A lot of wisdom in this quote and just one more reason to consider leaving your children’s inheritance in trust rather than giving it to them outright: “Those who inherit fortunes are frequently more of a problem than those who made them.” Congolese Proverb
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 […]
For your reading pleasure, an excellent but brief article titled, “Estate Planning and Administration – Be Prepared for the Year That Follows the Death of a Loved One.” Worthy of a read if only to put you on notice that there’s a lot to do following the death of a loved one. Here’s the middle paragraph: […]
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 […]
Shot: “For clients who are planning to stay in their homes, a reverse mortgage can be a good source of needed cash flow. This allows them to tap their home equity and supplement their retirement income. “Additionally, most reverse mortgages are Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), which are non-recourse loans insured by the FHA. If the balance outstanding […]
“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 […]
That’s the claim in this piece by the Motley Fool. Myth 1: Social Security benefits will disappear in the future. Myth 2: You should always take Social Security benefits as soon as you qualify. Myth 3: What you do with your Social Security has no effect on your family. I won’t take time here to […]
From the article New Basis Reporting Requirements for Executors and Beneficiaries: Recent federal legislation adds fresh compliance burdens to an old concept in federal tax law: the step-up in tax basis of appreciated property at death. New reporting requirements will apply to estates required to file a federal estate tax return after July 31, 2015 and […]
As anyone who’s read my profile knows and as I’ve stated elsewhere on this blog, I once wrote for Bloomberg–for three Bloomberg magazines, in fact. One of them was Bloomberg Wealth Manager, which was later sold and then sold again. I continued to write for the magazine in all its iterations. The other day, I stumbled […]
Sometimes feel confused? Wonder why the left hand can’t understand what the right hand is supposed to be doing? Imagine what your family will feel like the day after you’ve passed on to the great beyond, then think about how a well-drafted trust might clear things up for them. I’ve written more than a few […]