Articles about Estate Planning Financial Planning

• Charitable Giving With Life Insurance
  June 2007
  There are two basic ways you can help clients use permanent insurance to support the charity of their choice.
  
  
• The CRT Advantage
  September 2006
  Here’s a simple way to walk your client through the advantages of using a trust in the planning process.By Earl R. Borders III, CLU, ChFC, RFC, RHU, REBC, LUTCF, CRMS
  
  
• Riddle Me This!
  August 2006
  For an easy way to show your clients why insurance is so important in estate planning, try these riddles on them.
  
  
• The IRS—Your Hidden Beneficiary
  August 2006
  Do your clients know who's getting the biggest part of the estate?
  
  
• The Dollar Riddle
  August 2006
  It looks like an easy question, but this riddle will get your clients thinking.
  
  
• The Death Tax Isn’t Dead
  July 2006
  State death-tax planning should be an important aspect of the estate-planning process.
  
  
• Five Levels of Estate Planning
  July 2006
  This systematic approach to explaining estate planning will help your wealthy clients understand what strategies they need to use.
  
  
• Estate Planning for the 21st Century
  July 2006
  The changing needs of today’s elderly are a challenge you can rise to.
  
  
• Something for Everyone
  December 2005
  A CRAT may let your clients have just that.
  
  
• The Boomers Are Giving!
  October 2005
  They are on track to becoming the largest generation of philanthropists ever.
  
  
• The Seeds of Change
  September 2005
  What will happen when federal estate taxes no longer matter?
  
  
• The Hidden Estate Tax
  July 2005
  Clients should understand the ramifiactions if estate and capital-gains taxes return.
  
  
• The Pros and Cons of ILITs
  April 2005
  Learn when to use these flexible instruments and when to seek alternatives.
  
  
• Convincing Commitment-Phobes
  February 2005
  Get estate-planning prospects to commit to their priorities during the first minutes of the interview.
  
  
• The Basic Legal Documents of Senior Planning
  May 2004
  The documents every senior client should have, and why they?re necessary.
  
  
• Preserving Inherited IRAs
  June 2003
  The Uniform Distribution Table can help you streamline the inheritance process.
  
  
• Planning for Divorce
  June 2003
  Here are a few estate-planning issues engaged couples should address.
  
  
• Charitable Remainder Trusts
  February 2003
  Here's a detailed look at one of the most common approaches to charitable giving.
  
  
• Choosing an Effective Estate-Planning Attorney
  January 2003
  A values-based, client-centered attorney will help your clients succeed.
  
  
• Working in Tandem
  January 2003
  Tax attorneys and CPAs tell advisors how they can better hold up their corner of the estate-planning triangle.
  
  
• Reducing Estate Plan Conflicts
  November 2002
  Conflict is not always avoidable, but with proper planning, it can be minimized.
  
  
• Mistakes to Avoid in Estate Planning
  September 2002
  These include not having a financial plan and failing to maximize contributions.
  
  
• A Matter of Trust
  May 2002
  CRTs provide an ideal mechanism for transferring highly appreciated assets in an estate.
  
  
• Funding Your Client’s Estate Plan
  May 2002
  IRAs, deferred annuities, municipal bonds and highly appreciated assets may help address some of your client’s cash flow issues.
  
  
• Estate Planning for the 21st Century
  May 2002
  The changing needs of today’s elderly are a challenge you can rise to.
  
  
• Estate Planning for Non-U.S. Citizens
  December 2001
  Estate planners need to be careful when dealing with spouses that are not U.S. citizens.
  
  
• Weathering the Uncertainty: Generation Skipping After Tax Reform
  December 2001
  Effective planning will help your clients cut taxes.
  
  
• Protecting the Family
  January 2001
  Parents want to provide opportunities, not an unearned lifestyle.
  
  
• The Life Settlement Transaction: An Alternative Estate-Planning Tool
  December 2000
  These transactions are now being extended to healthy seniors, where they can enhance the financial and estate planning flexibility for some affluent seniors.
  
  
• The Estate Tax: A Voluntary Tax?
  November 2000
  If the estate tax finally disappeared, how many sales would you lose?
  
  
• Choosing a Trustee
  October 2000
  When looking for a trustee, we tell clients to start with family, then review friends, then look at professional advisors and finally look at institutional trustees.
  
  
• Private Split Dollar: A Buy-Sell Alternative
  September 2000
  This popular estate-planning concept for wealthy families has emerged as an interesting application for small-business succession.
  
  
• The Forgotten Part of an Estate Plan
  July 2000
  Sometimes, family conflict has nothing to do with the money, and everything to do with the heirlooms.
  
  
• Continuation Planning for LLCs
  May 2000
  A limited liability company (LLC) is the only business entity that allows complete pass-through tax advantages and the operational flexibility of a partnership, as well as corporation-style limited liability under state law and management participation by all members.
  
  
• Two Realities for a Business Owner
  April 2000
  Many business owners fail to spend enough time to assure the survival of the business they devoted their lives to building.
  
  
• The Survivorship Spousal ILIT
  February 2000
  ILITs can replace income in the event of an untimely death, pay estate taxes and administration expenses, and equalize inheritances among children. However, these trusts are often criticized as inflexible.
  
  
• Estate Tax Elimination?
  January 2000
  It is not economics, but politics, which will assure the tax is not eliminated. Some history may be important to understand this issue.