http://personalwealth.saulnews.com A Law Blog hosted by Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:57:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute concludes that many people will be at risk of running out of funds sufficient to pay living costs at some point after retirement. Not surprisingly, the results differ based upon the level of pre-retirement income. For people in the highest quartile ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/116 The Florida Supreme Court has just issued an opinion denying asset protection for single member LLCs. We'll write more about this later, but it points up the importance of thinking about protecting the wealth you have accumulated. http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/115 The IRS has just announced that the applicable federal rate under Code Section 7520 will fall to 2.6% in August, down from 2.8% in July and 3.2% in June. These very low rates make certain planning and wealth transmission techniques far more effective. For example, the use of grantor ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/114 At the beginning of this year (2010), there was discussion in the press and in legal publications about the ability to convert IRAs and qualified plan accounts to Roth IRAs. This conversion involved paying taxes now and then being free of them thereafter, plus avoiding the necessity of minimum ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/113 Is it possible that Congress will do nothing for the rest of the year to restore the federal estate tax? Given the other items on its agenda, and the fact that this is an election year, it's very possible. But then what? At the end of the year, the ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/112 The IRS has announced the rates of interest used in valuing gifts and other transfers for the month of July, and they have fallen again. This means that transfers to the next generation can be made at a lower cost in gift tax exemption. But here's something else affected ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/111 A bill has passed the U.S. House making changes in grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs). The bill would require that GRATs have a term of at least ten years, and would eliminate the zeroed out GRAT. These changes would make GRAT planning a little less advantageous, although transfers of ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/110  In Lieu of a Tax Refund, a Chevy Nova  by Robert H. Louis   OK, that's not part of the President's tax proposals, at least not yet.   The Obama Administration has released some of its tax proposals and, under the rubric of closing "sort of" loopholes, there is a suggestion that grantor retained ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/109 Planning for Parents' Expectations Or, I was A Co-Star of Beach Blanket Bingo   by Robert H. Louis   I read an obituary for Jody McCrea, son of famed movie star Joel McCrea. How quickly they forget.   As everyone knows, Joel McCrea was a well-known movie star of long ago. His son, Jody, who ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/108 He Signed Into Law One of the Largest Tax Increases in History   By Robert H. Louis     And his initials are RR. No, it wasn't Roy Rogers.   For many years, retirement account balances were exempt from federal estate tax. This was a valuable benefit, as retirement accounts grew to become a large portion ... http://personalwealth.saulnews.com/archives/107