Gifts That Keep Giving: Tax Considerations for Business Gift-Giving
As the holiday season approaches, gift-giving is on the minds of many business owners. But there are reasons why a business owner may want to give gifts to workers and clients throughout the year and not just during the holidays. Whether to recognize a job well done,...SECURE 2.0 Tax Credits for Small Business Retirement Plans
America is in the midst of a retirement savings crisis. Many people are not saving enough to replace their income in retirement, and some have no money saved for retirement. Employer-sponsored retirement plans enable people to save for retirement, but many...Year-End Deadline! 2 year GRAT for Excess GST Exemption
Suppose earlier this year you read somewhere (this site, for example) that estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions will drop in half in 2026, and that there is generally no clawback for gifts made before then which exceed the 2026 exemption...Advisors Panic over Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)’s Orwellian Reporting Requirements
Did you ever put off studying for a final, until the night before the final? That’s pretty much how the planning community is feeling about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which will go into effect January 1, 2024. Congress passed the devilish law several...SECURE 2.0 Act, You, and Your IRA Beneficiaries
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0 Act). The previous SECURE Act in 2020 made several changes to retirement planning: It increased the required beginning date (RBD) for required...Israel Gun Ownership Only 2%, Lack of Gun Culture Threatens Families
[UPDATE: Gun sales and license applications are now surging in Israel. Imagine that. Almost like LA, the day after a riot. Does the same thing happen with fire extinguishers?] Israel gun ownership is only 2%. By contrast, over half of Americans own guns. It is not a...Best Time to Talk Turkey on Estate Planning? Thanksgiving and Christmas
Although it is tempting to add the Fourth of July, the best time of year for regular family discussion of estate planning is really the holiday season spanning from Thanksgiving through Christmas, of course including Hanukkah. The window may be expanded to New...Benefits of Having Your Business Donate to Charity
Giving money to charity might seem counterintuitive to those running a for-profit company. However, it is important to keep in mind that charitable giving can not only make a big difference to the recipients of your generosity, but it can also provide a net gain to...Legal Considerations for Farm Owners
Farming brings to mind kinship with nature and a simpler way of life. But the farming industry is highly regulated, and navigating the applicable laws and regulations can be far from simple. A rising world population creates greater demand for food and the farmers who...What Happens to Your Business When You Die
You spend a significant part of your life building your business, and it becomes a major part of your legacy. But when you die, everything you have built could fall apart if you have not taken the time to create a business succession plan. Without a plan in place,...How to Protect Your Business from Lawsuits
Small business owners are no strangers to risk management. Owning and operating a small business entails a certain level of unpredictability. Despite your best efforts to stay on top of supply chains, marketing, sales, competitors, employees, and cash flow, unexpected...Business Trusts 101: What Entrepreneurs Should Know about Using a Business Trust
Trusts are usually associated with estate planning, but trusts can also apply to business operations. As a small business owner, you can hold the business in a trust instead of using a business entity such as a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation. Business...How Do I Start a Home-Based Business?
The number of people working from home has never been higher. During the pandemic, many workers got a taste of the remote-work future and realized that they prefer to work from home. Now, as companies move ahead with return-to-office plans, there is an emerging power...What Happens When an LLC Member Dies?
In theory, a limited liability company (LLC) can last in perpetuity. However, the owners of an LLC should plan for the day when they are no longer there to run their business. This includes not only situations like retirement or career change, but also a decidedly...Complying With Estimated Quarterly Taxes
Tax day is one of the most important—and one of the most dreaded—days on the calendar for working Americans. If you have had a side gig or even transitioned to full-time self-employment, you may have to make estimated quarterly tax payments. Not everybody who earns...Using a Deferred Compensation Agreement in Your Business
The war for talent is heating up. A record number of workers have quit their jobs this year, creating a massive problem for employers. While higher pay can help get new workers in the door of your business, wages alone may not be enough to keep them there. Employers...How to Talk to Your Family About Business Succession
Benjamin Franklin famously quipped, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” From the very beginning, you had a plan for your business to succeed. You set goals and developed methods to achieve those goals. Your business has stood the test of time because you...The Basis Optimized Trust (BOT)
The Basis Optimized Trust (BOT) is an advanced option for planning that may yield better results than the more common types of irrevocable trusts, such as credit shelter (bypass) trusts, or qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trusts, which have been the...Considerations Before Owning a Business with Your Spouse
Both running a successful business and having a successful marriage require commitment and hard work. Operating a business as a married couple can present its share of challenges, but being devoted to one another as spouses and as business partners can bring higher...Why You Should Consider Putting Your LLC into a Trust
The limited liability company (LLC) is a popular business structure that offers liability protection and avoidance of double taxation. Trusts are popular asset transfer vehicles that allow you to avoid probate and keep assets out of the hands of creditors. By placing...Prodigal Son Breaks News To Dad That He Spent His Entire Inheritance On Gender Studies Degree
I stole the title of this post from a great Babylon Bee article that just came out. For those who don’t know, Babylon Bee is satire. Strangely, their satirical articles often do come true. And this particular title hews closely enough to family settings often...Member-Managed vs. Manager-Managed LLCs: What Is the Difference?
When setting up your business, one of the most significant decisions you will make is which type of entity to form. If you have settled on forming a limited liability company (LLC), you must also choose the type of management structure it will have. LLCs can be...The BDOT Option for Trusted Beneficiaries
The Beneficiary Deemed Owner Trust (BDOT) is one of several options to consider for “trusted beneficiaries” (pun intended) to whom you are open to giving some access to trust income and/or principal. (Another option might be the Beneficiary Controlled...How to Protect Your Personal Assets as a Business Owner
As a small business owner who puts in long hours to build your enterprise, it can sometimes feel like there is no separation between your personal and professional lives. You are probably willing to make this sacrifice to build a company that reflects your values and...Critique of “California Gun Laws” (2022 edition)
This critique of the 2022 (9th) edition of “California Gun Laws” by C.D. “Chuck” Michel and Matthew D. Cubeiro is not a critique of the entire book, but only a small portion consisting of two sections, Section 3 (“Operation of Law”...Medical Tyranny: Forced Organ Harvesting in America?
Could we see forced organ harvesting here in the US? Of course the notion seems far-fetched, but over the last couple years we’ve fetched so much culture-rending nonsense from far-away communist China that we could be up to our eyeballs in China soon. We...Listen to our new Radio Ad
Check out our new radio ad, commencing today on the Andy Caldwell Show, K-NEWS 98.5 FM…best talk radio on the Central Coast! Posted with permission of the Andy Caldwell Show and Dimes Media. Click here: Script: Ronald Reagan warned us: “Freedom is never more...California Prop 19 Passed, Urgent Action Recommended
Barring any assistance from a Kraken tentacle or two, it looks like California’s Prop 19 passed. Many families will be negatively affected and you should contact us right away for preliminary legal advice on whether you might benefit from taking immediate...SECURE Act: How It Will Affect You and the Beneficiaries of Your Retirement Accounts
Dear Clients and Students, On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act). The SECURE Act, which is effective January 1, 2020. The Act is the most impactful legislation affecting...President Trump Signs HUGE Tax Increase on Families (SECURE Act)
Yesterday with all eyes focused on impeachment, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, part of the 1,700 page, $1.4 trillion Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865, as amended)....Create a Dynasty Trust before Window Slams Shut
Dynasty trusts may be a tough sell when it comes to some millenials. How long did AOC say we have, twelve years? On the other hand, clients who are sane may benefit from acting now to create a dynasty trust before the window closes in 2026 — or perhaps...Kiplinger’s State-by-State Guide to Taxes
You may find Kiplinger’s updated tax map surprising: Click on any state in the map below for a detailed summary of state taxes on income, property, and everything you buy. Check out our slideshows below, including our picks for the 10 most tax-friendly and the...It Pays to Be Ruthless When Killing GRATs
Using quantitative analysis, we’ll show that the grantor’s choice is almost always clear: If her two-year GRAT is funded with marketable securities and is underwater at all prior to the first annuity date, she should cut her losses and start a new GRAT. That...Nearly brain-dead woman survives after being removed from life support
UPDATE: Every few months I see a story like the one below, and I try to make the time to blog it. However a few months after posting the story below, I had a client in my office relating a very personal and emotional story at least as amazing as any other such story...The Beneficiary Controlled Trust
Outright distributions, even if staged at various ages, signify outdated planning. The Beneficiary Controlled Trust, pioneered by my friend Steve Oshins and his father, fills the gap between outright distribution and extreme asset protection — very...Warren’s Wealth Tax Unconstitutional
While the estate tax is a perennial boomerang, Warren’s wealth tax tomahawk chop flies in the face of the Constitution’s prohibition on unapportioned scalping: The Constitution prohibits federal direct taxes that are not apportioned by population,...Guns and Dementia
This flawed article also makes some very good points, so i’m copying a good portion of it below. [Just note that gun ownership is NOT declining as the article states (see here, here, and here).] While discussions about guns and gun ownership are common political...Top 10 (11?) Dangers Facing Senior Citizens
Here is a great little slideshow on top estate planning priorities to avoid tragedy and missed opportunity (“Top 10 Dangers Facing Senior Citizen Clients”) which I summarize below (adding a little California-relevant detail of my own), with a link...Inside America’s Evangelical ‘purity movement’ where teen girls make pledges to their fathers to stay virgins until they get married
Sounds like a good idea, possibly for inclusion in incentive trust planning: “I want to make a promise to myself and to God that I will stay pure until I get married. “I don’t have to have sex to know that I am loved.” The Purity Movement preaches...HEET Trust Can Avoid GST Tax Heat, Teach Grandkids How to Pack Heat, and Help the NRA too!
[UPDATE 30 September 2024 — The Fall of the Republic and likelihood of reduced exclusions from death tax are leading to renewed interest in this technique. While there remains little guidance, if used conservatively it should work for extremely large...Should An Aging Parent Transfer the House to Her Kids?
This Virginia attorney writes a very good article summarizing some of the problems of transferring real estate to a child as an alternative to actual estate planning. Capital gains tax due to loss of basis step-up, medicaid lookback (California’s medi-cal...Ash scattering at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion a regular spectre
There are lots of ways to die embarrassed. Bad estate planning is one example; see the category above for others. Nothing can top being trampled for eternity while listening to bad puns! Seriously, have you given thought to the ultimate disposition of your remains? Do...California’s new Uniform Trust Decanting Act brings Opportunity, Risk
California recently (9/14/18) joined a few other states that have enacted the Uniform Trust Decanting Act. A lot of states have decanting statutes, several dozen in fact, but they vary greatly and this uniform act is more restrictive than those in some of the more...Financial Planning in the Age of Dementia
This article is a good overview, written by a financial advisor. However, note that powers of attorney only deal with non-trust assets and are frequently rejected by institutions so be sure that your trust is funded and adequately plans for incapacity as well...Sackler Family Behind Oxycontin Faces Lawsuits Over Opioid Abuse
In at least one sense business succession planning is like planning for guns: you need to make sure beneficiaries are responsible enough to handle the asset. Plus a little asset protection might be a good idea. Putting aside the ultimate outcome of the...Implantable defibrillators may cause dilemmas for older patients
Have you addressed this issue in your Advanced Health Care Directive? Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) differ from pacemakers, which control abnormal heart rhythms. Pacemakers prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate through electrical pulses, whereas...92-year-old refuses assisted living, shoots and kills son
I know, I know: “From my cold dead hands!” But isn’t it better to have a plan worked out with family — for guns, for long term care, for a bunch of things? Blessing had reportedly concealed two pistols in the pockets of her robe and then...Life Insurance Planning After Tax Reform
In addition to changes in life insurance purchase reporting requirements and basis calculation, the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act brings the following changes to life insurance planning: The doubling of the estate tax exemption will eliminate the need for most...This is Spinal Tap: Gang Steals Spinal Fluid from Women
Why is it that Muslim countries seem to figure so prominently in black market organ trafficking, and human trafficking in general? Non-consensual spinal tap — more reason to have a good health care directive these days. Pakistani police have arrested four...
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