Winding Up A Qualified Personal Resident Trust
May 10, 2012The Qualified Personal Residence Trust, or QPRT, became popular a couple of decades ago as a way to save gift and estate taxes. Now that many of the earlier trusts are expiring, families have to proceed carefully to protect their tax benefits. Let’s take, for example, the case of a man called Brian. In August 1997, Brian met with his estate planning attorney. Because he was a widower with a …
The Romney Trust: A Masterpiece
April 2, 2012
As a financial adviser, I look at a well-executed financial plan in the way an art lover looks at a painting. Mitt and Ann Romney’s 1995 Family Trust, with its reported $100 million, is my financial planning Mona Lisa.
Estate Planning In An Uncertain Environment
April 2, 2012A few years ago, I was working with a client, a retired executive, to update his estate plan. Like most retirees, he enjoyed playing golf and spending time with family and friends much more than working through his estate plan. His aversion was magnified because he just wasn’t comfortable with the important decisions that had to be made. We’d talk on the phone about the next steps; he’d meet with …
Tax Changes In 2012
April 2, 2012
As you complete your 2011 tax return checklist, you may not have considered the last step: thinking about your 2012 taxes. Avoid the temptation to ignore taxes until this time next year. The good news is that most taxpayers will be affected only by a few small changes for 2012. However, many tax provisions are set to expire at the end of the year, which makes it an important one …
Rising Professionals Need Financial Help Too
March 9, 2012Life comes at you fast. The decisions you make between ages 25 and 35 will perhaps have the most significant impact on your success later in life – especially financially.
Yours, Mine and Ours: How Spouses Share and Transfer Property
February 8, 2012Most couples tend to overlook important consequences and planning opportunities when deciding how to take or maintain title to property.
Understanding Investor Biases
October 10, 2011Emotions and money each cloud judgment. Together, they create a perfect storm that threatens to wreak havoc on investors’ portfolios. One of the biggest risks to investors’ wealth is their own behavior. Most people, including investment professionals, are prone to emotional and cognitive biases that lead to less-than-ideal financial decisions. By identifying subconscious biases and understanding how they can hurt a portfolio’s return, investors can develop long-term financial plans to …
Capital Gains Planning Strategies
October 10, 2011Capital gains tax rates are at historic lows, but they are in the political crosshairs. It’s a good idea to take advantage of planning strategies now. Capital gains contribute to a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. An investor realizes capital gains when he sells investments for more than he paid for them; capital losses are the opposite. All of an investor’s capital gains and capital losses are first combined to create …
Avoiding The Partnership Technical Termination Trap
October 10, 2011Some families have been pleased about using partnership interests for wealth transfer during the recent market lows. Unfortunately, a few have been met with unwelcome surprises — five-figure bills penalizing the partnerships for filing late tax returns. When a partnership is terminated, its final income tax return is due three and a half months from the date of termination. Unless the partnership happened to cease doing business on Dec. 31, …
Do Incentive Trusts Encourage Responsibility?
June 17, 2011Wealth is difficult to amass but easy to squander. This worries some affluent parents, so they are transferring assets to their heirs with strings attached. With a $5 million lifetime gift tax exemption in place for 2011 and 2012, parents are transferring significant amounts to their children and grandchildren now instead of leaving it to them at death. However, parents realize that putting such wealth in the hands of their …
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