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At Price & Farrington, PLLC, we believe in educating
ourselves and the clients and advisors we strive to
help. We foster long-term relationships with trusted
advisors and work hard to support and strengthen their
relationships with their clients.
April, 2010: Estate Planning You Can
... and Should ... Do in 2010
With the current economy and uncertainty about the
federal estate tax, many people are finding themselves
sitting on the fence, wondering if they should do any
estate planning now, or if they should wait. You may
be surprised to know that there are many non-tax
reasons to plan your estate that have nothing to do
with the economy or estate taxes. And if your estate
may be subject to estate taxes in the future, this
year can be a perfect time for many people to plan,
specifically because of historically low interest
rates and changes that have been proposed by the IRS
and Congress.
Let's look first at planning needs that are not
related to the economy or to the estate tax.
February, 2010: No Estate Tax in
2010: What Does This Mean to You?
What
a mess Congress has created! We are now in a year
where there is no federal estate tax - but hold the
cheers. Congress has substituted another method of
taxation that will collect more taxes from many of
our clients and families than the estate tax.
Additionally, as has been reported in the local and
national media, including the Wall Street Journal
and New York Times1,
these changes will, for some, greatly alter the
planned for and anticipated distributions among
family members and heirs.
These changes impact people of all levels of wealth,
and the new tax will impact an estimated ten times
more Americans than the estate tax.
November,
2009: Don't Make the Same Mistakes You've Seen in
the Headlines
Now is the time to update your existing estate plan,
or proceed with implementing a comprehensive estate
plan. Why? First, we now know with certainty that the
federal estate tax is not going away, and thus we
should establish a plan that avoids or at least
minimizes this voluntary tax. More importantly, if you
don't, you just might end up like the host of
celebrities who have made the headlines recently
because they either had no estate planning or because
the planning they did have was woefully out of date or
otherwise inadequate.
August, 2009: When Is It Time to
"Service" Your Estate Plan?
If you own a
car, you know it requires regular servicing in
order to perform well and be reliable. More than
likely, your car came with a recommended schedule
for service, based on how many miles it has been
driven. After a certain number of miles, you need
to change the oil, replace the brake pads, rotate
the tires, and so on.
If you have a newer car, you probably have an
irritating dash light that comes on when it's time
for service and stays on until the mechanic resets
it. Either way, whether you pay attention to the
odometer or rely on that dash light, it's pretty
easy to know when it's time to service your car.
And if you keep driving it without servicing it,
it's a sure bet your car will let you down.
Like
your car, your estate plan needs 'servicing' if it
is going to perform the way you want it to when
you need it.
May, 2009: Understanding the New Economic
Stimulus Law: How Does It Impact You?
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into
law the $787 Billion American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This new law,
designed to stimulate the economy, contains numerous
tax provisions that affect individuals and small
businesses. This includes some provisions that may not
apply to you personally, but may affect your parents,
children, and/or grandchildren. The following is a
summary of the key provisions for individuals and
married couples.
January,
2009: Planning You Should Consider Now
These
are difficult times. The "experts" now acknowledge
that we are in a recession - and that we've been so
for about a year. Consumer confidence is low. As a
result many of us are concerned, wondering what
planning we should do now, if any.
For the vast majority of Americans, planning is not
discretionary. These individuals continue to have - or
perhaps for the first time have - personal concerns
that they need to address now because these concerns
are unrelated to the economy. In fact, some of these
concerns may even be made worse by our current
economic situation.
October, 2008: New FDIC Rules: Are
You Protected?
With the rash of bank failures,
you may wonder whether - and to what extent - the FDIC
(Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) will protect
your bank accounts. Fortunately, new rules from the
FDIC clarify how you can ensure maximum FDIC insurance
coverage. You may need to modify your planning
slightly to take advantage of these new rules.
August,
2008: "Portability" of the Federal Estate
Tax Exemption - What does it Mean?
With the political and economic
climate as it is in the summer of 2008, we are not
likely to see total repeal of the federal estate tax
in the foreseeable future. However, both Republican
and Democratic Presidential candidates support estate
tax reform. Realistically, such reform is at least one
year away, but the outlines are already clear. And
while the top estate tax rate and the exemption amount
are not yet established, both candidates support
making the exemption "portable" for spouses.
February, 2008: Planning for Pets
For many pet owners, pets are members of
the family. These individuals 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.
September 2007: Understanding
the Significance of Trusts
This issue of The Wealth Advisor addresses
a topic that is important to many Americans yet is
sometimes misunderstood - trusts. In the right
circumstances, trusts can provide significant
advantages to those who utilize them, particularly
in protecting trust assets from the creditors of
beneficiaries.
July,
2007: Planning for Disability
No one likes to think about the
possibility of their own disability or the disability
of a loved one. However, as we'll see below, the
statistics are clear that we should all plan for at
least a temporary disability. This issue of The Wealth
Advisor examines the eye-opening statistics
surrounding disability and some of the common
disability planning options.
May. 2007: New Law Creates Exciting
Planning Opportunities
The purpose of this newsletter is to inform you of
changes in the law and to provide planning information
and general financial news. These newsletters also
give us a chance to share new techniques to enhance
your planning, as well as to help you to stay current
with tactics designed to maximize the effectiveness of
your plan. I hope you will read each newsletter
carefully to keep up to date on these important
topics. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions about this or any matters relating to your
planning.
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Price
& Farrington, PLLC - Attorneys and Counselors at
Law
Parkwood Office Center -
2370 130th Ave. N.E., Suite 103 - Bellevue, WA 98005
Phone: 425.451.3583.. Fax: 425.522.4818 ..E-mail: admin@pricefarrington.com
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