The investment industry demands, by regulation, that an advisor a client before making any recommendations. But most firms make satisfying that requirement too easy. All a client need do is fill out an account-opening form and, maybe, answer a...
There are many reasons why husbands and wives might want to create trusts that allow their spouses to withdraw income or principal. The most obvious is that allowing access to a trust confers extra financial security on the spouse. But there's...
Consider this scenario: A client, decides to change his will by adding a new beneficiary; he asks his lawyer to draft a new document. The lawyer promises to do so, but delays. Then, before the lawyer draws up new papers, Robert dies. For the...
Since the early 1980s, the will for married people has changed very little, but beginning next year, couples will be well advised to revisit those estate documents. In 2005 a provision of the 2001 Tax Act kicks in, reforming the way federal and...
On April 30, 1990, the Securities and Exchange Commission implemented Rule 144A, which it viewed as the first step toward achieving a more liquid and efficient institutional resale market for unregistered securities.1 The rule enabled less-than...
Tending to the financial needs of a family-owned small business is a complex affair, but it's not nearly as unique a task as it might seem at first blush. To be sure, the owners of these businesses have a number of concerns that set them apart...
Initial public offerings are lessons in onomatopoeia for a company's founders: goes the stock immediately after the offering; Hee Hee! go the founders when they start counting their money. All too often, though, these sounds are followed by a as...
A few years ago, two longtime clients, both owners of their own businesses, announced they were splitting up. But each wanted to retain Koprowski, director of financial planning at Delessert Financial Services in Waltham, Mass., as financial...
It's not news that mixing family and business can be messy, but advisors might be surprised to know the extent to which family-owned businesses need their services. According to Boston-based Family Firm Institute, a nonprofit trade group for...
By 2020, approximately one out of six Americans will be 65 or older, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, Westlake Village, Calif. Statistics show that roughly one-third of those men and one-half of those women will...
