The holidays are the perfect time for family reunions, family bonding, family fun …and, according to the Wall Street Journal the perfect time for parents and children to talk about family finances, family estate plans, and family decisions about end-of-life issues. After all, there are relatively few times each year in the lives of most […]
Read moreOur blog posts this week have focused on how the upcoming election could impact your assets and estate plan, and with our final post of the week it seems prudent to address the impact of the election on special needs families as well. After Sarah Palin’s speech in Pennsylvania on October 24, there seems to […]
Read moreOne of the things that will be determined by the outcome of the election on Tuesday, and which will have a huge impact on our firm—and on our clients—is the fate of the estate tax. As it stands, the estate tax will be repealed in 2010 and reinstated again in 2011. However, both presidential candidates […]
Read moreWe talk a lot about taxes on this blog—as well as health care and retirement issues—but what if we could look into the future and tell you what all of these issues would look like four years from now? You’d want to know, wouldn’t you? Well, we can’t tell you for sure what our […]
Read moreBorn and raised in Taiwan until I was 17 years old, I’ve always been fascinated by American idioms like the one in the title, idioms that we take for granted until something like the mortgage crisis and rapidly dwindling stock market puts it all back into perspective for us. The current financial crisis has touched […]
Read moreMost of our small business clients probably already know that the federal minimum wage increased this week from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour. The increase is the second in a three-step process to bring the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour next year. In California, the minimum wage was increased to $8 an hour on Janunary […]
Read moreRecently we have quite a few clients deciding to tie the knot. Do dating and estate planning go hand in hand? They do if you are one of the lucky people finding romance late in life. With people living longer than ever before—and staying healthy and active longer as well—there are more cases of people […]
Read moreThere has been much noise made in the news recently about Leona Helmsley giving all of her millions to her dogs. But if you leave aside the incredible amount she left, her actions are not all that unusual. There are many people whose definition of family includes a beloved pet; and for those people, providing for […]
Read moreThere are some people who might question the patriotism of those who would try to arrange their affairs to pay a lower amount of taxes. But how much truth is there in that? Is it unpatriotic to want to work within the limits of the law to reduce the amount of taxes you pay? Everyone will […]
Read moreCelebrity divorces can hardly be considered news anymore, they happen so often, but the recently finalized divorce between Bill Murray and ex-wife Jennifer Butler Murray is news because of something they did before the wedding: They signed a prenuptial agreement. And it worked. At least it seems to have worked so far according to the Associated Press. […]
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