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Do you need a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)?
A qualified personal residence trust (QPRT) offers an excellent opportunity for homeowners with taxable estates to help reduce federal gift tax and avoid federal estate tax.What is a QPRT?A QPRT (pronounced "Q-Pert," and sometimes...
Read MoreTrust for Minors
Introduction - There are many reasons why you might want to gift assets to minor children (children under the age of 21). For example, you may want to help the children build a college fund, or increase the children's future financial...
Read MoreWhat is a Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) Trust?
A QTIP trust is a type of marital trust - A qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust is a type of marital trust used most often to maximize the use of both spouses' applicable exclusion amounts (the amount that can be sheltered..
Read MoreSilicon Valley Bank Is the 2nd Largest Bank Failure
The FDIC-seizure of Silicon Valley Bank is the second-largest US bank failure in history as it held $209 billion in assets at the time of its collapse. Even after adjusting for inflation, by assets it trails only Washington Mutual,...
Read MoreSaving on Health Expenses and Reducing Future Taxes
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a type of savings account designed to help individuals and families save money on their health expenses and reduce their future tax bill. To be eligible for an HSA, you must be enrolled in a...
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The Tax Benefits of a Backdoor Roth IRA for High Earners
A Backdoor Roth IRA is a strategy that allows individuals who earn too much to directly contribute to a Roth IRA to still contribute to one indirectly. The strategy takes advantage of a loophole in the tax code that allows individuals...
Read MoreWhat to Know About Multigenerational Estate Planning
Baby Boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — hold about $20 trillion in wealth.1 Over the next few decades, many Boomers may transfer this wealth to their Gen X, millennial, and Gen Z children, perhaps incurring a...
Read MoreUsing Trusts to Manage Wealth: What Investors Should Know
Whether you manage a trust for someone else, are the beneficiary of a trust, or are thinking of creating a trust, you probably have some questions about the "best practices" of trust management. A well-managed trust can help...
Read MoreKeeping Sight of Personal Priorities
In the rush of daily business activities, business owners can lose sight of what they had originally hoped to accomplish through their continuous efforts. Over time, as the business grows, personal objectives may also change. When was...
Read MoreShould Your Family Have a Family Business Constitution?
Constitutions don't just set down fundamental rules and processes for countries; they can also set rules down for families—especially families with businesses. Having certain processes and governing principles put to writing can...
Read MoreWealth-Transfer Taxes Can Take a Toll on Small Businesses
Most business owners become wealthy the “old-fashioned” way—they work hard. But, suppose a business owner and his or her spouse were to die unexpectedly. Undoubtedly, they would hope their children or other family...
Read MoreChange on the Horizon: Preparing for the Estate and Gift Lifetime Tax Exemption Sunset (2025)
As people begin to age, having worked hard their entire lives and accumulated significant wealth in savings and investments, it becomes very important for many to evaluate strategies for leaving their wealth to loved ones. Luckily,...
Read MoreWealth Preservation in America: Portfolios Including Alternative Types of Investments
After the financial crisis, and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans examined how and why they invest. Many investors that had their entire wealth tied to the stock market proved to be more destructive than having alternative...
Read More529 College Savings Plans: For Education and Estate Planning
529 College Savings plans are essential for saving for higher education expenses, and if used for education, accumulate tax-free. Since 529 plans came into existence in 1996, their popularity has continued to increase, with 529 plan...
Read MoreHow Can You Smooth the Intergenerational Transfer of a Family Business?
If you own a business, you may have spent years dreaming of passing along the business to your children, nieces and nephews, or other family members after you retire. However, transferring a family business—and its ability to...
Read MoreThe Gift of a Lifetime: How to Donate Life Insurance to Charity
The primary purpose of life insurance is to provide financial resources for those that depend on you when you die. However, you can lessen the complexity of charitable giving through wealth transfer by using life insurance as a gifting...
Read MoreFamily Wealth Transfer Planning: Keeping it in the Family Through Generational Giving
What is family wealth, and how do you preserve it? You have worked hard for years and accumulated wealth. You earned this money through your job, investing, and saving, and you want to preserve it for yourself and to take care of...
Read MoreThe Great Wealth Transfer: Is Your Family Prepared?
Over the next twenty years, a wealth transfer will occur that exceeds $30 trillion as the Baby Boomer generation passes the remainder of their wealth to the Millennials and subsequent generations. The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are...
Read MoreExecutive Compensation: Equity Compensation for Corporate Executives
When it comes to executive-level pay or compensation, financial compensation comes in a number of forms, including salary, bonuses, and other forms of compensation, such as equity compensation. This type of compensation is often...
Read MoreQCDs: Donating and Gift Giving Through Your IRA
A qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, allows you to distribute funds from your IRA to an eligible charity (a 501(c)(3) organization) as long as you’re 70 1/2 years of age or older. Since the gift will go directly to the...
Read More3 Golf Tips to Keep Your Retirement Plan on Course
In golf, as in finances, there are a few rules of thumb that may improve your game: keep a level head, avoid traps, practice before trying something new and stay the course. Applying lessons from the golf course to your financial life...
Read MoreYour 2022 Year-End Planning Checklist
It may be easy to forget we're nearing the end of the year. Even during the busy end of year rush, it's a good time to reevaluate your 2022 finances and turn an eye toward 2023. What can you do now to potentially improve and streamline...
Read MoreAdvanced Tax Planning Ideas: Tax Loss Harvesting & Ways to Quantify the Benefits
When you lose money on certain investments, you can typically claim the loss against other investments, and in some cases, you may even be able to claim all or a portion of the loss against regular income. Called tax-loss harvesting,...
Read MoreYour Emergency Fund: How Much Is Enough?
Have you ever had one of those months? Bad things happen to the best of us, and sometimes it seems like they come in waves. That's when an emergency cash fund can come in handy.
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