By E. Dryden Pence III, CPM®, AIF®, LPL Registered Principal, CIO Pence Wealth Management Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. | Volume 2, Issue 5 (May 2014) Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of periodic market watch articles provided by E. Dryden Pence III, whose investment advisory firm Pence Wealth Management has been recognized as one of the top in the United States byBarron’s, Forbes and The London Financial Times. Bottom Line Up Front: We think the US stocks are currently in a secular bull market—meaning it has legs, not in months but years….
The Top Four Mistakes Individual Trustees Make
By Mark Dreschler, CFP®, President & CEO at Premier Trust and Deborah Erdmann, QKA, CISP, Vice President & Trust Officer at Premier Trust | Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 2014) Whatever your connection with a trust, whether it is as an attorney, trustee, beneficiary, trust creator or financial advisor, you need to be aware of the top four mistakes that can derail financial goals and tear families apart. This article is based on the experiences of our trust company’s team members, now more than 38 strong, with more than 150+ years combined experience dealing with estates and trusts of all…
Where is the Stock Market Headed?
By E. Dryden Pence III, CPM®, AIF®, LPL Registered Principal, CIO Pence Wealth Management Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. | Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 2014) Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of periodic market watch articles provided by E. Dryden Pence III, whose investment advisory firm Pence Wealth Management has been recognized as one of the top in the United States by Barron’s, Forbes and The London Financial Times. Bottom Line Up Front We are positive for 2014. We think the economy will continue to improve consistently. We believe the market is a…
How You & Your Assistant Can Work Better Together
Download Printable Article By Kristina Schneider, Executive Assistant (UPDATED JULY 2015) Trust in the workplace is always a difficult, but necessary, part of running a successful practice. A lot of estate planners, regardless of his or her professional designation, struggle with this concept. Although just about every single one of these professionals could benefit from having some kind of assistant or other administrative support, they have difficulty in trusting others to take on important tasks. Unfortunately, estate planners are only ever making any real money if they are either meeting with clients or doing some kind of marketing or networking…
The End of the Great Migration Into Bonds (Part 3 of 3)
Allocation Risk Budgeting for Equities By Jeffrey Dunham, Financial Advisor | Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 2014) This is the final installment of The End of the Great Migration into BondsSM article series. In January, we began the series with a discussion about a turnkey marketing campaign that provides FINRA-reviewed sales and marketing tools designed to allow financial advisors to focus on the vast amount of assets currently held in bonds. Last month, we examined “Allocation Risk Budgeting for Income”, which is a way to show your prospects and referrals how you might manage the risk they are taking within their fixed income…
Understanding Portability
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) | Volume 2, Issue 3 (March 2014) An interesting provision within the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (“2010 Tax Relief Act”) allows an executor of an estate of a married decedent the option to transfer any unused estate tax exemption amount to the surviving spouse.[1] Thus, for example, if a decedent used only a portion of his or her estate tax exemption, the estate could elect to have the remaining portion pass to the surviving spouse, giving the surviving spouse a larger estate tax exemption.[2] Although this portability…
The Importance of Periodic Life Insurance Policy Reviews
By Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, J.D. | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) Everyone who owns an insurance policy should be certain to conduct insurance reviews. A recent study found that in 75% of cases, the person insured could have reduced their premium outlay by an average of 40%, or increased their coverage by an average of 40% for the same outlay. These changes occur because insurance policies have evolved over time. Mortality rates have improved, people are living longer, and since insurance companies are going to pay claims later, newer policies will be cheaper than older policies even…
The End of the Great Migration Into Bonds (Part 2 of 3)
Allocation Risk Budgeting for Income Overview By Jeffrey Dunham, Financial Advisor | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) As The End of the Great Migration into BondsSM continues, fixed income investors may experience detrimental consequences to their bond investments as interest rates rise. For investors who depend on the distributions from their bond funds, the challenge will be maintaining a proper level of income while providing relative protection of their principal. In last month’s issue of The Ultimate Estate Planner’s newsletter, we introduced you to a turnkey marketing campaign designed to allow financial advisors to focus on the vast assets currently held in…
Top Ten Asset Protection Mistakes Attorneys Make
By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Asset protection has become one of the hottest areas of practice, especially over the last decade. Although asset protection planning should be a fixture in every estate planner’s repertoire, there are still many asset protection opportunities that are missed. This article describes ten asset protection opportunities that are often overlooked. Asset Protection Mistake #1: Not discussing asset protection planning. Nearly every estate planning attorney makes a will and revocable trust discussion a given in every estate planning meeting, yet asset protection is often merely an afterthought. For many attorneys, unless the client or…
Form 8960—The Net Investment Income Tax
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) | Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2014) In 2013, a new tax planning focus area, the net investment income tax (NIIT), was added to the already long list of hot topics all trust and estate practitioners must understand– charitable trusts, gain harvesting, loss harvesting, income smoothing strategies, income shifting strategies, asset protection trusts, tax-aware investing, decanting, portability, advanced strategies for clients with taxable estates, etc. While the NIIT is far from clear in some areas, parts of this new tax planning focus area have recently been clarified through the release of the…