It's a delicate balance, but parents who employ innovative financial training, carefully chosen trustees and cleverly written trusts can find there's hope for their high-rolling offspring. Estate planning is about taking care of your family and loved ones. But what if you have concerns about how your loved ones will use those assets? You spent a lifetime earning what you have through hard work and thrift. So why pass it along only to be squandered? Would you hand over the car keys to a teen who hasn’t proven he or she can drive? As any automobile insurance agent can attest,…
There’s a lot of commotion surrounding President Obama’s jobs bill. Small businesses, for one, are lukewarm since their concern is less for tax-breaks and more for actual revenues. But the biggest detractors so far may just be charities and those that give to them: the bill proposes eliminating some of the deductions for charitable giving amongst high earners. The jobs bill comes out to a $447 billion price tag, and much of it would be paid for by limiting the tax deductions for charitable giving amongst top earners making $200,000 a year or more. Currently, these earners can deduct 35…
One solution: Donating the principal to a nonprofit in the form of a "charitable gift annuity" in exchange for lifetime fixed annuity payments. Remember the good old days, you know, when you could invest in a certificate of deposit (CD) and the bank would actually pay you something called “interest” on your deposit? No, really, I kid you not. Obviously, I am being a bit factitious, but you get the point. It is hard enough to make money these days, let alone accumulate wealth. Let’s say you are retired and are looking for a place to put your money to…
Many people own property without truly understanding how they hold title to it – or the ramifications of the title that they hold. Not fully understanding your property ownership can have some dire consequences for your estate. As a lesson take a recent case out of Greenwich, CT, featured in an article here, and the dangers of tenants-in-common. Owning property with someone else is fairly common, and understanding how you own it is an important aspect of your estate planning. If you own property with someone else as tenants-in-common, when one of the tenants dies, their ownership interest passes on…
With long-term care insurance policies, the costs of assisted living facilities, in-home care and private nursing homes are covered. And, in many cases, these policies offer inflation protection, too. But since not many eligible consumers are signing up for policies, the companies that offer them are trying to make them more palatable. It is an unfortunate fact that healthcare costs are steadily rising and will only continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, healthcare inflation must be considered when planning to protect your health, your family, and your financial well-being. One of the greatest threats is long-term care, especially…
As of July 1, it’s official: Ohio has repealed its state estate tax, as reported through Forbes. Of course, it’s not quite dead yet as the estate tax provision of the new law doesn’t go into effect until Jan 1, 2013. Once it kicks in, though, the Ohio estate tax repeal is meant to be permanent. This will leave New Jersey with the distinction of being the state with the lowest estate exemption of $675,000. Other states are in the news as well, with both Maine and Oregon tweaking their state estate taxes. The Maine budget makes a prospective change…
Life insurance can be a powerful estate planning tool, but paying for it doesn’t necessarily guarantee your heirs will receive the benefit – not if the policy gets lost in the shuffle of life. Remember, your heirs may have to specifically approach the insurance company with their claim in order to receive any benefits. In fact, New York’s Attorney General’s office is investigating nine leading life insurers to see whether they have done enough to identify beneficiaries of life insurance policies. Do your heirs know the particulars of your life insurance, or where to find the paperwork? As recently explained…
We work with many qualified financial planners to assist clients with comprehensive estate and financial planning. But we don’t work with everyone, and sometimes we see unscrupulous sales methods employed that take advantage of trusting clients, particularly the elderly. Just such a case is brewing now in Indiana, where an insurance brokerage was disciplined for the unauthorized practice of law – and is now the defendant in a class-action lawsuit. According to insurancenewsnet.com, the insurance brokerage used estate planning as the hook for a lucrative business selling other insurance products, including annuities. Sadly, this is not an unfamiliar tale….
If you are a grandparent wanting to help your grandchildren with the future costs of college tuition, pay attention now. Recent tax law changes are making it easier for you to help pay education bills for your grandchildren – and even future generations. As the Wall Street Journal recently explained, generous exemption increases in the federal gift and generation-skipping taxes are in effect now through 2012. Most experts believe this federal generosity may be short-lived, so now may be an excellent time to plan. Tuition rates are rising steadily, and helping your grandchildren (or great grandchildren) obtain a good education…
Frederick, MD 
301-663-9230
