You can use a number of estate planning tools to achieve all sorts of goals. Some help to shield assets from creditors while others can reduce tax obligations. Determining the right combination of tools to make the most of your estate plan will depend on your wishes and the details of your estate.
Business succession planning: Gift or sell?
Family businesses are an important part of the country's economy. They make up over 50% of the country's gross domestic product and are responsible for an estimated 60% of jobs in the United States. Unfortunately, a recent publication in The CPA Journal notes only 15% of family businesses have a succession plan in place, only 30% make it through the second generation and less then 12% make it through the third.
Business owners can take steps to help better ensure their family business is successful for future generations. One of the first considerations involves how to transfer business interests. Two options are gifting or selling the interest.
How to choose an executor for your will
The executor of your will is the person you select to manage your final affairs after you pass away. This role is an honor, but it is also more than that.
The person you choose as the executor of your will must recognize that he or she will be required to complete numerous tasks. Each task may have its own deadline and legal complexity, and if the executor does not complete something correctly, he or she could be personally liable. Serving as an executor can be a big responsibility, which is why it is so important that you are careful when you choose the executor of your will.
4 steps to keep your kids from wasting their inheritance
As a parent, you put in a lot of hard work to earn, save and invest your money to create a withstanding inheritance for you children. But some parents worry that their children will blow through it before realizing the value of what they have received.
This is a common fear among parents who want to leave their children a parting gift. According to a study done by WealthCounsel, 35% of those forming estate plans, are creating plans to ensure their heirs don’t mismanage their inheritance.
Frequently asked questions about a power of attorney
A power of attorney gives another person — an agent — the authority to act on your behalf in legal and financial matters. Choosing your agent is no simple task, but it is an important one for anyone wanting to plan for their future during the estate planning process.
Is Tennessee an attractive locale for doing business?
After sifting through the relevant data points for analyzing a state's placement on a national list underscoring business friendliness, the bottom line concerning Tennessee is both succinct and clear.
To wit: By most measurable yardsticks, the state is an attractive and welcoming locale for commercial entrepreneurs and established business principals.
Proactive thinking about estate planning events, scenarios
Jamie Hopkins is a singly packaged finance professor, retirement expert and writer on estate planning. We spotlight some of the key points Hopkins underscores in an article he recently penned for the financial publication Kiplinger.
Hopkins unsurprisingly covers much varied ground in his piece chronicling planners’ common mistakes and the steps they need to take to skirt material errors in their focus and calculations.
Franchise opportunities: always fertile ground for TN entrepreneurs
The United States commercial market is the largest and most varied in the world. It thus comes as no surprise that bright and enterprising individuals are always focused upon ways to enter it and profit from their creative energies.
That is certainly true regarding entrepreneurs across Tennessee having viable ideas concerning business creation and growth. Even a cursory survey of business expansion in pockets spanning the state reveals an evident vitality coupled with great future possibility. We noted in a recent blog post (please see our Russ Cook & Associates October 21 entry) that "Tennessee has emerged as a regional powerhouse for attracting new and already established businesses."
Benefits for incorporating trusts into an estate plan
Most people understand the benefits of a general estate plan. It protects loved ones from duking it over assets in court, and it also allows you to fulfill any final wishes after passing. However, most people aren't aware of the benefits that trusts provide.
Trusts are incredibly useful tools for any Tennessee resident, especially if you pick the right trust for your family. But what exactly do trusts provide?
The world has changed; so too has estate planning
Forbes financial writer Martin Shenkman makes a dated – though still relevant, for some – reference in a recent article on estate planning to a storied fictional family from yesteryear.
That mom, dad and two sons comprise the Cleavers, who most baby boomers will remember intimately well as perhaps THE sitcom family of the late 1950s through early 1960s. They live on eternally through television reruns.
