutting edge. The program includes the best of the information gathered at the Heckerling Institute of Estate Planning and insights provided by Laureates…
BREAKING NEWS: IRS Issued Rev. Proc. 2014-18, Granting Relief for Some Late Portability Elections
The IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2014-18 today, announcing that it would grant blanket relief for the estates of persons who died in 2011, 2012, and 2013, if the estate was not required to file a return. The IRS announced that it will allow these estates to file a return to elect portability until December 31, 2014. Any estates of persons dying after 2013 that don’t file a timely return to elect portability can apply for a private letter ruling. For more information, click here to listen to LISI’s 60-Second Planner with nationally renowned CPA, Robert S. Keebler. Also, see Rev….
Final IRS Form 8960 Released Today
The IRS published the final Form 8960, for computing the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax for individuals, trusts and estates. To download final Form 8960, click here. Also, don’t forget to register for our special 90-minute teleconference with nationally renowned CPA, Robert Keebler on Thursday, February 6th at 9am Pacific Time (12pm Eastern Time) for a detailed walk-through of Form 8960. For more information and to register, click here.
48th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning
The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning just finished up its final days of its 48th Annual program held in Orlando. The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is the nation’s leading conference for estate planners, including attorneys, trust officers, accountants, insurance advisors, and wealth management professionals. Attendees enjoy unparalleled networking and professional development opportunities that make attending the Heckerling Institute a valuable investment for every estate planning professional. This year’s program offered practical guidance on both planning strategies and practice development in the new wealth transfer tax environment. The program included expanded coverage of the increasingly important areas of elder law,…
Robert Keebler’s 2014 Tax Planning Success Kit
More and more, you’re seeing clients (and prospects) turning their attention away from traditional estate tax and financial planning and toward income tax reduction and asset protection. Why? Because of ATRA’s higher ordinary and income tax rates, higher capital gains tax rates, deduction phase-outs and higher estate tax exemption, Obamacare’s “net investment income “surtax”, a higher estate tax exemption, and an increasingly lawsuit-happy society! Fortunately, it’s not difficult to re-tool your practice to meet this new demand for income tax and asset protection planning. You just need to “tweak” how you use many of the techniques already in your bag…
Steve Oshins Releases Decanting State Rankings Chart
Thanks to generosity of Leimberg Information Services, we are pleased to provide to you a recently published article on LISI, where nationally renowned estate and asset protection attorney, Steve Oshins, discusses the creation and release of his 1st Annual Trust Decanting State Rankings Chart. “The 1st Annual Trust Decanting State Rankings Chart was created to serve as a single page guide to various states’ differences among their decanting statutes. The states are ranked based on the ease of use and amount of flexibility provided by their statutes, not based on the public policy issues that may exist based on one’s…
BREAKING NEWS: IRS Releases Draft Instructions for Form 8960 and Draft Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax
The IRS has just released highly anticipated draft instructions for Form 8960 for computing the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax for individuals, trusts and estates. To download draft Form 8960, click here. To download the draft instructions, click here. In anticipation of the release of Form 8960, we have already coordinated a special, timely teleconference with nationally renowned CPA, Robert Keebler on Thursday, February 6th at 9am Pacific Time for a detailed walk-through of Form 8960. For more information and to register, click here. You might also be interested in our upcoming teleconference tomorrow entitled, “A Detailed Analysis of the…
Whole 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. As a result, each year retirees spend only the interest earned on their assets because they fear running out of money or preserving adequate legacy. At some point, they either sacrifice principal to maintain lifestyle or sacrifice lifestyle to maintain principal. Either way, they must…