I Couldn’t Sleep at All Last Night: Client Fears and How to Soothe Them
In the roaring wake of the Russian financial crisis of 1998, as one of the few foreigners remaining in Moscow, I managed to find a...
Read more
Long Term Care Planning: Taking a New Look at Life Insurance
I had the chance to visit a nearly long-lost cousin last year, a couple of months before happy get-togethers were put on hold. This...
Read more
Old Yankee Wisdom: Estate Planning for Small Businesses
I had the distinct joy of growing up in Concord, Massachusetts, a town immersed in its own venerable past – the Old North Bridge...
Read more
Estate Planning: Do Let This Happen to You
The lockdown has given us a chance to catch up with old friends and relations, and even hermetic business writers have taken the...
Read more
Sympathy for the Wealthy: Strategies to Combat Prospective Tax Increases
A dear friend celebrated his birthday the other day – he’s nearing 50 now, but is still younger than me, somehow. He lives in a...
Read more
Calming Client Fears: The Role of Life Policies in Retirement Planning
I have some advice to share: if you’re afraid of dentists, and feel a twinge in tooth or gum, go to the dentist. Delay born of...
Read more
You Say Inflation, I Say Deflation: How Estate Planners Can Handle Them Both
Inflation is always on the agenda for estate planners. The general population might not fear this reaper to the same extent: many...
Read more
Life Insurance and Protecting Your Heirs: Yes, They’re Both Worth It
There’s a famous old advertisement for gentlemen’s clothes out of the 1930s, often reprinted for its bona fide weirdness, that...
Read more
Disability Insurance: Pandemic Spotlights Need for Income Replacement
The coronavirus pandemic has taught many lessons, often only obliquely relevant to the viral crisis itself, but welcome to the...
Read more
No Money, Honey: How Not to Go Broke in Retirement
In a karaoke bar in Siem Reap, Cambodia last year, I met an interesting and most instructive expatriate. Wes, a gregarious...
Read more
The Estate Tax Will Ultimately Change – Which Way Will the Wind Blow?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 brought great changes to the estate tax regime. The estate tax exclusion was doubled and...
Read more
The Big Reversion: Estate Planning and Tax Considerations before 2026
There’s a song I used to love back in college, written by the great American bandleader and songwriter Louis Jordan. My favorite...
Read more
Retirement Planning: The Joy of Diversification
A curious conversation has popped up occasionally with clients, friends and family. It goes a step beyond those “what do you...
Read more
Insurance Options for Funding Long-Term Healthcare
We’ve written a good deal about the problem of funding long-term healthcare costs. People are living ever longer, with the average...
Read more
More Stimulus Is Coming – Will Tax Cuts Be Part of the Package?
Is the coronavirus pandemic finally starting to abate? The initial signs are promising in some parts of the country and we can only...
Read more
Business Planning: Corporate Tax Implications of a Democratic Win in November
We cannot predict who will win the presidential election in 2020. The likely candidates are identifiable: The Democratic Party will...
Read more