As of Jan. 1, 2011, no matter what your tax bracket, you can expect a hike. The lowest, 10% bracket will rise to 15%. On the high end 35% will rise to 39.6%. And everything in between… The 25% bracket will rise to 28%. The 28% bracket will rise to 31%. The 33% bracket will [...]

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal examined some of the new wealth taxes and experts made some recommendations to minimize these taxes. I’ve been recommending business owners and professionals take advantage of the strategies suggested for years. Their recommendations were: Reconsider a defined benefit pension. Meaningful changes aimed at business owners and professionals [...]

“Building wealth is useless if you cannot protect it from the government and other people who want to take it away from you” - Asset Protection, Donald Trump Making money is the easy part; the hard part is turning it into something more. When I think of the word internal it conjures up images of internal [...]

Now you can. A few years ago Congress changed the benefits business owners and professional can expect with hybrid pensions. Today new annual deductions as high as $250,000 are available for those with high tax obligations which will drastically cut those taxes.   You simply go to work, run your business or practice as you’ve done or [...]

A number of my clients have prompted this month’s blog because the decades’ old assumptions we’ve applied to owning real estate as a highly appreciable investment are being altered and re-written as I write this. In this new economy there are monumental changes occurring. Real estate no longer appears to be the safe and lucrative [...]

The old adage is that you save now for later; however, for many reasons – most of them psychological – people don’t save or don’t save anywhere near enough for later. So how do you motivate yourself to start saving for your future retirement which needs to include sufficient cash for short and longer term [...]

Given the recently issued Obama Greenbook, it is important to remember an important distinction regarding the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. There is nothing illegal about using tax effective strategies to protect and retain your hard earned income especially with a government that is intent on taxing you at the highest level. And that [...]

Prior to 2007, most Americans relied on their tax preparer, accountant or tax attorney to represent them as their agent to ensure they were receiving every possible deduction and credit to lower their tax obligation since we are under no obligation to pay more in taxes that required by law. Since January 2008, the role [...]

History shows that if an idea or plan (such as political strategy, economic reform, financial strategy) is founded on a stagnant structure that will not change with the people’s needs, its long-term success will be limited. In these unprecedented times of often volatile change, success is predicated on adaptability and flexibility. Many of my clients continue [...]

There are areas of the economy that are showing initial signs of recovery; however, overall the real growth felt at the consumer level is still stalling. Growth will more accurately be judged in small steps and anything more will be circumspect. There are pockets of activity and frenzy. At the moment the S&P is up 18.09% [...]

Deferred compensation is risky especially as companies continue to drop like flies and this is not expected to change based on recent economic data. If the company fails, executives can say good-bye to funds they anticipated having for their retirement or other needs; however, companies regularly use deferred compensation plans as inducements to employment to [...]

These days there is more and more discussion in the media about debt and the difference between “needs” and “wants” both as a nation and as individuals. Business owners and professionals are often as culpable as the next person when it comes to having the necessary resources to see them through an extended retirement of [...]

A recent article The ‘new’ tax on the rich by Jeanne Sahadi from CNN Money is sure to raise more concern about where the increased taxation on the so called wealthy is ever going to end. As Congress continues to grapple with how to pay for health care reform, taxing the wealthy is still in play. Just [...]

In these turbulent economic times, there is one overlooked opportunity for business owners and professionals to get their TARP. On YouTube, there is a song about everybody getting some TARP bailout funds so why aren’t business owners and professionals getting theirs? People with large tax obligations on an on-going basis are now entitled to a [...]

Have you registered for my upcoming seminars in Newport Beach (June 12, 2009), Salt Lake City (June 15, 2009), Houston (June 17, 2009) and Dallas (June 18, 2009)? If not, then go to my seminar registration and reserve your seat today. I’ve managed to coax a semi-retired, professional colleague of mine, Prof. Hampton, a leading international authority [...]