RAISE YOUR HAND if you are the owner (or part owner) of a successful family business and someday you want your kids to step into your shoes. Let's be specific about the word "kids." We mean only those kids who are now in the business and who will...
MENTION RETIREMENT to any group no matter how young or old and the knee-jerk reaction is almost always the same: Stuff as much as you can into a qualified retirement plan, such as an IRA, 401(k) or profit-sharing plan. Actually good advice. Why...
TRY THIS REAL-LIFE story of a tax disaster. Joe died, survived by his wife Mary, four grown kids (one Sam managed Joe's family business, Success Co.) and seven grandchildren. Success Co. was a C corporation. Aside from owning their residence ...
Our Typical Consulting assignment is to put together a wealth transfer plan for a successful business owner. Invariably, the client brings up two critical and related operational problems: "How do I attract new quality people?" and "How do I keep...
JOE, A 63-YEAR-OLD reader of this column from Iowa, almost cried when talking to me on the phone. "I still want to kick myself for thinking my estate plan was done," he said. "For years I was convinced that my plan was ... perfect... Never...
RAISE YOUR HAND if you have a "substantial amount" in a qualified retirement plan such as an IRA, 401(k), profit-sharing plan or the like. For our purposes, "substantial amount" means $300,000 or more. This is a bad-news/good-news column. First...
BY IRVING L. BLACKMAN TAX ACCOUNTANT THE PURPOSE OF this monthly column always has been and still is simple: to show you, my readers, how to save taxes and create wealth (usually tax-free). Every now and then we hit a home run. How do we know...
IT'S FRUSTRATING. Year after year our office is asked to give a second opinion on the completed estate plans of owners of family businesses. It is rare very rare to analyze the estate plan (particularly the life insurance policies) of a real-life...
GIVE THE RIGHT answers and you can win big bucks on many TV game shows. Typically, the host only allows about 15 seconds for the contestant to give the right answer. OK, try this quick quiz: What is the most valuable asset you own? Hands down...
DO YOU HAVE real estate in your corporation? If so, raise your hand and then keep reading. About once a month, we get a call at the office asking a question something like this: "How can I get real estate out of my corporation without being taxed...
