Our regularly updated blog discusses a variety of issues related to business, tax, and estate planning in California. Learn why an estate plan is necessary regardless of age or income, what steps you can take to reduce your tax liability and protect your assets, how to ensure your business remains on a solid legal foundation, and much more.
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What Is One of the Most Common Mistakes in Estate Planning?You may have made a giant estate planning mistake without even knowing it — forgetting to update the names of your beneficiaries for your employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, annuities, and 529 college savings plans. The article titled "Don’t make the No....
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It's That Time of Year ... Graduation!Prepaid college tuition plans are no longer the surefire solution to runaway tuition costs they once seemed. The mostly state-sponsored plans were designed as a way to save for college by locking in at least a portion of future tuition at today's prices. Spring time means graduation. Graduation may mean...
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Come on, Estate Planning Has to Hurt a Little?Nobody wants to contemplate his or her own mortality. And you may even feel that, in the context of death, questions about who gets which of your assets seem trivial. That might explain why numerous recent studies have found that only between 35% and 45% of Americans have a will...
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Are You Planning to Live to Be 100?A new academic study suggests taking life expectancy into account when estate planning. In the paper, three economists from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College found that folks who expect to live longer plan, on average, to work longer too. And if a health shock or the...
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Mom Liked Me Best!“The more that there is an economic gulf between siblings, the less they see each other and talk,” says Dalton Conley, professor at New York University and author of “The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why.” The reason, he says, is that from the perspective of the less wealthy...
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Did You Make Your Fortune the "Old-Fashioned Way?"One of the greatest tricks up the proverbial sleeves of rich families wanting to preserve generational wealth is their ability to pass along their assets to their heirs in perpetuity. They’re able to do this free from the grip of creditors, the IRS, state and local tax authorities, litigators, ex-spouses,...
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Should We Discuss Rocks, Flossing, or the Alternative Minimum Tax?Congress passed the alternative minimum tax (AMT) some 45 years ago because some wealthy families were legally using so many deductions and tax breaks that they were paying no federal income taxes at all. Talking about the AMT gets about the same response as discussing igneous rocks and teeth flossing—not...
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Affordable Retirement LocalesTry to purchase a home in New York City with a budget of $140,000 and the options are pretty limited–a 375-square-foot apartment in Queens may be the most luxurious possibility. In Los Angeles, buyers may have to look exclusively at inland foreclosures. But in Knoxville, Tennessee, $140,000 buys a 1,750-square-foot,...
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When Should I Create an Elder Law Estate Plan?The answer is the typically vague "it depends." Elder law estate planning is best viewed by your needs and circumstances, not by your age. The typical concerns prompting a plan include providing for disability, keeping assets out of court when you die or become disabled by using trusts rather than...
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Take a Look at Last Year's Tax Return!Taxes are one of your largest retirement expenses. Your 2013 federal income tax form is a guide to reducing those taxes in 2014. Before filing away the return for last year’s taxes, take a few minutes to study it. A careful review of the return can point the way to...
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Medicare and Medicaid: What's the Difference?If you have elderly parents, don’t wait to learn about Medicaid — sometimes referred to by a litany of other state names, like Medi-Cal and MassHealth. By any name, this is government insurance for people who have very little money that covers, among other things, the cost of home care...
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Wait, Wealth Building Is That Simple?There's endless complication surrounding estate planning, tax and investment strategy. It seems complex, but it really isn't. That's because wealth building is so simple it can be explained in one sentence — Spend less than you earn and invest the difference wisely. "Spend less than you earn and invest the...