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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Do I need a living trust?

Most people do not think about estate planning for numerous reason, not enough assets, no time, do not care, and so on. I am here to tell you EVERYONE needs to think about estate planning. One way to take care of the majority of your estate planning is by setting up a Living Trust. I have listed below the reasons why you need to have a Living Trust .


1. Avoid Probate: Do you want the courts telling you how to divide up your assets or who will take care of your children? Well that is exactly what will happen if you die and do not have aLiving Trust in place.

2. Avoiding Estate Taxes: You can set up certain trusts to avoid estate taxes at the time of death.

3. Confidentiality: When you die and have no will or trust in place. your estate will go into probate. In probate your assets are public record for everyone to see what you owned. If you are like me I do not want any lawyers knowing what I own.

4. Conservatorship: With a Living Trust you can name who you want to take care of you when you become incapacitated. Without one the courts will appoint one for you.

5. No recordkeeping: Some people think it takes a lot of time to maintain a Living Trust. Once you transfer your assets into one that is it. You do not have to do anything more.

Here a few reasons why you need to set up a Living Trust today. You owe it to yourself and and your love ones.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Guest Blog - The Market's Message Is 'Beware Inflation' - CNBC

Guest Blog - The Market's Message Is 'Beware Inflation' - CNBC

TurboTax is Easy, Free Edition, Fast Refund

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Should I invest in an annuity?

I hate getting asked this question. The reason why is usually someone has been speaking to the family insurance person. These products get pushed so hard by the insurance industry and they are a completely flawed product. the only person annuities benefit are, you guessed it, the insurance industry. Let's go over why these are wrong for you:


1.   Commissions: You will be paying a hefty commission to the agents. This may upwards to 12%. Now you know why they push these so hard.

2.   Surrender Fee: So you get suckered by a smooth talking salesperson and you want out.  Not so fast, you will have to pay a fee to close the annuity.

3.   Early Withdrawal Penalty: If you are younger than 59 1/2 and want to make a withdrawal you will have to pay a 10% penalty.

4    Loads:  You will have to pay a load to invest in their mutual funds.

5.   Taxes: Gains on your investments are taxed as ordinary income which is higher than capital gains rates

6.   Estate Planninghere's no getting around the income tax due on annuities. In fact, if you die with money remaining in your annuity, your beneficiary will inherit all the taxes that you have deferred. Compare this to a mutual fund or ETF, whose basis is stepped-up at death. In that case, your beneficiary would owe no taxes on the gains. Both types of accounts — annuities and mutual funds — are liable for federal estate taxes on anything over the federal estate tax exemption.


Do yourself a favor and next time a salesperson recommends an annuity, RUN!!!!