Get your financial advisors to communicate

Doctors are often way too busy to focus on their finances or communicate effectively with their advisers. And when doctors and financial advisers do talk, they often aren’t on the same page. Fortunately, there is a cure for this dilemma.

Family limited partnership limits

As the U.S. Tax Court continues to see its fair share of cases involving the legitimacy of this popular estate planning tool for the wealthy, one thing is becoming clear – obeying the rules is the key to maximizing its benefits.

Financing the cost of life insurance

A brief summary of the history of premium financing, its evolution, and its potential connection to a living exit strategy, namely, the secondary market for life insurance.

Re-examine your disability insurance policy

It’s the right time to consider purchasing disability insurance as “own occ” is back, new options are available, limits have increased and more insurance companies have entered the market.

Buried treasures in the new tax laws

The Act exponentially increases the tax benefits available to practices that wish to update equipment and certain other property to more technologically-advanced forms of property.

You don't have to worry about lawsuits, do you?

All a plaintiff attorney needs to know is whether you have deep pockets and whether you have taken the necessary steps to build protective walls around your money.

Start your financial resolutions today

Opportunities that exist today may not exist in December when many people are scrambling to do their year-end planning and make their financial New Year’s resolutions.

Fractional ownership offers shared sense of wealth

Fractional ownership is when individuals purchase a portion or share of an expensive asset that they otherwise may not be able to afford on their own. The buyers share the cost of the asset and, in some cases, they also share the costs of maintenance, fees, taxes and management costs for the asset.

Diagnosing the value of executive stock options

Physician investors should be aware of the potential for abuse and the impact of executive stock options on the value of their investment in a company, investigate the company's past practice and current policies regarding these grants, and make their investments in an informed manner.

A 21st century approach to life insurance

While most policy holders would consider a life insurance contract as a periodic expense, the fact is that the contract represents an asset. A lawyer would refer to it as personal property. As such, it can be purchased and sold in the open market at its fair market value.

How to evaluate the risk of an investment

Before you can evaluate the risk of a specific investment, you must understand the types of risk that exist and how to measure them.

Are alternative investments right for you?

As the traditional investment markets increase in volatility and deliver sub-par results, investors are looking for different ways to make money. Many individual investors are coming in contact with the concepts classified as “alternative,” without truly understanding the proper benefits, uses, and risks.

Estate planning is dead

Here’s the problem: traditional estate planning is Death Focused; Advisor Driven; Money Only; Solutions in Search of a Problem; Complicated; Confusing; and Client Dependent.

Putting the success in succession planning

A properly drafted succession plan looks at leadership and the transfer of control. It also minimizes the estate and gift tax consequences, which can cripple the ongoing success of the business during the transfer period.

Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

The first round of PQRI is underway, and for the majority of physicians who chose not to participate or could not implement its requirements, losing out on the 1.5 percent bonus may not be significant, particularly considering the amount of work required to implement the program.

Five tax planning ideas for 2007

Do you realize that you spend 40 to 50 percent of your working hours laboring for the IRS and your state?

Are you dying for your real estate plan to work?

More money than we ever thought we’d have and still very concerned about losing our wealth. How can that be?

What are you paying for investment management?

Here’s how to find out – and maximize the performance of your portfolio.

Tax incentives for college savings

Choosing the right college savings plan for your child or grandchild requires the evaluation of many variables.

Impact of Pension Protection Act

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 creates significant changes in the tax law in the areas of qualified retirement plans (particularly defined benefit plans), exempt organizations, individual personal savings, and deductions involving charitable contributions.

Appraising life insurance options

The various options that are available to you, some of the key questions to ask, and tips to consider, when contemplating buying a policy.

2006 market commentary: what lies ahead?

Investors need to stop obsessing about the “Dow” and become better educated about other investment sectors such as bond, real estate, commodities, and international opportunities.

401(k) wars: revenge of the Roth

Are Roth 401(k) contributions better than traditional pre-tax 401(k) contributions? Even the experts in the 401(k) industry cannot agree.

Long arm of the alternative minimum tax

Often overlooked, the tax is unfortunately a significant part of the taxation of individuals.

Planning for death, disability or retirement

Since you never know which one will come first, it is critical to plan for all three.

Four wealth buckets of capital

When people think about their wealth, they often ignore its accessibility, costs and vulnerability.

Plan this year and save next April 15

If you’re like most physicians, you don’t even dedicate one day per month to see how you could reduce your tax liability.

Save income taxes on 'like kind' exchanges

Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code allows a taxpayer to defer the income tax applicable to gain otherwise recognizable when you “exchange’’ property used in a trade or business (your practice) or hold for investment, (i.e., rental real estate ) for property of a “like kind.”

Invest in mutual funds or individual securities

A mix of individual securities, along with mutual funds may provide a good balance between achieving performance results while managing tax consequences.

Be flexible with class-based pensions

Implementing a class-based pension plan will allow you to both reduce spending and increase benefits to employees.

Avoiding the great retirement dilemma

“Will I have enough?” That’s the Big Question! It’s everyone’s number one concern. The Retirement Dilemma is showing up at retirement and not having enough.

Consider a captive insurance company

Because they have both significant and minor risks to insure against, because they generally have high income tax liabilities, and because they are interested in building asset-protected wealth over the long-term, doctors of all types may find CICs to be an important planning tool.

Traditional & alternative real estate lending options

Making an investment in real estate shouldn’t disrupt your carefully-built financial strategy.

What a professional employer organization can do

Save money on Group Health Insurance, Worker’s Compensation Insurance, and outsource your office’s Human Resources (OSHA) compliance issues/liability.

Impact of the Federal Reserve System

What exactly does the Fed do, and why should we care?

Buy-sell agreements for partnership changes

With such an agreement, your practice can survive the death, permanent disability or retirement of a partner. You can’t afford to do without one.

Draft an Investment Policy Statement

A properly drafted Investment Policy Statement outlines both your risk tolerance and risk capacity, and drives the design of the appropriate mix of asset classes and the manager selection process.

Lesser-known asset protection strategies

Wills, basic insurance protection, a qualified retirement plan and a well-diversified investment portfolio. So what’s next?

Surplus Medicare fraud insurance

If you like the idea of supplemental Medicare coverage while building a large supplemental benefit, then this program is one you should consider.

Overlooked benefits of Health Savings Accounts

Technically speaking, it is a tax-exempt trust or custodial account that is established with a qualified trustee for the benefit of an eligible individual, as well as his or her spouse and dependents.

Make taxes part of your investment planning

Gaining an understanding of how your investments affect your taxes is a must if you want to plan the most tax-efficient program and achieve your most important goals.

Who cares about estate taxes anymore?

Understanding the foundational principles that underlie the modern estate tax system can help us see more clearly into the future of the tax.

Various options for protecting your assets

All of these strategies have legitimate tax-planning and estate-planning purposes, but their value as asset protection tools depend on timely implementation.

Supplemental life insurance cash flow

Of all the options that can provide funding for the retirement years, life insurance may be the most effective choice for supplementing other retirement plans already in the works.

Return of premium disability insurance

If you are tormented by paying disability premiums you know will never be put to use, then you should seriously consider return of premium disability insurance.

Five things I would tell my wealthy grandmother

If my grandmother knew that over $4 million of her hard earned wealth was lost to taxes unnecessarily, she would be sick to her stomach.

Resurgence of defined benefit plans

A defined benefit plan will be attractive to a physician practice in which the physician is moderately close to retirement and has experienced a longer period of service, particularly in those cases in which the other participants are not close to retirement and have not experienced longer periods of service.

Deferring capital gains taxes on property

Far too many physicians sell their business and investment property and pay capital gain taxes because they are unaware of provisions in the tax code that allow for deferral.

Subchapter S versus Subchapter C taxation

The continued viability of the S corporation has become somewhat more questionable since the enactment of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of continuing as an S corporation before seeking status as a C corporation.

Understanding real estate investing

There are many ways to own real estate and incorporate it into a portfolio.

Factor your accounts receivables

A/R factoring protects your medical office’s A/R, reduces income taxes of key physicians, creates a supplemental benefit plan that does not require funding from for other employees and functions 155 percent better then post tax investing.

Test your knowledge of wealth preservation

Simulating wealth over time exposes trends, dangers and concerns not seen in the short run, and provides the best decision-making tool to compare the comprehensive impact of alternative strategies.

Safeguard your ability to earn income

Understand the important components of traditional disability income insurance policies, the differences between group and individual coverage, the state of the market and the newest products available to protect your retirement contributions.

Key assumptions for secure retirement

Retirement has become a phase of life that will require more money than ever before, without the availability of traditional resources.

Turn practice revenue into personal wealth

Isn’t it time you save some of those taxes and turn the value of your practice into a more usable retirement asset?

Long term care insurance options

The product has two roles: helping keep families together and allowing your retirement portfolio to be used for the purpose for which it was intended, namely paying for living during retirement.

Defined contribution retirement plan

Because plan contributions are currently deductible, and the growth on the plan assets is not subject to tax while in the plan, there is an extremely powerful financial incentive to establish and maintain such a plan.

Six tax-saving ideas for 2003

If you're like most physicians, you don't even dedicate one day per month to see how you could reduce your tax liability.

Portfolio diversification and benchmarking

Your investments have done well compared to what?

Aligning financial advisor motives with yours

How can you tell if these professionals are sincere or if they are only interested in finding a way to stick their hands in your wallet?

Asset allocation for long-term investing

Your individual investments will respond at different times, dependent on the many factors related to the economic cycle. Knowing that these patterns are cyclical, you must give your portfolio the necessary time to participate in these various cycles.

Protecting your accounts receivable

Most of the ways doctors have been implementing this strategy is very troublesome. This is one area where you must "do it right" or risk extremely costly negative tax consequences.

Impact of tax cut bill on physicians

President Bush may not have succeeded in getting all the tax cuts that he proposed, but the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 does contain significant tax savings for physicians and other highly compensated individuals.

Monte Carlo process in retirement planning

Monte Carlo process and methods have been used for everything from integral equations to turbulence simulation to aerosol science to chemical combustion. Now it's being used to help people retire successfully.

Post-recession financial planning principles

You may be down, but you're far from out. Undertake a serious, comprehensive review of your financial plan based on expectations that are neither too giddy nor too gloomy.

What to look for in a CPA firm

If you are looking for a CPA firm for the first time, seeking to change CPA firms or looking for additional expertise that is beyond the services offered by your present CPA firm, then this article can aid you in your search.

Protect your wealth from lawsuits

Asset protection is only one goal and must not be addressed in a vacuum--it must be integrated with your other goals. Every strategy has side effects, so you want to be sure there is coordination.

An all-perils insurance policy

Consider the integrated estate planning trust: a trust (usually offshore) established to protect assets at a time when there is no expectation that assets will need protecting.

Investing successfully in a bull market

There's a better way to prosper when the stock market is sluggish or giving ground: a well-considered policy of asset allocation pointed for the long term.

Business interruption insurance

Circumstances could compel physicians to shutter their practices. How then would they make up that lost income?

Avoid retirement plan confiscation

Taxation makes qualified plans one of the worst ways to transfer wealth to heirs. So, what are your options?

Bring balance to your education planning

Consider a balance between the tax advantages of a 529 plan, the flexibility of a Special Purpose investment account and the benefits of a Coverdell IRA.

A corporate trustee and charitable giving

Even financially sophisticated individuals often find managing a trust to be both complex and burdensome.

Three keys to stress-free investing

The hallmark of Stress Free Investing is to be transformed from an emotion-based investor to an information-based investor. Moving from how we feel to how we think requires time and education, but the payoff is substantial: peace of mind.

Section 529 college education planning

With the skyrocketing costs of college and limited financial aid to go around, the government is enhancing certain college savings plans that have only been around for a couple of years. One of the most exciting opportunities that exist for college savings is the newly expanding Section 529 Savings Plan.

Exclusion of disability benefits from tax

In the event of disability, benefits are taxable unless the disability and the plan itself satisfy a two-part exclusion test contained in Section 105(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The greatest threat to wealth preservation

The biggest villain to wealth preservation and transfer is not the IRS--though they are a close second. The biggest villain is procrastination.

New tax law's impact on physicians

The new law broadly affects physicians in a manner that is not limited to income taxes--it also creates tremendous savings and planning opportunities in the areas of education, retirement planning and estate planning.

Charitable moves benefit from higher tax rates

If you make a sizable charitable contribution before year-end, your deduction will be worth more than if you wait five years. If your charitable gifts are substantial, acting now can make a big difference.

Investing in current economic times

It is not realistic to extrapolate five years of investment performance and assume that a new long-term trend has been created. On the flip side, it is not prudent to extrapolate the past two years of negative performance and assume the stock market no longer makes sense.

Good news on the retirement plan front

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 has made numerous favorable changes to the retirement plan laws that provide significant opportunities for physicians.

Disinherit the IRS through estate tax repeal?

Estate tax repeal occurs for only one year, and in that year it is actually repealed by the capital gains tax. Warning: your current estate tax plan may now be obsolete!

Asset protection from malpractice liability

Malpractice claims against physicians continue to increase at an alarming rate every year. Many physicians have turned to basic asset protection strategies as a means by which to protect personal assets from the claims of litigants and other creditors.

Seven strategies to reduce investment risk

A portfolio’s risk can be reduced and the expected rate of return improved if investments are combined that don’t move together.

Issues when moving to private practice

Any sale or transfer of a practice by a tax-exempt organization to physicians will draw close scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service and will entail a host of legal issues.

Issues when moving to private practice

Any sale or transfer of a practice by a tax-exempt organization to physicians will draw close scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service and will entail a host of legal issues.

Retirement planning is a life-long process

Since the quality of your life in retirement will be determined by the quality of your long-term financial plan, it is imperative to make prudent and conservative investment choices now. Just like when you are preparing for a complex procedure, even a slight miscalculation in planning could cause you to miss your desired result by a wide margin.

Physician's disability insurance market

As the disability insurance market continues to deteriorate, every physician should perform a "policy check-up" to better understand his/her policy.

Cleaning up your investment portfolio

After a year like last year, investors are left scratching their heads wondering what to do with their portfolios, especially since there appears to be no place to run and hide. So how do you avoid making mistakes with your portfolio?

Overcoming roadblocks to estate planning

Procrastination favors only the IRS. The way to begin planning is to have open and honest discussions with your family about finances, personal goals and mortality.

Hardship deferment saves residents money

There are many residents who can save over $14,000, but too few who are aware of this option.

The buy-sell agreement as a business will

The most common business continuity tool is a funded buy-sell agreement, sometimes referred to as a business will, which is inexpensive to draft and less complicated than other ways of transferring ownership and management of a closely held corporation and can be responsive to changing circumstances.

What's standing in the way of your ideal lifestyle?

Transitioning does not mean retirement, it means a clear strategy to use your wealth to transition from your present lifestyle to your ideal lifestyle. Maybe you've never been given the opportunity to think like this.

A surprising new life insurance option

A new option has evolved in the life insurance marketplace that retains the value of life insurance as a personal, business and estate planning tool, and allows policy-owners to reapply this value to lifetime needs. The number and kind of innovative applications of the lifetime settlement concept have grown rapidly and dramatically since the concept first took shape a few years ago.

Using a living trust as a will substitute

There are a good many reasons to consider establishing a Living Trust as a substitute for a Will. However, the Living Trust is not an appropriate planning device in all cases.

Consider your choices for estate taxes

There is an impressive array of strategies for moving wealth from one generation to another outside the purview of estate and gift taxation.

The case for managed money

Why pay a manager to put stocks or bonds together in a mutual fund? If markets were perfectly efficient and if research did not make a difference, then relative fund performance would be based on chance.

How to protect and grow your assets now

Not only can you create a dynasty for your family, but you can protect assets from creditors, divorce, spendthrifts and business failures.

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

A QPRT is an excellent estate tool for the transfer of vacation homes and for people with taxable estates who don’t want to transfer income-producing property.

Protecting yourself from wealth predators

Liability insurance and incorporation can help, but they don’t provide maximum protection of your personal wealth.

Why you should risk manage your nest egg

Earn investment returns, avoid major loss and enhance your returns now by managing the risk in your equity portfolio.

New IRS retirement plan amendments

Qualified pension, profit sharing and 401(k) plans can be a trap for the unwary, as employers who fail to amend their plans for required changes in a timely manner may have to pay sanctions to the IRS in order to avoid disqualification.

Can previous stock market events recur?

What if stocks, in the near future, trade at their historic average valuations? Only if you are a market historian can you ever begin to imagine how terrible those thoughts are

Effects of deflation on stock market performance

International companies may continue to face a squeeze in profits but have a long-term strategy and the resources to build market share. The mistake is not that we have invested and held, but that we did not buy more.

Now is the time for market timing

Market timing reduces risk and, when bear markets abound, it beats the heck out of the market.

Top ten wealth transfer mistakes

They may not be as funny as David Letterman’s Top 10, but they’ll save you a lot more.

Do you have an investment policy statement?

A well-written investment policy statement is integral to any successful investment plan and is vital to the entire investment planning process.

Reconfiguring your practice's pension plan

New comparability cross-testing offers physician practice groups the flexibility that virtually all other retirement plan structures lack.

Forgotten benefits of medical savings accounts

Physicians can benefit from MSAs as an employer, employee and/or provider.

Charitable gift shopping options

Prudent gifting to public charities can also offer tax and financial benefits

Central asset accounts to enhance revenue

A central asset account makes your money work harder for you by sweeping idle assets into interest-bearing money market funds.

Will your investments lead to caviar or cat food?

If you believe that inflation will eventually return, then your income need will increase as the years go by. If you make the wrong decision as to how to invest, the result can be devastating.

Affiliate with a practice manangement company?

Assessing the financial benefits requires a basic understanding of the arrangement from the PPMC end of the table.

Recognizing the S&P 500 Index hoaz

The reason why the S&P 500 Index mutual fund apparently outperforms the active mutual fund manager is because we’re comparing apples to oranges.

Consider the Charitable Remainder Trust

Many investors are reluctant to sell appreciated assets such as stock or real estate because of significant capital gains taxes they would owe. One way to increase cash flow or diversify holdings is through the Charitable Remainder Trust.

How much accumulation is enough?

To determine if you have a surplus in financial accumulation, you must quantify your goals of financial independence and ensure that your wealth is protected against financial independence predators.

Don't rule out variable annuities

A recent study has proven that variable annuities remain a popular and wise choice.

Estate planning for physicians

With no will, the state will make decisions about your family, your money and their future.

Pay income tax on your receivables?

The IRS has made a sweeping attempt to convert physicians’ income tax returns from the traditional cash method of accounting to the accrual method.

Advice for investment accumulators

A seven-step process to enable the accumulator to make smarter investment decisions for the long-term and not just for the moment.

Taxpayer Relief Act may live up to name

Significant tax relief is in sight for physicians and their practices.

Drawbacks of transactional planning

The cost of using financial planning tools from various advisors can be dangerous to your financial well being. An integrated approach takes systematic stock of your priorities.

Terminate Your Retirement Plan?

Physicians who have sold their practice often are tempted to terminate their practice retirement plans within a year or so of the sale. However, even in the tough times of decreasing reimbursements and increasing overhead, it makes sense for most physicians to maintain their retirement plans.

Understanding closed-end funds

When seeking diversification, opportunity and value, savvy investors often turn to one of the least-explored areas of the stock market. Learn three general classifications of closed-end funds.

In the event of death or disability, it is difficult to determine the amount of money needed to support a family and pay down outstanding liabilities reduced by current asset holdings and future receipts of income. Here are some considerations.

Did you make a mistake by putting so much of your money into your retirement plan? Consider alternative scenarios to determine whether your plan is a prudent guarantee of cash flow upon retirement or an IRA for the IRS.

How you can sell your appreciated stock portfolio (or any appreciated assets) and not surrender nearly one third of its value to the IRS in taxes.

No investment or asset can provide the purchaser with such extraordinary leverage and the ability to create liquidity when it is most needed. Consider the advantages and limitations of term and permanent life insurance and how to determine your need.

Decide whether you need "own-occ" coverage, and learn how that decision affects your choice of disability companies and policies.

Beware investment pundits

Conventional wisdom can lead to costly decisions. What to do with your investment portfolios when the market is at its best and at its worst.

Personal liability risks that physicians in nonprofit health care organizations have to avoid or face penalties for "excess benefit transactions" under the recently passed Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights II.

Start-up practices and small employers may wish to consider the new SIMPLE retirement plan. Be aware of changes to 401(k) calculations. Tax-exempt organizations are now permitted to establish 401(k) plans. Other impacts of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996.

Using computers to monitor finances

A survey of features of financial software.

Benefits of a cafeteria health plan

The advantages and disadvantages of a cafeteria health plan along with some pointers on implementation.

Major changes are explained as well as what can be done about them.