By Tom Hopkins As a public speaker and sales trainer, I have taught millions of career sales professionals how to effectively sell their products and services. But, more importantly, I have helped them understand that they must sell themselves first. And that’s a lesson I would like to share with everyone on the planet. Everyone is in Sales You may not want to believe me because you think “selling” is a nasty word or dishonorable profession. Perhaps you’ve had a bad past experience with a salesperson who matches Hollywood’s description of the stereotype—pushy, manipulative and slick. All I can say…
Not a Big Fan of the Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption Rules
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) I’ll be the one to come out and say what many of us are thinking… I’m not a big fan of the federal estate and gift tax exemption rules! The exemption is currently $12.92 million per person, adjusting for inflation each year, and then dropping in half when the clock hits midnight the night of December 31, 2025. Cinderella! Cinderella! Ability to Plan How can we possibly plan for our clients when we don’t know whether each unmarried client will have roughly $15 million of exemption versus roughly $7.5 million of exemption, or…
Do Client Maintenance Plans Really Work?
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Two of the major issues confronting estate planning attorneys are the commoditization of our “products” and increasing low price competition thanks to the do-it-yourself kits and internet trusts. One way to combat these issues is to emphasize and show your prospects how your “product” is superior to what your competitors have to offer, such as by differentiating the services available to the client after the sale. Think about it, when you purchase or lease a car, don’t you usually…
New Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) Provisions in SECURE Act 2.0 – Some Welcome, Some Dubious
By Edwin P. Morrow, III, J.D., LL.M., MBA, CFP®, CM&AA® and Nancy H. Welber, J.D., ACTEC Thanks to the generosity of Leimberg Information Services, we are pleased to provide you this recently published article on LISI. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 307 of the SECURE 2.0 Act, effective beginning in 2023, provides an expansion of the qualified charitable distribution (QCD) provisions to adjust for inflation and include limited distributions to fund charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts. There are several limitations that severely restrict the usefulness of this new provision, however, particularly for QCDs to charitable remainder trusts. FACTS Congress recently…
Don’t Let an Outdated Website Drag Down Your Estate Planning Practice
By Foster Web Marketing The problem with websites is that they aren’t a one-and-done-thing. You have to add content. You have to keep up on the maintenance. And, over time, you have to be able to recognize when it’s time for an upgrade. Technical standards for websites change every few years. People’s expectations for websites change, as well. The website that looked and worked great three years ago probably doesn’t look or work so well today. And that’s why, every few years or so, you need to redesign your website and bring it up to speed with today’s standards. If…
The Outstanding Success of an Estate Planning Attorney’s First Year in Practice
Interview of Attorney Leigh Cowden by Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach I had the opportunity to meet Leigh Cowden virtually through a Facebook group she formed called Lawyers Doing Seminars. I followed a lot of her success and she gave me the opportunity to share some of our own seminar marketing tips with the group on one of their monthly Zoom sessions. From there, she began to inquire with me about what we do and attended our Ultimate Level event in Dallas in May. I have followed her progress over the past few months and she then shared with the…
Advisors Who Don’t Use Out-of-State Trusts: What Their Clients Get
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Most advisors stick to using their own home state’s trust laws and fail to take advantage of other states’ more favorable laws. This would be like forming business entities in your home state rather than going to traditional best states such as Nevada or Delaware. This analogy should put in perspective how much is lost for the client by failing to maximize the use of more favorable trust laws. What This Means for the Clients The clients of advisors who fail to use out-of-state trusts often can’t modify preexisting irrevocable trusts without going…
5 Tips for Building Your Estate Planning Referral Network
By Foster Web Marketing Many estate planning firms rely heavily on referrals—and, more often than not, those referred clients tend to be “perfect clients” for the firm. From the start, they’re already more inclined to hire you because they’ve been sent to you by their family or friends. They’ve already heard wonderful things about you and your staff, and they know that you’ve already helped people in situations similar to theirs. It should be absolutely no surprise that these are the types of leads that are most likely to convert into real clients and cases for your firm! A significant…
The Top 8 Mistakes Estate Planning Attorneys Make When Buying or Selling a Practice
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law If you’re an estate planning attorney, like it or not, you will exit the practice of law someday. And I’m sure if you’ve already built a good practice, you would like to see a smooth, professional transition of your clients when the time comes, as well as maximize the financial return for all of your many years of hard work. If you’re an estate planning attorney who is still building your practice, you are probably looking for the cheapest…
The Art of Confirming an Appointment
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach Knowing the steps of how to properly confirm an appointment – – any kind of appointment, including a phone appointment, client meeting, lunch meeting, etc. – – is extremely valuable to any office looking to continue to operate efficiently and effectively. However, I have found that a lot of people don’t do this (or don’t do it properly) and this can result in a lot of disruption in the office. Whether or not you are the one responsible for confirming appointments, if you know that your office could benefit from a makeover in your…