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How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank
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A
Mason and Attorney Looks at the Estate Tax
Due to inactivity on the part of Congress, if you die this
year, there is no effective estate tax. The only way to
really take advantage of the temporary repeal of the estate
tax this year is to die, which is not that appealing to
most people. After
this year, things will change, but not really for the better.
For the entire article by Michael Cohen, please click here.
A
Brother's Death Brings Money Lessons to Life
Two years ago, my sister-in-law Eileen went kicking and
screaming to meet with lawyers and do some estate planning.
She didn't want to think about the possibilities. But my
big brother Rob was insistent. And so, despite Eileen's
objections, they met the lawyers.
And then my brother got ill. On July 16, just 47 days after
being diagnosed, my brother died. He was 57. I will miss
him more than I can conjure words to describe. I wrote about
him, at his insistence. "If you had only [47] days to live,
what would you not want to do and not want to worry about?"
he asked. You would not want to be in a position where you
still have to put your affairs in order, where you have
to think about every little detail, and wonder about every
dollar; where you have to rush into decisions that are filled
with the emotion that comes from your own terminal condition
and looming deadline.
"People need to understand," he told me, "how big a blessing
it is to know -- when their time comes -- that they have
everything in order, that they don't need to stress or worry
about how things they worked their whole life for are going
to turn out. He was comforted knowing that Eileen didn't
have the financial and estate concerns added to her burdens
at his time of need. That he was able to make that journey
without mundane financial worries was a blessing. He hoped
that you, too, would have that peace when your time comes.
To read the entire story, click
here. From MarketWatch
5
Tax Scams to Avoid This Summer
The Internal Revenue Service issues a list of the top 12
tax scams each year - known as the Dirty Dozen. The scams
are illegal and can lead to problems for taxpayers including
significant penalties, interest and possible criminal prosecution.
These scams don't just happen during the tax filing season,
they can happen anytime during the year. Here are five scams
from the 2010 Dirty Dozen list every taxpayer should be
aware of this summer.
1. Phishing This is a tactic used by scam
artists to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing personal
or financial information in an electronic communication.
Scams can take the form of e-mails, tweets or phony websites
and they try to mislead consumers by telling them they are
entitled to a tax refund from the IRS and they must reveal
personal information to claim it. Regardless of how official
this e-mail may look and sound, the IRS never initiates
unsolicited e-mail contact with taxpayers about their tax
issues. Phishers use the personal information obtained to
steal the victim's identity, access bank accounts, run up
credit card charges or apply for loans in the victim's name.
If you receive an e-mail that you suspect is a phishing
attempt or directs you to an imitation IRS website, please
forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. You can also
visit IRS.gov and enter the keyword phishing for additional
information.
2. Return Preparer Fraud Dishonest tax return
preparers can cause trouble for taxpayers who fall victim
to their ploys. Such preparers are skimming a portion of
their clients' refunds, charging inflated fees for tax preparation
or are attracting new clients by promising refunds that
are too good to be true. To increase confidence in the tax
system, the IRS is requiring all paid return preparers to
register with the IRS, pass competency tests and attend
continuing education.
3. Hiding Income Offshore Taxpayers have tried
to avoid or evade U.S. income tax by hiding income in offshore
banks and brokerage accounts. IRS agents continue to develop
their investigations of these offshore tax avoidance transactions
using information gained from more than 14,700 voluntary
disclosures received last year. Taxpayers also evade taxes
by using offshore debit cards, credit cards, wire transfers,
foreign trusts, employee-leasing schemes, private annuities
or life insurance plans.
4. Abuse of Charitable Organizations and Deductions
The IRS continues to observe the misuse of tax-exempt
organizations. This includes arrangements to improperly
shield income or assets from taxation and attempts by donors
to maintain control over donated assets. The IRS also continues
to investigate various schemes where donations are highly
overvalued or the organization receiving the donation promises
that the donor can purchase the items back at a later date
at a price the donor sets.
5. Frivolous Arguments Promoters of frivolous
schemes encourage people to make unreasonable and outlandish
claims to avoid paying the taxes they owe. If a scheme seems
too good to be true, it probably is. The IRS has a list
of frivolous legal positions that taxpayers should avoid
on IRS.gov. These arguments are false and have been thrown
out of court.
For the full list of 2010 Dirty Dozen tax scams or to find
out how to report suspected tax fraud, visit IRS.gov.
IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2010-08
12
Obscure Websites That Can Save You Money
Searching for legitimate money-saving websites can be daunting.
That's why editors of Wise Bread compiled a list of over
190 best online resources for saving money. These websites
have been hand-picked for their innovation and effectiveness.
Here are 12 of the most unique and relatively unknown websites
from the list. Take
a look - chances are you'll be able to put several of
them to good use right away!
UPDATE (8/1) - Everything but unemployment compensation was stripped from the bill that was to contain the IRA rollover. While not a dead issue, the IRA rollover and other similar extensions are running out of time, which may be the current strategy in Congress.
On June 24, Senate Democratic leaders pulled the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213) a bill that includes a one-year retroactive extension of the IRA charitable rollover, from floor consideration after a second attempt to move to a final vote on the bill failed. The Senate is now unlikely to act on an IRA charitable rollover extension until the fall. Prior to its expiration on Dec. 31, 2009, the IRA charitable rollover allowed taxpayers age 70 1/2 or older to direct up to $100,000 annually from their individual retirement accounts to eligible charities, including colleges, universities and independent schools, without having to count the distribution as income for tax purposes. If enacted, H.R. 4213 would retroactively extend the IRA charitable rollover for one year-from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010. Despite efforts to scale back the cost of H.R. 4213, Senate Democrats fell three votes short of the required 60 votes to proceed to a final vote on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated that he does not expect the Senate to return to the bill in the short term. With a packed agenda in July and a recess period in August, it is unlikely the Senate will take up H.R. 4213 until September at the earliest.
Council for Advancement and Support of Education 6/24/2010
Using
Life Insurance To Make Charitable Donations
Donors who wish to leverage their cash donations to charity
can use life insurance as an excellent means of accomplishing
their goal. By either gifting a policy outright or naming
a charity as beneficiary, they can provide the charity of
their choice with a large sum of money that can provide
a lasting legacy for a cause that they believe in. For the
full article, click
here.
Forbes.com 6/28/2010
The
Average Investor Is His Own Worst Enemy
Terrance Odean, a finance professor at the University of
California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, has spent
his career studying a very specific type of investor: the
one who is overconfident, shortsighted and far more likely
to snap up a stock at the worst possible moment than to
make the kind of contrarian bet that pays off in the long
run. Odean's specialty, in other words, is the average investor.
Click
here for the full article.
Forbes.com Investment Guide 6/28/2010
3
Retirement Worst Case Scenarios To Avoid
Retirement won't be enjoyable if you are constantly worried
about outliving your money. Your first retirement planning
goal should be eliminating this money stress. You can do
this by financially preparing for worst case scenario retirement
events that are reasonably foreseeable. These are three
worst case scenarios that this baby boomer is planning
for.
Yahoo Finance 6/1/2010
