We have invited Harvard educated economist, Dryden Pence – – who regularly appears on TV at Fox Business News, CNBC, and Bloomberg Business – – to address these burning questions in the minds of so many estate planners (and their clients) during these difficult times, including but not limited to: How bad will this Coronavirus pandemic get? How long will it last? How will it affect the economy? How will the Federal Stimulus work? When will businesses re-open? What can we expect in the stock market in the coming months? Source: YouTube DISCLOSURE: The opinions voiced in this material are for…
The Philosophy Behind Protecting Assets from Creditors
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Asset protection has become necessary for just about every physician, every businessman, and every person with even reasonably substantial wealth. It has become customary to have some form of an asset protection trust. As we see case law develop in the asset protection area, it seems that every time a new decision is issued there are numerous blogs and comments made about the case at conferences, whether positive or negative. The litigators generally claim that the new case spells the end of the technique that was used and failed to work in this…
Steve Oshins: Interview About the 2019 State Rankings Charts and State Income Tax Chart
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) While at the WealthCounsel Symposium in Boston, we at The Ultimate Estate Planner (“UEP”) had the opportunity to sit down and interview nationally-known estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steve Oshins (“SJO”). The interview consisted of a number of questions related to his State Rankings Charts and State Income Tax Chart. UEP: Please tell us about your charts and where they can be accessed. SJO: I currently have four charts. Three of the charts rank the states that have the best Domestic Asset Protection Trust laws, Dynasty Trust laws and Decanting laws, respectively. …
Making Meaning Out of Stock Market Noise…AGAIN
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA I’m a Yankees fan. A proud one at that. The Yankees have had measured success over the long term. My favorite team of all time is the team that won the World Series in 1998. They set a record for most games won that year—they won 114 games. Do you also know what happened? They lost 48 games! Thirty percent of their games! That’s a lot of games to lose… unless you view it within the context of how many they won. The market has experienced extreme volatility. Sure, it doesn’t feel good, but…
ABA Heckerling Reports from the 2018 Heckerling Institute
For the past 19 years, the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law with the permission of the University of Miami School of Law, releases several extensive reports highlighting the various lectures and proceedings of the Heckerling Institute, one of the nation’s largest estate planning conferences, held every year in January. This past January 2018, marked the 52nd Annual Heckerling Institute. To view, download and access these extensive reports, please click here to visit the ABA’s website. Further, at the above website, you can also access reports from prior Heckerling Institutes as well. We, at The…
Impact of Potential Tax Reform on Business Owners and Possible Steps to Take in 2017
By Edwin P. Morrow III, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), CFP®, CM&AA® On November 2, 2017, the Speaker of the House, with the backing of the President, finally introduced the long-awaited bill that represents Republican efforts at comprehensive tax reform, to be titled the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”. Of course, the Senate will propose significant changes, and there is opposition from both parties about the direction of the bill and the trillions it could add to the national debt. That said, there is a very strong chance of something close to the bill being passed this year or early next year. What are…
Reviewing a Life Insurance Policy: The Owner as a Pilot
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA The role of a pilot is not limited to take-off and landing. Even while flying on autopilot, the pilot still must monitor the flight. The same can be said of the owner of a life insurance policy. The owner must monitor the insurance. Typically, life insurance is owned by an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT), a revocable trust, or outright by the insured. When owned by an ILIT[1], the death benefit is out of the grantor’s estate and thus not subject to either estate tax or income tax. When owned by a revocable trust[2]…
The Power of Just a Little Bit
Download Printable Article By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA As the calendar changes from December to January, we take stock of ourselves – our health, our habits, our finances. We then formulate garish, outrageous resolutions, oftentimes setting ourselves up for failure. We commit to cutting out all fat, never eating ice cream, waking up four days a week to work out, running five miles the other three days, learning how to play guitar, and joining a book club. According to the messages all around us, we must be “all in”, after all. Invariably, when January turns to February, we eat…
Our Presidential Election: What’s an Investor to Do?
Download Printable Article By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA This article takes a non-partisan view of the impact of the 2016 presidential elections. At the end of it, I will share my investment advice. In the Crowded House classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, Neil Finn sings, “they come to build a wall between us.” This feels like the world today. We’re in the heat of it. It’s unavoidable. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about the state of the world. What if Hillary wins the election? What if Trump trumps Hillary? What does this mean for the country, for the…
Knowing What You Don’t Know: What an Effective Financial Plan Anticipates
Download Printable Article 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. 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…