When it comes to giving money away, the only hard part for your clients should be accumulating the wealth in the first place.

For many clients, retirement benefits are their largest asset. For others, they are important even if not determinative. For all, the rules governing retirement benefits are complicated. There's also a potential for tension between income tax...

A recent webcast in which a veteran Internal Revenue Service representative participated provided insight into issues in spousal rollovers, income in respect of a decedent (IRD), designated beneficiaries, reformation and non-spousal rollovers...

Wealthy clients often ask advisors whether they should use their individual retirement accounts for unconventional investments. And now that the equity and debt markets have experienced significant volatility, clients may be even more interested...

When a retirement plan participant dies, the Internal Revenue Code's minimum distribution rules generally require that the plan benefits be distributed in annual installments over the life expectancy of the participant's designated beneficiary.1...

Formal, public recognition of donors large and small has long been a no-cost way for charities to say “thank you” to those who provide financial support to a particular cause.

Scott Burns has spent decades trying to figure out how people can retire comfortably and yet sacrifice as little as possible pre-retirement. Which is ironic since Burns, at the age of 67, appears to have no interest in filling his Golden Years...

Often, estate planners and elder law attorneys are faced with the challenge of trying to protect an aging client who's gradually descending into dementia or becoming emotionally needy, making him vulnerable to unscrupulous caregivers, friends...

Last month's column discussed why clients with college-bound children should not only permit themselves to borrow money to pay for education expenses, but should even be encouraged by you to do so. Since that time, dozens of education loan...

April's column discussed charitable lead trusts, and why the vehicles might be an optimal solution for wealthy clients who wish to give more money to charity in the near-term and family in the long-term, and less to Uncle Sam forever. But CLTs...