There can be serious tensions with beneficiaries when a trustee is required to distribute all of the trust's income currently (meaning, it's a mandatory income trust) and the trust holds an interest in a partnership or other pass-through entity...
Perhaps the first time most people would've heard of a green burial was in the last episode, aired during summer 2005, of the blockbuster HBO series, Six Feet Under. The featured family ran a conventional funeral business and, at the end of five...
It was in the depths of the Great Depression that the alternative valuation mechanism was first put into place. Federal lawmakers realized that forcing an estate to pay taxes on its assets' value the exact day a wealth owner died might mean, when...
In a bull market, one of the best ways to transfer wealth is by a sale to a grantor trust. Little wonder that it's been so popular for the past 20 years. But a net gift coupled with a loan for the gift tax can transfer more wealth and at a faster...
What's in the water supply at Edward Jones? For the 16th consecutive year, the firm scored the highest overall approval rating (9.4) on our Annual Broker Report Cards survey. Ed Jones reps may be pooh-poohed in some precincts as small and...
The Swiss firm's reputation for conservative financial savvy has been crushed, and the dour mood of the firm's U.S. FAs clearly reflects that. Since the credit crunch began last spring, UBS stock has dropped 75 percent on losses of more than $23...
While Merrill Lynch and Wachovia Securities' respective mergers might recall Frankenstein, Morgan Stanley's transformation brings to mind a Park Avenue afternoon facelift. This year, although Morgan Stanley's overall score (7.1) was down from last...
Bear Stearns was swallowed up by JPMorgan Chase nine months ago, which seems like a lifetime when you consider what's happened to the financial industry since. At the time, Bear's near collapse and rescue were stunning. Since then, the number of...
