The best estate planning begins early and is usually sparked or adjusted by major transitions in life – when a marriage is beginning or breaking up, when a baby’s on the way, or when a major career change or inheritance increases an individual’s assets or the assets of an entire family.
It’s important to coordinate [...]
1. Why should I write a check to a fee only advisor when I could just pay a commission on a financial
product I buy?
Commission‐tied financial products are not free and the commission can be huge. For example, when you purchase investments from a commission‐tied financial products sales person, your dollar amount invested goes down by [...]
The nonstop discussion this year of health care reform and the economy crowded out discussion on the estate tax, which was scheduled to expire December 31. But as of this writing it appears that the estate tax will be continued at 2009 levels through 2010, which means that the 2010 top rate will likely be [...]
For parents with investment dollars to spare in deflated college-area real estate markets, there’s never been a better time to invest in condos or single-family homes to house a student during their undergraduate or graduate years while providing tax breaks and potential investment appreciation for the folks.
But, it’s very important to consider pros and cons [...]
As the holidays approach, plenty of couples think about marriage. That includes older couples with kids, accumulated assets and debts and previous marriages behind them.
That’s why marriages for older individuals require a specific sort of planning. For couples making another effort at marriage, a prenuptial agreement can either set the groundwork for a new [...]
