Search Results

The IRS recently released the April 2020 interest rates used for estate planning purposes. As expected based on recent market conditions, these rates are at or near all-time lows. These low rates, combined with potentially-depressed asset prices and temporarily-high estate and gift tax exemptions (currently over $23 million for a married coupl...

After the death of a retirement plan participant or IRA owner, non-eligible designated beneficiaries of a retirement account (other than a Roth) will experience an acceleration of taxable income and the loss of tax-deferred growth that was available before the enacted SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement). This is the t...

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") was signed into law. The CARES Act provides emergency assistance to individuals, families, and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act is divided into two divisions: Division A includes programs to benefit individuals, companies, an...

While today’s health, economic, and market concerns have created a challenging environment, there is a silver lining for wealth and estate planning opportunities. Compelling opportunities include gifting assets with depreciated value; using the low interest rate environment to your advantage through vehicles such as grantor retained annu...

In this Part Four of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), we take a look at the use of qualified charitable distributions (OCDs) that impacts estate planning. For the full planning series, see also Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

As we learn to cope with the unprecedented changes to our daily lives imposed by the COVID-19 crisis, many are rethinking about the steps to take to confirm that their affairs are in order. Now is the time to perform an estate plan wellness check-up and learn about the opportunities to implement planning techniques geared toward economic downturns.

Through the evolution of the family journey, it’s clear that family structures have become more complex and estate planning needs to shift to a new model that focuses on multiple aspects of wealth. By adapting to the changes and taking a holistic approach that go beyond financial goals, this wealth planning magazine provides thoughtful insigh...

The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The Act provides relief to individuals and families in the form of direct payments, relaxed restrictions on retirement accounts and new guidelines on cash donations to public charities.

Tax alpha is a measurement of tax efficiency that attempts to isolate the value of active tax management by comparing a manager versus a passive benchmark. This metric is preferred over alternative measures of tax efficiency because it shows the investor’s actual tax experience and uses a custom benchmark to put the results in perspective. Th...

Taxable investors are right to be concerned with measuring performance on an after-tax basis. However, to put after-tax performance in perspective requires a benchmark, just as pretax performance measurement does. Yet unlike pretax performance, after-tax performance is unique to each investor’s tax situation and asset flow patterns.

This report summarizes certain state and local tax relief efforts relating to coronavirus. The taxes that were impacted include corporate income tax, individual income tax, and sales and use tax.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented hardships on small businesses, nonprofits, and other entities. They are experiencing unexpected decreases in cash flow due to the “shelter-in-place” orders enacted by many municipalities. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has worked to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loan assist...

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the response to this pandemic have created an unprecedented, fast-moving, and challenging environment. Join guest Chris Schumann and host Damien Martin for the first episode of a three-part series focused on helping you respond responsibly to COVID-19. They share practical advice and key action step...

Due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), Washington recently enacted legislation providing various relief measures. In this second episode of a three-part, COVID-19 Response Series, guest Ryan Peterson and host Damien Martin discuss the payroll-related provisions provided under this new relief. They cover items of common confusion, identify are...

On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (the Act) was enacted into law. The Act provides relief to individuals, small businesses, and others impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus emergency. This summary offers an overview of certain relief provided to individuals by the ACT, including direct payments to taxpay...