Newborns need protection; it's an adage that applies as much to the business world as it does to the nursery. As it relates to the brokerage industry, this means newbie reps usually need a little help in establishing a healthy practice, and it...
It was just another hot Indiana summer day when Jay Gagne wheeled his Mercedes into the parking garage of the Merrill Lynch office in Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis. What he saw as he nosed his car into his space made him wonder just how much...
The relief efforts related to hurricane Katrina are doing what two decades of lobbying from the wealth advisory community could not: convincing legislators to let investors make tax-free donations from their IRA accounts. As part of an effort to...
One of the defining characteristics of closely held business owners is their need to control. This need prevents many from using lifetime transfer strategies, leaving only testamentary approaches, which are inherently less transfer tax efficient...
While President Bush and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were suffering scathing criticism for their slow response to the crisis Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans and the Gulf region, the Internal Revenue Service and Congress were...
Advisors take note: Baby Boomers and their parents need to do some serious talking. According to a new study, Americans in their 70s are more at ease talking about estate-planning issues than people in their children's generation are. This is the...
The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA) significantly changed the charitable gift1 substantiation requirements concerning qualified appraisals (QAs).2 The new rules, codified throughout Internal Revenue Code Section 170,3 expand the...
Divorcing couples may run the risk of incurring gift tax liability if their attorneys do not draft their settlement agreements with an eye on Internal Revenue Code Section 2702's draconian valuation rules. Despite a recent plateau in divorce rates...
The recent, intense scrutiny of non-profits has centered mostly on whether they are complying with legal and ethical obligations. For the past two years, press exposs and Congressional hearings have highlighted behavior by board members and chief...
To better serve clients, it may be important for us to move to the other side of the desk. If the results of our decisions impacted our own family members, would we do things differently? Would we, in fact, eat our own cooking? Early in my career...
