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An Estate Planning PrimerBy Bill Willard An estate is the total value of everything we own--and business and personal assets can add up quickly. Everyone has an estate. And realize it or not, everyone also has an estate plan.
An estate plan can be designed by clients and their professional advisors to achieve the client’s personal and financial objectives. Or, it can be an arrangement imposed upon survivors by state intestate succession laws if someone dies with¬out a valid, up-to-date will. Even though a will is the most basic estate plan¬ning tool, two out of three Americans die without one.
A comprehensive estate plan can arrange the ownership, management and distri¬bution of your assets in ways that meet your needs and objectives while mini¬mizing estate shrinkage. Without such a plan, whatever you may think is going to happen to your estate after you're gone probably won't.
Estate settlement and distribution -- Estate transfer is a privilege that can be exercised only by following specific legal procedures designed to protect the rights of deceased’s heirs. Estate settlement, as this process is called, involves the assigned executor making an inventory of the person’s business and personal assets, paying all debts and claims against your estate, identifying the legal heirs of the remaining estate assets, and distributing those assets accordingly.
The problem of estate shrinkage -- The costs associated with estate settlement include funeral expenses, medical bills, legal fees, administration costs and other debts, as well as various federal or state taxes. These costs can drastically shrink the size of your estate. Because they must be paid before the estate can be fully settled, they can also delay distribution of your remaining assets to your heirs.
The need for estate liquidity -- Estates are often cash poor. Unless sufficient liquidity has been provided, the forced sale of nonliquid assets to pay settlements costs can compound estate shrinkage. In these situations, the buyer always has the upper hand. But even people of modest means who never considered themselves rich enough to need much can be in for a shock. In addition to having to settle-up with Uncle Sam and state tax collectors, creditors must be paid in full before a taxpayer's heirs can receive their inheritances.
A false sense of security about estate taxes -- Part of the problem may be that people are so concerned about reducing their income
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CSC names Mike Lawrie CEO<img src='http://assets.bizjournals.com/washington/quick_news/Headshot_Large*100.jpg?v=1'>Falls Church-based CSC has named Mike Lawrie, president and CEO. Lawrie was at the helm of British software firm Misys for five years after working for IBM for more than 25 years.
Lawrie succeeds Michael Laphen, who is retiring as CEO and chairman. The CSC board of directors also announced that Rodney Chase, a current director on the company's board, has been named non-executive chairman of the board of directors.
CSC Press Release
CSC (NYSE: CSC), a leading global IT services company, announced today that Mike Lawrie, 58, has been appointed president and chief executive officer, and will join the company no later than March 31, 2012...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>Startup VA study shows a ?sleeping giant? of tech M&ALast week, we teased some of Jonathan Aberman?s report examining six years of acquisitions in the Greater Washington region and Silicon Valley. But there?s a lot more to this study than the nugget we included.
Aberman, managing director of McLean-based Amplifier Ventures and president of FouderCorps, crunched data from thousands of technology-related M&A deals in the two regions since 2006. He emerged with some interesting, and somewhat surprising, conclusions.
His focus was ?intramarket? buyouts ? those acquisitions in which both sides of the deal are based in the same region...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>Bethesda's Opnet reports record revenueBethesda-based software maker Opnet Technologies Inc. reports higher earnings and record revenue for its latest quarter.
The company, whose software is used for managing networks and improving their performance, had fiscal third-quarter 2012 revenue of $46 million, up 15.9 percent from $39.7 million in revenue a year earlier.
Net income was $5.3 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with $4.3 million, or 19 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Opnet (NASDAQ: OPNT) forecasts fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $45 million to $49 million, and it issued full fiscal 2012 revenue guidance of as much as $177 million.<div class="feedflare">
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</div>Corporate Executive Board earnings upThe Corporate Executive Board Co., an Arlington-based corporate research company, saw higher quarterly earnings and revenue, will boost its quarterly dividend and announced an acquisition.
The company's fourth-quarter revenue rose 14.3 percent to $132 million. Net income was $16.95 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with $10.76 million, or 31 cents per share a year earlier.
For all of 2011, revenue was $484.7 million. The company had $52.7 million in 2011 earnings, up from $40.4 million in 2010...<div class="feedflare">
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taxes, they forget that the federal estate tax rate is virtually double the income tax rate. Actually, anyone with at least $600,000 in assets has a potential federal estate tax liability and may also face state death taxes. Federal estate tax laws, particularly the unlimited marital deduction, have lulled many taxpayers into a false sense of security. Even with a will, anyone who thinks "leaving it all to my spouse" is the way to avoid estate taxes and other estate settlement hassles needs to think again.
The marital deduction is an important tool. It provides that any assets passing to a surviving spouse pass tax free at the time the first spouse dies (assuming the surviving spouse is a U.S. citizen). However, the marital deduction ends after the first death. Unless the surviving spouse remarries, the real impact of the federal estate tax is felt at the sec¬ond death. In fact, the bill may even be higher if the estate continues to grow.
The "second-death" problem -- How big a mistake can it be for an estate owner to leave everything to his or her spouse under the marital deduction? Consider this example: A married couple with two children each have assets of $1 million, which they intend to leave to each other under the unlimited marital deduction. If the husband dies first and leaves his entire $1-million estate to his wife under the unlimited marital deduction, his taxable estate will be zero. As a result, how¬ever, if the wife does not remarry, her gross estate at her death could be $2 million, under the unlikely assumption that the assets will not appreciate. Without some careful estate planning, the federal estate tax could take a big bite out of the children's inheritances at their mother's death.
Meeting objectives. If an estate is going to be big enough to tax, a will is just the beginning. The client may also need to do some additional to meet other impor¬tant objectives:
Avoiding probate
Providing sufficient liquidity to cover estate settlement costs
Providing for the orderly disposition of a business or professional prac¬tice
Maintaining the family's lifestyle and meeting other financial secu¬rity objectives,
To avoid making mistakes, people need professional advice from a qualified attorney, trust officer, accountant or other financial advisors. has helped countless numbers of people reduce their estate tax liabilities and prevent the needless loss of business and other assets.
Remember, however, that while tax savings may be a primary issue, they’re not the only issue. is also a way for people to reflect, perhaps for the first time, on what they'd like to have happen to their property after they're gone. Much of the cost and inconvenience of estate settlement can be reduced or eliminated during a person’s lifetime. It can be done by making decisions to imple¬ment strategies for conserving and distributing your assets most advantageously. Among these strategies are the use of:
Jointly owned property
Lifetime gifts
Wills
Trusts
Life insurance
Planning to provide for a family’s needs at the household head’s death is essential, especially if the employer’s pension option is "single payer." Annuities offer the security of a guaranteed death benefit, which passes to the owner’s named beneficiary(ies) free of the costs and delays of probate. With some annuities, a spouse who is the primary beneficiary has the option of assuming ownership of the annuity and continuing to accumulate money on a tax-deferred basis.
Retirees should continually review their estate plans because life’s changes often create a need to alter these arrangements.
Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net
Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for the financial services industry for over 30 years. Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning™" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps agents and advisors get the job done: profitably improving performance, skipping expensive mistakes, and making the journey to success faster, smoother, easier. And fun
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Waste Connections reports higher earnings for 2011
Waste Connections Inc., a Texas based company that is in the process of moving from Folsom, reported higher revenue and earnings for 2011.
The solid-waste company posted sales of $1.5 billion, up 14 percent from the prior year. Net income was $165 million, up 22 percent.
Earnings per share for the year were $1.47, up from $1.17.
The company quoted chairman and chief executive Ron Mittelstaedt as saying cost controls helped to propel earnings. For the coming year, the company expects revenue to increase to $1...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>Parent of Bank of Sacramento earnings up 228% in 2011
Greater Sacramento Bancorp earned $2.3 million in 2011, up 228 percent from earning $713,000 the year earlier.
In the fourth quarter, the holding company for Bank of Sacramento earned $601,000 compared to earning $612,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Greater Sacramento Bancorp (OTC: GSCB.OB) ended 2011 with assets of $407.6 million, up 10 percent from assets of $369.3 million in 2010.
?During the past several years we have diligently and successfully addressed our problem loans and the results of these efforts are witnessed by our 2011 earnings performance,? said Bill Martin, bank chief executive and founder, in a statement...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>Sacramento loses 1,300 private-sector jobs in 2011
<img src='http://assets.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/Downtown-Old-Sacramento-Quam*100.jpg?v=3'>Sacramento continues to be near the bottom in terms of job growth in the private sector. It lost 1,300 jobs in 2011, according to a new analysis.
On Numbers looked at private-sector jobs employment growth in 2011. Sacramento ranked No. 93 out of 100 of the country?s largest markets. In 2011, the city had 577,400 private sector jobs, compared to 2010?s 578,700.
In comparison, the country?s largest markets, Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth, added more private-sector jobs than any other U.S. metropolitan area during the past year...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>CalSTRS investing $500M in global infrastructure
The California State Teachers? Retirement System is investing $500 million in global infrastructure with an Australian-based fund.
The teachers? pension fund has teamed with Melbourne, Australia-based Industry Funds Management Pty. Ltd. to invest in utilities, roads, ports and pipelines.
This investment sector is promising for CalSTRS because it addresses issues that emerged during the global economic crisis of the past few years.
?What the recent economic crisis demonstrated was the need for greater diversification in our investment portfolio, in areas that would also serve as a hedge against inflation,? said Harry Keiley, chairman of the CalSTRS Investment Committee, in a statement...<div class="feedflare">
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making financial and legal arrangements for one or more persons to provide for retirement and for passing assets to their heirs.
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