Collectively, Americans lose millions of dollars and troves of invaluable personal data to scams. Tax season, in particular, is prime time for scammers, fraudsters, and those looking to make a quick buck at someone else’s expense. Scams are definitely not a new...
Estate Planning
Big Adjustments to Tax Rates, Exemptions, and Retirement Benefits in 2023
Every year the IRS and similar agencies make adjustments to important figures based on inflation. Given the high level of inflation at the moment, these updates may be larger than normal in 2023. It is important to stay apprised of these ever-changing dynamics because...
Legal Lexicon: What Does “Per Stirpes” Mean?
In every field there are words and phrases that will be foreign to industry outsiders. This is especially true of the legal world. Some words are unintelligible because they are professional terms of art with meanings that differ from the word’s use in everyday...
You Are Thinking about Estate Plan Maintenance All Wrong
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Reviewing and revising your estate plan is important. In fact, it's almost as important as having one at all. Unfortunately, on top of the 30–40% of Americans who do not have an estate plan, there are many, many...
Cut Your Estate Tax Bill by 40% with the New and Improved Portability Election
The federal estate and gift tax exemption is historically high—$12,060,000 per person for 2022. This number will adjust for inflation through 2025, but the relevant provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire end-of-year 2025, at which point the exemption...
Tips for Establishing Florida Residency after Retiring
Florida has long been known as a mecca for retirees. In fact, earlier this year WalletHub ranked Florida #1 overall in “best state to retire.” Their assessment accounted for over 40 individual factors of “retirement-friendliness,” primarily based on 1) cost of living,...
Estate Planning Strategies for LGBTQ Couples
Given the explicit prejudice and discrimination against the LGBTQ community, estate planning concerns may not seem that urgent or significant. However, the ability to build and protect generational wealth is at the core of the American dream and a key path to true...
SECURE Act 2.0: Time to Rethink Your Retirement Planning
With the passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement (SECURE) Act in 2019, the first major retirement-related piece of legislation since 2006, many Americans began to rethink their retirement strategies. Now, in 2022, proposals for a SECURE 2.0 are making...
How Organizing Your Asset Titles Can Protect Your Financial Legacy
Building your estate plan is about more than just having an attorney draw up a few documents. These documents are merely instruments to achieve a larger goal: the most cost-effective, tax-efficient, and expeditious administration of your estate and distribution of...
Legal Lexicon: What Is a Devise?
Every industry has a set of terms and phrases that industry insiders use to talk about their field. Some of these terms are actually useful, but others have become mere buzzwords that may or may not have any real meaning (what exactly is synergy anyway?) The legal...
Biden’s New Executive Order on Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to be a hot commodity. Between 2016 and November 2021, the total market capitalization of the sector rose from $14 billion to $3 trillion, and roughly 40 million Americans or 16% of the total US population have...
What You Need to Know Before Tax Day 2022
It’s been quite a last couple years. Covid-19 has caused two years of turmoil, and the new conflict in Europe, which has already driven up oil and gas prices and exacerbated existing supply chain issues, threatens to cause further global upheaval. If you’re like us,...