Articles & Videos
Where Should You Keep Your Will?
Where Should You Keep Your Will? Planning your estate takes a considerable amount of time and effort. First, you must inventory what you own and decide how to divide your assets among your loved ones. Then you meet with your advisers—attorney, accountant, trust officer, insurance agent—to formalize your plans. Because you are conscientious, you review…
Will Contests: A Good Offense is the Best Defense
Will Contests: A Good Offense is the Best Defense When an elderly grandmother leaves all of her assets to a new beau, or Dad leaves everything to the child who visited most in the nursing home, a will challenge may be in the offing. Will contests generally are brought by unhappy family members who feel…
Capital Gains: Determining Your Tax Basis
Capital Gains: Determining Your Tax Basis The two chief forms of income for most people are “earned” and “unearned” income. Earned income (generally, your compensation for work that you do) is taxed at rates beginning at 10% and rising to 38.6% (in 2003). Capital gain, the income earned from your investments, receives preferential treatment. The…
Making the Most of Home Equity: Tips for Senior Citizens
Making the most of home equity For senior citizens living on fixed incomes, the need to replace a car or do substantial home repairs can disrupt finances. Major unplanned expenses caused by illness or disability can lead to financial disaster. Fortunately, many senior citizens are sitting on a major financial asset: the equity in their…
Keeping Your Health Insurance Premiums Low
Keeping Your Health Insurance Premiums Low Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) offer tax deductions for medical expenses, and the opportunity to set up an additional retirement account. But regardless of any other positive benefit of HSAs, lower premiums are the primary reason that thousands of Americans have chosen Health Savings Accounts as the best way to…
Identity Theft: Has your name been stolen?
Identity Theft: Has your name been stolen? Identity theft—the unauthorized use of an individual’s name or personal information to obtain money or credit—is the fastest-growing white-collar crime. Most probably, more than 700,000 Americans will be victims of it this year, with costs to them averaging over $800 and 175 hours of time spent trying to…
Q & A: IRAs for your Children
Q & A: IRAs for your Children Establishing a retirement plan for a child might, initially, sound a bit strange—or at least premature. Truly, it is not. Establishing an IRA for your children or grandchildren can help them achieve financial independence in retirement and, possibly, for the rest of their lives. That claim may raise…
Land Management: Conservation Easements
Land Management: Conservation Easements Real property–land and the home or other structures on it–often has special significance to the family that owns it, to the surrounding community or to the ecology of the area. It may have played a role in an historical event; provide habitat for wildlife; command a magnificent view; or offer access…
Personal Finance 101
Personal Finance 101 The subject of personal finance is very broad, but as a beginning, I would like to discuss what I consider the foundations of personal finance: Security, Stability, Growth and Protection & Management. Security Security to me means that I am prepared for the “hit by a bus” scenario. I have life insurance…
Saving for Retirement: 5 Steps to Building Significant Wealth
Saving for Retirement: 5 Steps to Building Significant Wealth Are you saving enough money for retirement? Do you know how much money you need to accumulate in order to retire? Are you concerned about how you should be saving for retirement? The simplicity of these questions can lead many people to believe that there is…
The Bypass Trust: Using Disclaimers to Manage Large IRA Balances
The Bypass IRA Trust: Using Disclaimers to Manage Large IRA Balances By Mary Kay Foss California CPA, December 2001Trying to fund a bypass trust can be problematic if clients only have a residence and a large retirement plan as their major assets. On the surface, a residence isn’t a good asset for a bypass trust…
Cost-Sharing Arrangements – Appeals Court Rules Against Xilinx
Cost-Sharing Arrangements – Appeals Court Rules Against Xilinx Taxpayer loses the Xilinx Case (click this link to see the complete Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision of 5/27/09) in the Court of Appeal on May 27, 2009.Subject to further appeal to the Supreme Court (which almost never happens with tax related cases), the tax benefits of…
5 Steps to Great Time Management
5 Steps to Great Time Management By Yihan Lin: Before you learn how to manage the resources of an organization, you must first be learning time management skills for your own life.Time management skills are founded on this principle: If you don’t manage your own life, no one else will. Therefore it is essential that…
IRS Notice 2009-62 Issued 8/7/09
IRS Notice 2009-62 Issued 8/7/09 The due date for reporting the existence of Offshore Bank Accounts on Treasury Department Form TD F 90-22.1 has been an issue of great confusion in the last few months. Form TD F 90-22.1 is known as Foreign Bank Account Reporting (AKA “FBAR”) For a complete review of this soap…
Income the IRS Can’t Touch
Income the IRS Can’t Touch There’s one readily available and legal source of untaxed income that we know of: municipal bonds. These securities are issued by state and local governments, school districts, hospitals and other public agencies to support community projects and services. To permit these worthy endeavors to raise money economically, Uncle Sam exempts…
Annuities in Qualified Retirement Plans
Annuities in Qualified Retirement Plans By Russell Hill Using annuities in qualified retirement plans. Qualified annuities reduce your current taxable salary in addition to accumulating tax deferred earnings, when you contribute money to an annuities program through an employer (as one of the investment options in a salary reduction retirement plan). Those who work for…
Alan Olsen Performing In World Renown Oakland Temple Pageant
Alan Olsen Performing In World Renown Oakland Temple Pageant Managing Partner Alan Olsen portraying John Taylor Fremont, CA – July 13th, 2006 – Alan L. Olsen CPA, MBA (tax) and Managing Partner of Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co. will be kicking up his heels as he dances and sings in the world renown extravaganza –…
Five Uses For Survivorship Life Insurance
Five Uses For Survivorship Life Insurance By Robert D. Cavanaugh, CLU Survivorship life insurance is a life insurance policy that insures two people and pays at the second death. Also referred to as second-to-die life insurance, common abbreviations are SWL for survivor whole life and SUL for survivor universal life. Advantages Since the insurance company…
The Basics of Asset Allocation
The Basics of Asset Allocation The Two Biggest Investment Mistakes: 1. Failure to diversify. Don’t bet everything on one stock. Don’t put all your money into either stocks or bonds. 2. Failure to cope with inflation risk. Today you need over $2 to buy what $1 bought in 1980, over $4 to buy what $1 bought in…
Stock Basis Reporting on Form 1099-B in 2011
Stock Basis Reporting on Form 1099-B in 2011 By Ron Cohen, CPA, MST Partner Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP See the new Form 1099-B for 2011 that requires “cost basis” information. Form 1099-B 2011 In the past, the client’s sometimes don’t know or can’t find their cost basis in stocks they have sold. Major…