What’s Wrong with Variable Annuities?

By Richard Gilman, CFP® After the stock market crash in 2000 and “Great Recession”, investors have justifiably become more concerned about their retirement. Many people no longer trust Wall Street.  Having suffered through dramatic market swings, they are unwilling to keep putting their savings at risk. They worry about exploding health care costs and outliving their money. They know they need to do something — but what? Annuities of all kinds are being positioned by insurers, the government, the media and financial planning community as part of the solution.  And annuities may very well be one part of the solution. …

Tax and Economic Implications of the DOMA Decision

By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) provided that in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, the word “marriage” meant only the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated this section of the Act in United States v. Windsor. The decision has far reaching planning implications for married same-sex couples whose marriage is recognized under…

Is the JEST Trust a Joke?

By Alan Gassman, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), Florida State Bar Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates, AEP (Distinguished), and Christopher J. Denicolo, J.D., LL.M. Can a married couple in a non-community property state establish a joint revocable trust that will facilitate obtaining a date of death stepped-up basis on the death of the first dying spouse, and the full funding of a credit shelter trust (to the extent of the first dying spouse’s estate tax exemption) that can benefit the surviving spouse and descendants without being subject to federal estate tax on the surviving spouse’s death? After extensively researching these…

Life Insurance from the Estate Planning Attorney’s Viewpoint

By Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) Estate planning attorneys are often known for “killing” life insurance sales.  Since the attorney owes the client a duty to do what is in the client’s best interest, if the attorney truly believes that the client does not need the insurance policy, then the attorney is arguably satisfying his or her ethical responsibilities to the client.  However, the attorney often automatically says “no” to the client’s detriment.  Perhaps the problem is that many attorneys just don’t understand the different life insurance products.  And human nature is often such that if you don’t understand…

Attention All Gmail Users

If you use Gmail for your e-mail, you have probably noticed that Gmail recently changed its inbox to help automatically sort your mail using tabs (Primary, Social, Promotion, Updates and Forums). Although this is a very helpful change, what this means is that you are no longer in control where your e-mails will go or how they will be sorted for you. Before this change, all of your e-mails went into one place (your main inbox). If you are subscribed to our e-mails, you will mostly find that they will fall into the “Promotions” tab instead of the “Primary” tab….

Summary of Alternate Ways to Protect a Home Chart Updated

A big thanks to attorney, Bruce Givner, for updating his popular chart, “Summary of Alternate Ways to Protect a Home” Chart—a free downloadable resource comparing the various estate planning strategies available to clients and prospects to help protect their home. In this simple chart, Bruce compares anything from doing nothing to giving the home to the kids, selling the home to the kids, contributing to a Family Limited Partnership to using more advanced-level estate planning techniques, such as Personal Residence Trusts (“QPRTs”), Grantor Retained Remainder Trusts (“GRATs”) and Private Retirement Trusts (“PRTs”). To download this chart and other available free…

UPDATED: Steve Oshins’ 4th Annual DAPT State Rankings Chart

Nationally renowned estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) of Oshins & Associates, LLC has just added a partial-year update to his popular 4th Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust State Rankings Chart. The primary change made to the chart was that on the previous version of the chart, Alaska was rated #3. On the updated chart, Alaska has moved down to #5, as the prior version had a notation that it was being ranked third assuming that Alaska’s attempted legislative change from a 4-year SOL to a 2-year SOL was going to pass. It didn’t…

2013 Midsummer Madness: Proposed Legislation, Budget Surrealism, DOMA No Más, Second-Guessing Gandolfini’s Estate, Astor’s Denouement, Perelman’s Revenge, & God’s Plan for Tim Tebow

Reproduced with the expressed written consent and permission from Robert L. Moshman, Esq., author of The Estate Analyst. To contact Bob Moshman to be included on his distribution list of his monthly newsletter, e-mail Bob at bmoshman@optonline.net. “Why, this is very midsummer madness!’ —William Shakespeare, from Twelfth Night Don’t look now, but we are more than halfway through 2013, and there are inexplicable tax and budget proposals, a new direction for DOMA, bizarre celebrity litigations, and even a Sharknado sighting. Without further adieu, here is this year’s midyear madness collection. Estate Tax Reform There was a moment earlier this year…

Should Your Clients Be Using the “OBIT” Instead of the AB?

By Edwin P. Morrow III, J.D., LL.M.(Tax), CFP®, RFC® For many taxpayers, the traditional trust design for married couples is now obsolete. Traditional AB trust designs risk incurring higher income taxes after the first death, and reduced basis increase at the second death.  New trust designs can not only mitigate against this risk, but create income tax advantages over outright bequests. Some practitioners advocate using a marital deduction trust, even if there is no need for the federal marital deduction, to allow the family to achieve a second step-up in basis with the asset protection and control of a trust….

Is Financial Planning Different for Women?

By Michelle A. Fait, MBA, CFP®, EA With the financial advisory industry turning its focus towards the 51% of the population that is female, many of whom will be directly responsible for an increasingly large portion of the nation’s personal wealth, there has been much discussion about the financial planning needs of women.  There are some obvious differences in demographics, including women’s statistically longer average life spans, the greater likelihood that they will take time out of the work force for care-giving (of children or parents or both), and that they will on average be paid less than men for…