Wow, the New Year is upon us – Happy New Year! – But where the heck did 2009 go?  With the New Year comes the annual ritual of the New Year’s Resolution.  New Year’s is the oldest celebrated holiday we have, dating back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon,[1] and that celebration originally coincided around the beginning spring, a time of renewal.

The Birth of the New Year’s Resolution. That the celebration got moved to January seems to have arbitrary and dates back to 153 BC when Julius Caesar’s named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of new beginnings. Janus was depicted as having two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. So at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Janus was imagined by the Romans to be looking back at the old year and forward at the new year,[2] a very natural time for reflection and for resolution and the tradition of the New Year’s Resolution was born and has evloved and stayed with us all these millennia.

Look Behind, Then Look Ahead. So each New Year we pause to look behind and then ahead at the new year and what we might want to improve and change. Actually a pretty useful process and one I recommend for businesses and individuals alike at this time of the year.  But, Janus was thought to look in two directions and it is very important we don’t get stuck looking back and never get around to the looking forward to the new. (more…)

Do You Know The Three Common Asset Protection Techniques — THAT DON’T WORK – Most of the Time?

In a tough economy, many people turn to self-help. That’s also true for asset protection, but if it doesn’t work what good is it?  In this special report you will learn the three most common and easiest to use asset protecction techniques.  You will also learn why these techniques usually fail.

Learn What To Look Out For and How To Increase Your Chances Of Success

Get your free copy of a special report and steer clear of the most common potholes in front of you. As a special bonus, you will receive our Wealth Preservation Insider Newsletter with our compliments for the first year.

Provided by Corliss, A Law Corporation

Do You Know The Three Common Asset Protection Techniques — THAT DON’T WORK – Most of the Time?

In a tough economy, many people turn to self-help. That’s also true for asset protection, but if it doesn’t work what good is it?  In this special report you will learn the three most common and easiest to use asset protecction techniques.  You will also learn why these techniques usually fail.

Learn What To Look Out For and How To Increase Your Chances Of Success

Get your free copy of a special report and steer clear of the most common potholes in front of you. As a special bonus, you will receive our Wealth Preservation Insider Newsletter with our compliments for the first year.

Provided by Corliss, A Law Corporation

Not dead, but it’s more uncertain what will happen to the estate tax now than ever, but in a time when government is desperate for revenues it is unlikely that the estate tax will be a llowed to disappear for even one year.  So where does that leave us?  Well to be honest, with time probably running out on some planning opportunities.

How we got here. In 2000 there as support for some significant changes to the estate tax law, but the Republicans could not muster 60 votes in the Senate, so the law that was passed could not be made permanent.  The 2000 estate tax changes will “sunset” at the end of 10 years and 2010 is the last year. When a law sunsets we return to the law that was in effect before the temporary law was passed, unless new legislation is passed.

The legislation passed in 2000 (“2000”) provided for a top estate tax rate of 45 percent and gradually increased the exemption equivalent (basically the size of the estate that someone can have before paying estate taxes).  It is $3.5M in 2009, which means that a married couple can basically transfer a $7M estate to their heirs, free of tax.  That is a pretty good size estate and has removed most families’ estates from the estate tax system. (more…)

It seems to be a fact of life that most of us put off important planning as long as we can and sometimes until it is too late.  My observation perception; not a study of any kind.  What is it about planning that folks just don’t like? You can find so many references to why planning is a critical first step; take the “Why You Need a Business Plan” article from today’s Wall Street Journal. Author Coleen Debaise does a nice job of summarizing and outlining the benefits of having a written business plan.  Ms. Debaise asserts that the plan “outlines your goals and serves as a road map for future activities…” That certainly seems worthwhile.  But then she goes on to point out that even though “a strong business plan is essentially the cornerstone of your business. . .many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to writing one.” (more…)

How to fund a child’s college education is not easy matter these days, but there is plenty of help. In my last blog post entitled College Funding Part I – Do We Need a Crisis to Act? Lots of Options, But Start Planning and Implementing Now! [Estate Planning Series] I described how college costs are growing faster than inflation and what that burden might look like in 18 years from now. In this post I wanted to turn to the positive and talk about what can help. Planning is the first step and can make a huge difference in what is available for your child, but you need not go it alone. There is quite a bit of help available and a combination of programs may make life for the family a lot easier.

There are four basic approaches taken to pay for college:

Save now to help defray costs – anything saved now helps offset costs later and increases family options.

Find someone to help pay – tax subsidy, scholarships and grants (accounts for 27%); grandparents, GI Bill, Employers (grad school).

Pay later – borrow and pay for college later with higher college earnings

Pay as you go – wait until you get there and then pay out of family cash flow.

Save. Saving is the biggest activity you can do ahead of time, and the Federal and some State governments are willing to help through tax subsidies. For example, a very popular vehicle is the 529 plan. This is a college savings or qualified tuition program plan. While the contributions to the plans are not tax deductible, the earnings in the plan are not taxed and the distributions to pay for qualified educational expenses are not taxed. This is a huge benefit and can allow for the accumulation of a very sizable fund for college. There are quite a few other options in this category like Uniform Gift or Transfer to Minor Accounts, IRAs, US Savings Bonds, Cloverdale Plans, tax free educational assistance, Minor’s Trusts, Life Insurance and the like. (more…)

The Looming College Funding Crisis. I am doing a seminar on College Funding tonight and getting ready for it gave me a great chance to review all the alternatives and the growing problem facing lots of families with children.  The cost of a four year college education has become a very significant number.  Tuition and fees are currently:

Private College   $116,000

Public University    $  30,500

2 Yrs JC & 2 Yrs Priv .    $  66,900

But that doesn’t include room and board, books, transportation, which probably adds another $8,000 to $10,000 a year.

What About 2027? The costs above are what you face if you have a child in or entering college right now. But what about if you have a newborn or young child?  In 18 years from now, the projections for college costs (tuition and fees only) are even more grim:

Private College   $332,000

Public University    $  87,200

2 Yrs JC & 2 Yrs Priv.     $191,200 (more…)

What is a Health Care Directive or a Living Will? It’s a written direction that specifies “the kind of care you’d want at the end of life if you couldn’t speak for yourself.”  That seems like something that every single American would want to have and in fact almost all 50 States have made the form and procedure very simple and inexpensive.  Yet it is estimated that less than one-third of Americans have Health Care Directives. [See a thoughtfully written article by Melinda Beck entitled Preparing for the Final Hours, which appeared the Wall Street Journal on August 18, 2009.]

Where is the disconnect and why aren’t Americans using this very basic planning tool? Ms. Beck gives some insight. “Many people don’t understand the options or the consequences, or they are baffled by the legalities. . .”  People think the Living Will or Advanced Directive is about dying and for the young that often doesn’t seem real and as we get older we often don’t want to think about that, we certainly don’t want to talk to our parents or loved ones about dying. The Advanced Directive is much more about care and how we live our last days than it is about dying. (more…)