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For many clients, pets are members of the family. These clients often say that if something happens to them, they are more concerned with what will happen to their pets than to their children or spouse. This issue of The Wealth Counselor examines the issues surrounding caring for pets after the disability or death of...

Before 2007, a non-spouse beneficiary of a qualified plan was stuck taking distributions under the terms of the plan, which typically required full distribution within five or fewer years of the participant's death. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) authorized non-spouse beneficiaries (before it was only surviving spouses) to roll over to an...

This month's issue of The Wealth Counselor addresses a topic that many professionals do not understand fully, life settlements. For the right clients, a life settlement offers a significant advantage over the alternatives - and one that the client and the planning team should at least consider. Life Settlements - The BasicsThe secondary market for...

This issue of The Wealth Counselor examines exciting new developments in business succession planning - specifically, the use of LLCs or partnerships to own life insurance for buy-sell planning purposes. Such a structure obtains the advantages of cross-purchase and stock redemption buy-sell agreements without many of the disadvantages of either traditional structure. This development is...

Whether your client is a parent with future educational obligations for young ones, or perhaps a loving aunt, uncle, grandparent, or stepparent, now more than ever 529 plans are an attractive tool for the escalating costs of education, as well as for income and estate planning purposes. This is because one of the hidden gems...

This month's issue of The Wealth Counselor examines the unique planning requirements of families with children, grandchildren or other family members (such as parents) with special needs. There are many misconceptions in this area that result in costly mistakes in planning for these special needs beneficiaries. It is therefore incumbent upon us - the client's...

The difference between the highest and lowest federal income tax rates is currently 35%. As a result, proactive income tax planning is important for many clients, and it is therefore important to all wealth planning professionals. This issue of The Wealth Counselor examines basic income tax rules as well as the useful strategies to defer...