Backhanded Blessings: Pandemic Helping Families to Plan for Succession
I like a good aphorism – a clever phrase or limerick that teaches me wisdom, nearly eternal, without needing to read all those...
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Who Knows Where the Road Will Lead Us: Pre-Election Tax Anxiety and Estate Planning
Our topic today is estate planning and tax issues in the pre-election environment. One candidate wants to raise ‘em, another hopes...
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Burden Not Thine Heirs: Life Insurance Strategies to Mitigate Inherited IRA Tax Issues
Insurance people know a thing or two. For one thing, our client dealings reveal that people want to be remembered fondly, even when...
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Walking in Their Footsteps: When Launching a Business, Learn from Experience
A lady friend once described me as gothic – it was the ‘80s, after all – but from my side of the skull, it’s all early...
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Round up the Usual Suspects: Sen. Wyden Wants to Fix the Capital Gains Tax
There they go again: picking on poor billionaires and wannabe millionaires. In September, Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and ranking...
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Do Resuscitate: Stretch IRA Strategy Still Works for Some Clients
It’s best to keep up with the trend – that’s what the people say. Well, not quite everyone agrees. Sometimes, wise old birds...
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Choose Wisely: Picking the Right Trustee
My father’s big thing was fruit. My older brother, irreverently analytical and with little regard for old-school propriety...
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Scrapping the Old Plans: Insurers Grapple with the Corona Crisis
Military leaders follow an old aphorism, trenchant and transferable to most walks of life. It runs like this: no plan survives...
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SEC’s New Rules on Variable Product Summaries Look Positive for Sellers
In troubled times, we’ll take our happy news where we find it: the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued fresh rules...
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Living in a Low-Rate World: Time to Examine the Value of Your Life Insurance
We’ve observed a curious phenomenon: many of our clients, who are otherwise intelligent, educated and experienced in life, seem...
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The Ways and Means of Deducting Payment of a Dependent’s Medical Bills
Medical expenses of all kinds, even for the most benign conditions, can be frightfully expensive. A trip to the dentist for a...
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The Stretch IRA Is Dead. Long Live The Ten-Year Rule.
The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, passed by Congress in December 2019, changed long-standing...
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The Freelancer’s Guide to Buying Disability Insurance
Working past the traditional retirement age of 65 is a hot topic these days. People can expect to live longer and enjoy better...
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Will Changes in California Employment Law Impact Insurance Agents?
California is starting 2020 out with a bang, having passed a raft of new employment legislation that will have wide-ranging impact...
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SECURE Act FAQs: Helping to Deal with Client Confusion
The SECURE Act is spurring conversations among financial industry professionals, in particular specialists who assist people in...
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Surprise! These Are Taxable!
Uncle Sam is one greedy relative. It’s bad enough that his bony hand is always in your pocket on payday, but it’s not just wages...
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