The SEC finalized a rule requiring mutual funds to provide investors with a concise summary of the key information they need to make informed investment decisions. The new summary prospectus will appear at the front of a fund’s prospectus. The SEC also approved a new rule that permits sending a
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Personal financial planning
Creating Joint Ownership: Avoiding the Tax Traps and Other Pitfalls
Many property owners add their children and other family members to the title of their property without thinking through the consequences. Many seem to favor joint tenancy—a convenient way to ensure that assets will ultimately pass to family members without the need for probate and other costs. Joint tenancy—commonly referred
Bookshelf Review
The Sex of a Hippopotamus: A Unique History of Taxes and Accounting by Jay Starkman Twinset Inc., 2008, 456 pp. The Sex of a Hippopotamus by Jay Starkman is a well-documented and interesting read for professionals in the accounting and tax fields. In particular, this book is appealing to instructors,
Effects of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Provisions on Individuals
Editor’s note: This article appears in the January 2009 issue of The Tax Adviser, the AICPA’s monthly journal of tax planning, trends and techniques. On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, P.L. 110-343. The act provides alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief,
Estate Planning: Time for a Tuneup
A CPA is in an excellent position to help clients address the issues of estate planning. CPAs are usually aware of the scope of their clients’ assets and often know something about family relationships, recent marriages, children, grandchildren and other key facts. They see their clients annually in connection with
SEC Finalizes Summary Prospectus Requirements for Mutual Funds
The SEC finalized a rule requiring mutual funds to provide investors with a concise summary of the key information they need to make informed investment decisions. The new summary prospectus will appear at the front of a fund’s prospectus. The SEC also approved a new rule that permits sending a
Comparison of Cumulative Monthly Social Security Benefits
Using a side-by-side spreadsheet comparison of cumulative monthly Social Security benefits (reflecting the 11 months for the first year in which benefits accrue after reaching age 62 and assuming a 3% COLA) CPA financial planners can show clients how the 58-year-old worker without consideration of a spouse (illustrated in Exhibit
Social Security for Two
CPA financial planners are often confronted with the question, “When should I start collecting Social Security benefits?” For married couples, the question should be asked in the plural. Current financial needs and expected life span may be paramount considerations for a single person. However, the implications of when to begin
Quick Points on Prenups
Premarital agreements (also known as prenuptial agreements, or “prenups” for short) involve elements of estate planning and divorce law. And because such agreements can center on finances and taxes, accountants should be aware of how they operate. WHEN A PRENUP MAY BE NEEDEDPrenups aren’t just for rich people—they are for
Congress Extends, Amends Research Credit
The recently enacted Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 includes the long-awaited extension of the IRC § 41 research credit. The credit had expired at the end of 2007, but the act extends it to apply to amounts incurred after Dec. 31, 2007, and before Jan. 1, 2010. Under section
Annuities and the Other Side of the Retirement Savings Coin
Like many of their clients, CPAs tend to consider the problem of retirement planning solved once they develop a plan for accumulating savings during the client’s working years. But as recent events have shown, panics and bear markets can add another dimension to the equation. Moreover, there is another side
AICPA and InvestmentNews Offer Online Discussion Forum for Financial Advisers
The AICPA and InvestmentNews have launched “Ask the CPA,” an online discussion forum on advising clients in times of economic crisis. InvestmentNews readers may post their questions at www.investmentnews.com/community. CPAs holding the Institute’s personal financial specialist (CPA/PFS) credential will respond. The forum will run through December 31, 2008. “This is an
AICPA Issues Liquidity Restrictions Practice Aid
The AICPA has issued a new nonauthoritative Technical Practice Aid addressing potential accounting and auditing implications of a fund or its trustee imposing restrictions on a nongovernmental entity’s ability to withdraw its balance in a money market fund or other short-term investment vehicle. TPA 1100.15, Liquidity Restrictions, covers balance sheet
New Feed the Pig Cirriculum Targets Younger Audience
The AICPA and The Advertising Council have developed Feed the Pig for Tweens, a new financial literacy curriculum for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. The program is an extension of the Feed the Pig campaign, featuring Benjamin Bankes, which was designed to help 25- to 34-year-olds take control of their finances.
AICPA Vows to Continue Tax Patent Legislative Effort
The AICPA will continue pushing for legislation in the next Congress either to ban tax strategy patents or provide immunity to taxpayers and practitioners from liability. Supporters of a tax strategy patents ban took modest encouragement from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s ruling Oct. 30
Federal Circuit Issues Landmark Decision on Business Method Patents
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a long-awaited decision that could make it more challenging to patent business processes such as tax and financial strategies. In a 9-3 ruling issued on Oct. 30 in the In re Bilski case, the court stated a new, more
LTC Insurance Has Potential as Wealth Management Strategy, Too
Thank you for your very informative article, “Long-Term Care Insurance and Tax Planning” (Aug. 08, page 44). As a CPA/PFS, I believe that every financial adviser should help their clients make an informed decision regarding long-term care insurance, given the ever-escalating cost of long-term care. We have found time and time
Does Private Equity Belong in Your Client’s Portfolio?
Faced with a slumping stock market and low-yield bond portfolios, some fund managers maybe tempted by the higher potential yields of private equity. Before leading clients to this option, advisers should ask some hard questions: R Do you understand the deal? Is the specific industry one you believe you can
Depreciate Property in Like-Kind Exchanges Consistently
The Treasury has issued final regulations (Treasury Decision 9314) explaining how to depreciate modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) property that has been acquired in a section 1031 like-kind exchange or through a section 1033 involuntary conversion when both the acquired and relinquished property are subject to MACRS in the
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts
Estate tax planners have long employed intentionally defective grantor trusts to freeze the value of an asset for estate tax purposes while transferring assets out of the estate free of gift tax. An intentionally defective grantor trust (IDGT) is a complete transfer to a trust for transfer tax purposes but
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From The Tax Adviser
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Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
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