For “Intentionally Defective” Grantor Trusts (Part II of II) In this second and final part of this article, the author provides illustrations that showcase pitfalls to avoid when the power of substitution is exercised. Read Part I here.
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Top 5 Business Challenges The author discusses the top five business challenges identified by professional accounting and financial services firms, and proposes ways professionals can readily address those issues.
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Leading futurist and keynote speaker Ross Dawson, who regularly consults to accounting, finance, and banking bodies, spoke with Chris Sheedy about the single greatest opportunity that the future holds for accountants. To read the full article in ICAS, click: How We Will Learn to Love Big Data in 2018.
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In completing the comprehensive project to change the conceptual framework, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) confirmed the objective of IFRS financial reporting as providing financial information that is useful to investors and others when deciding whether to provide resources to a company. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: New IFRS Conceptual Framework Revises Foundational Reporting Concepts.
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The owner of a retirement planning firm cheated dozens of investors out of $3.8 million in two related scams that included a Ponzi scheme and fraudulent stock offerings targeting elderly retirees, the SEC says. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: $3.8M Ponzi Scheme Funded Spa Treatment, Maids, Church Tithes: SEC.
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Tips for Marketing Your Skills and Services Whether you are just starting your career, considering going out on your own, or expanding your business, there are three steps that will make your journey easier: conduct a self-assessment, develop a business plan, and design a marketing strategy. Sounds simple enough, but most businesses fail within the first year simply because people skip one or more of these fundamental steps. Ms. Yeend will be presenting on this topic Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the NACVA/CTI’s Annual Consultant’s Conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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For “Intentionally Defective” Grantor Trusts (Part I of II) The power of substitution is held by the settlor of a grantor trust if this power is provided by the trust instrument. This power allows the settlor, at any time, to remove an asset or assets from the grantor trust in exchange for an asset or assets of equivalent value. Such a transfer can be problematic and vulnerable to challenge if the equivalent value is questionable. One such example is when a promissory note bearing a below-market interest rate is the substituted property. First, this discussion presents an analysis of the…
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The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, H.R. 1625, which is the $1.3 trillion spending bill that Congress passed, contains a few tax-related provisions, including funding for the IRS and technical corrections to various recent pieces of tax legislation. It also amends the centralized partnership audit regime and changes the Sec. 199A deduction for farmers who sell grain to agricultural cooperatives. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Federal Spending Bill Includes Tax Provisions.
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The demand for housing has been outpacing supply since early 2015, according to the National Association of Realtors, putting upward pressure on home prices and creating affordability challenges for potential homebuyers already badgered by tight inventory. However, consumer conditions vary geographically, meaning some states provide less stressful home-buying environments than others. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Twelve States Where Home Purchasing Power is on the Rise.
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Despite several projections about the future strength of digital advice, executives took to social media to express doubts that wealth management disruptors would remain standing—undone instead by private equity investor demands, tepid growth and evolved competition. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: What Wealthfront’s Reported Valuation Drop Means for Indie Robo Advisors.
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In Measuring Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Damages (Part II of II) The second part of this article focuses on the methodologies employed to quantify the economic damages when a fiduciary breach is claimed.
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Healthcare Regulatory Environment (Part III of VI) In the March/April 2018 issue of The Value Examiner, the author underscores the importance of undertaking rigorous due diligence to better understand the regulatory burdens and operational risks notwithstanding efforts to repeal and replace.
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Q. We receive Excel-based reports from our European operations with the daily temperatures of our electrical generators and other equipment recorded in Celsius; what’s the best way to convert these data to Fahrenheit in Excel? To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Microsoft Office: Excel’s Versatile CONVERT Function.
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There’s an acronym few financial advisors are familiar with—but they absolutely should get to know. DAPTs, the abbreviation for self-settled domestic asset protection trusts, can play an important role in planning for both income and estate taxes. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: The Vital Tax Planning Tool Few Advisors Know.
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As the financial planning industry nears a fee-only, fiduciary world, we are finally outgrowing our profession’s roots—and for the better. In the process, though, independent broker-dealers will face some important choices about their future business models. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: As Planners Outgrow Their Roots, Hard Choices Lie Ahead.
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In Measuring Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Damages (Part I of II) The prudent investment of trust assets can minimize the potential for trustee fiduciary litigation risk, in addition to maximizing the trust beneficiaries’ economic interest in the trust. However, trust beneficiaries may initiate a breach of fiduciary duty tort claim when they feel that the trustee has breached any investment management fiduciary duties to the trust. For trust beneficiaries, and their legal counsel, who have brought breach of fiduciary duty tort claims against a trustee, one of the issues is how to measure the “damage” to the beneficiaries because…
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Perform a File Autopsy! We live and die in/by our engagements. Bet you never thought of it that way. But really, tell me life isn’t just peachy when you’re working on a fun/interesting/profitable case. And that life doesn’t just suck when you’re not. Wouldn’t it be nice to have more peaches? In this article, Rod Burkert shares his After Action Review process that enables practitioners to (re)focus on cases and clients that are interesting and engaging and discard those that are less “peachy”.
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Saying yes is killing your productivity. Chances are, you’ve agreed to take on a request from a colleague or client only to soon regret it because: you’re already on the edge in terms of capacity or stress; you have no time to recharge; it has a domino effect, making you late for remaining appointments and depleting your energy in the process. Sound familiar? If so, you need to say no more often. To read the full article in Financial Management, click: The Power of Saying No.
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Amazon is finally revealing its designs to enter the financial industry. Should advisors worry? There’s no immediate threat. But there is one detail that advisors should pick up on. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: What Amazon’s Flirtation with Checking Means for Wealth Management.
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If your firm is considering making any changes to your existing partner compensation plan, from a minor tweak to a major overhaul, there are some basic concepts that you should keep in mind. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: How to Compensate Partners to Keep Your Firm on Track.