Download Printable Article By: David Giuliano, Business Coach Whether you run a solo practice or you have 30 employees working within your firm, effective leadership is the solution to 90% of your everyday challenges. I am passionate about leadership because I’ve seen the difference it makes. For example, I’ve witnessed how much financial and emotional balance my clients achieve after they’ve redefined or built new leadership within their firms. The results are infinite not only to the bottom line but even more so to yourself as you transform from living a reactive reality to a proactive one. There are a…
Look Inside Your Practice for the Answers, Not Outside
Download Printable Article By: David Giuliano, Business Coach Whether you’re a new solo practitioner or have many years running a practice under your belt, often the biggest problems you face in the workplace reflect some confusion or lack of clarity you carry inside of yourself. You may have some clear goals: Make more money. Find ways to grow the practice. Work less (or more!). Have more satisfaction and peace of mind. The problem is, you’re having trouble achieving them, but don’t know why. You know something’s wrong: wrong staff, wrong marketing, wrong economy, etc. But the real reason may not…
Eliminate Most of Your Interruptions with One Simple Technique (the U & I Rule)!
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law If there’s one thing that I have learned to master over the years, it’s to control the number of interruptions when I am in the office – – not just others interrupting me, but my interruptions of others. The main reason why interruptions happen is because there are no rules or protocols for how people will interact. The result is not only a loss of productivity, but the loss of money. If you just look up the statistics online…
Incomplete Gift, Non Grantor Trusts (aka DINGs, NINGs): Not Just for State Income Tax Avoidance
Download Printable Article By Edwin P. Morrow III, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), CFP®, RFC® There is increasingly becoming an important tool in their trust planning arsenal for high income taxpayers– the incomplete gift, non-grantor trust (“ING”). These trusts are often colloquially known as “DINGs” or “NINGs”, short for Delaware or Nevada Incomplete Gift Non Grantor Trusts, even though other states with similar strong DAPT laws, such as Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming or Ohio, may also be used. Let’s explain the ING, why it’s used, what state limitations exist and how it can be used beyond state income tax avoidance. What is…
The #1 Step Towards a Happier, Healthier YOU!
Download Printable Article By Kristina Schneider, Executive Assistant The office is busy. Life is busy. Things get crazy and hectic. Some days and weeks are worse than others. You have probably felt at one point or another that there was far too much to do and not enough time to do it. This can create a great deal of stress and anxiety on anyone, regardless of whether you’re an estate planning professional (such as an estate planning attorney, CPA, financial advisor, life insurance or trust officer) or you’re a part of the ever-important team of support staff. Despite this, it…
Hybrid DAPTs, Regular DAPTs and the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) A small minority of states have adopted the new Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (“UVTA”). This Act is actually not a new Act. It is supposedly merely a renamed version of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, but with certain changes. These changes include substantial Comments (i.e., comments made as a part of the UVTA by the Drafting Committee) that have generated controversy in large part because of their conclusive nature on certain open issues. This article will focus on those Comments that are specifically directed at Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (“DAPTs”)….
Five Outstanding Questions in the Estate Planning Industry and the Odds That They Will Happen
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) There are always a number of outstanding questions in the estate planning industry, many of which are talked about over and over, seemingly at every large conference and on various listservs. Internet bloggers write about these questions, often making bold statements that sometimes come true, but in most cases turn out to be false. This article seeks to highlight some of these questions and posts the odds of them happening in this author’s opinion. The list is posted in order of those which are most likely to happen in 2016,…
Surprisingly Common and Dangerous – IRS Foreign Returns
Download Printable Article By Bruce Givner, Esq. Many taxpayers and most all tax professionals have heard about “FBARs” (Foreign Bank Account Reports, on Form TD F 90-22.1). Some taxpayers and most tax professionals are now also familiar with the Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets. However, virtually every taxpayer and most tax professionals are completely unaware of the top eight other IRS foreign information forms. In an increasingly interconnected international world, these forms are called for in a surprising number of situations. In fact, they may be all around you if you are not paying attention. Given the…
The Top Six Estate Planning Concepts Your Future Ex-Spouse Doesn’t Want You to Know About
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Divorce can be ugly. But it’s a realistic possibility for anybody who is married. Therefore, estate planners must plan for it when designing their clients’ estate and asset protection plans. This article will highlight six concepts that can protect assets from a divorcing spouse and, in some cases, enhance or keep together the marital relationship — at least until the day of reckoning. The planning concepts described herein are listed in no particular order of importance. The “Floating Spouse Provision” – When designing a trust, unless there is a compelling…
Blue Sky Planning: Defining What’s Possible
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA As I view the world around me, I often consider the following question: “If we designed this from scratch, how would it look?” And frequently, it wouldn’t resemble what currently exists. How would, say, the airline industry look? What would be the structure of healthcare? Would women wear heels and men wear ties? If we could get thoughtful, provocative pragmatists in a room, what would they create? I often think about how this relates to financial planning – estate planning, investment planning, retirement planning, and insurance planning. In this article, I begin with the aforementioned…