I really like the idea behind “The Positive Story Project,” a new monthly column at Wealthmanagement.com. Here’ the first three paragraph from the opening salvo: My goal in writing this column is to focus thinking within our community of practitioners—important players in the transfer of wealth to younger generations. And, with so much at stake for […]
From Bloomberg: “For more than a half-century, Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage has been a Harvard Square institution. Six days a week, college students line up around the block for creations that include the People’s Republic of Cambridge, a hamburger topped with coleslaw and Russian dressing, and the Chris Christie, which is fortified with marinara sauce […]
I’ve been reading Steven B. Gorin’s massive “book” (he calls the 1053 page PDF a “mere compilation of preliminary ideas”) titled Structuring Ownership of Privately Owned Businesses: Taxation and Estate Planning Implications. I’ve yet to do a deep dive–again, it’s 1053 pages of very dense, complicated reading–but I will. And I will because it’s chock […]
This is a little off topic, so please indulge me. When I’m not practicing law, I teach writing at Brigham Young University. Today in my Writing & Rhetoric 150 class, my students did what I refer to as Power of Words presentations. These are essentially 7-minute oral presentations about how words have affected the student’s […]
Yesterday I read an interview in the April 2016 issue of WealthCounsel Quarterly with Neel Shah, a business and estate planning attorney in Monroe, New Jersey. The last interview question was of particular interest to me, because occasionally I find myself wondering whether I’m simply selling something when I encourage people to do their estate and business […]
I’ve listened to Dave Ramsey. My wife owns a couple of his books. I get what he does, and I think he probably does a some good–in the debt area, at least. But he’s not always right. For example, I don’t care for some of his opinions about life insurance and much of his investment […]
Professor, attorney, and author of Business Planning: Closely Held Enterprises, Dwight Drake has some useful advice for would-be entrepreneurs: “When the entrepreneurial bug bites a group of charged-up business owners, they usually are focused on making the business succeed, maximizing revenues, and minimizing expenses. They have little interest in discussing potential breakups, the risks of the three big […]
From the article “Communicating an Estate Plan to Heirs,” posted at Successful Farming at Agriculture.com: “For some children, money equals love. Therefore, if they receive fewer dollars, they assume they are loved less. With farm distribution, there are times when the farming heir appears to get a financial advantage on paper. Sometimes this may be […]
Six mistakes, actually. This mistake resonated with me because, well, I’ve made it: Mistake 6: Not Realizing That Stock Can Be Donated Directly to Charity Cutting a check or hauling your old clothes to Goodwill isn’t the only last-minute way to make tax-deductible charitable contributions. According to Crystal Faulkner, a partner with MCM CPAs and Advisors […]
“While many people have an inherent aversion to talking about both death and taxes, leaving a positive legacy is something we all care about. Unfortunately, numerous studies show that over 50% of Americans have no estate plan, no will and no medical directives. Why do so many people fail to properly plan for what happens […]