Dow Jones Newswire: Obama’s capital gain tax plan may include:
Increase the top two marginal tax rates from their current levels of 33 percent and 35 percent to 36 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively. Based on 2009 income thresholds, that would result in a tax increase on singles making $171,550 or more and married couples making $208,850 or more. (more…)
By Charles Rubin
On January 9, 2009, Representative Earl Pomeroy introduced HR 436 (”Certain Estate Tax Relief Act of 2009″). The Bill would freeze the Federal estate tax exemption at $3,500,000 (the 2009 level), and retain the tax rate for estates exceeding that amount at 45 percent (50 percent for estates between $10 million and $23.5 million). The Bill, however, would also seek to eliminate popular estate planning techniques by disallowing most discounts associated with family limited partnerships containing “non-business assets” (such as marketable securities). A Democrat controlled White House and Congress, coupled with the current economic climate, have also caused predictions of additional estate tax reforms and there are at least four such bills currently pending in the House. (more…)
In a way, the pressure of real-time information is polarizing - the hard-working people are becoming harder to replace, while slackers and perhaps less knowledgeable people are just not needed. (more…)
By Jeff Brooks
Something’s wrong with fundraising. At least, that’s one conclusion you could draw from a study reported in the Wall Street Journal Wealth Report blog at Why the Rich Give to Charity.
The survey, by the Center on Philanthropy and Bank of America, asked people with incomes of $200,000 or more or a net worth of $1 million-plus, about their motivations for giving to charity. Here’s the key finding: (more…)
By Hannah Shaw
Developing a comprehensive estate plan with an experienced legal professional can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Not having an estate plan in place and operational at the time of death can cost both time and money in the form of unnecessary complications and taxes for the estate’s heirs. (more…)
By Hannah Shaw Grow, Russ Alan Prince
Despite the wide appeal of philanthropy, most of the wealthy don’t capture the benefits of planned charitable gifts.
… In an effort to understand how actively the wealthy are involved in the stages of the giving process, we surveyed 446 individuals with a net worth of $5 million or more and a history of giving at least $50,000 a year to non-profit organizations. (more…)
Here is a “must” read article about how working with charities and creating lasting situations of wealth is a “huge” opportunity. Here is the article “Donors Turning to Wealth Advisors”
Here is the closing comment: …My message to them will be that wealth advisors do not represent the enemy, but most of them need a lot of help to climb the philanthropy learning curve. It may not be the obligation of the nonprofit community to educate wealth advisors, but I think there is a huge opportunity available to those nonprofits that see the shift that is occurring and get out in front of the curve by working hard to educate the financial crowd.
Taxpayers often use charitable remainder trusts to avoid current tax on appreciated property. This is usually accomplished by the contribution of appreciated property to a charitable remainder trust, and then the trust sells the asset. Since the trust is tax-exempt, no current income tax is due on the sale. However, under the tiered income rules, as distributions are made to the grantor, those gains will be taxable to the grantor. Therefore, such planning is usually a deferral mechanism, not a tax elimination mechanism. (more…)
Excerpted from “The Man Who Taught Me Everything,” By Amby Burfoot, published in Runner’s World, March 2007.
I’ve attached the newsletter from Handler, Thayer & Duggan. Jarrett Bostwick is one of the principals of this firm.