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…)
This is a compilation of keynote speeches on the “state of the economy”. It may not be true, but this is what your customers are listening to.
ARMANDO RIOS • BULLETIN STAFF WRITER • JANUARY 8, 2009
This event reminds us why Integrity and Honor are so cherished and why people can be so mistrusting or our services.
The Arkansas Securities Department issued a cease-and-desist order Tuesday against Mountain Home resident Robert Kyle Stewart for the allegedly fraudulent misappropriation of more than a half-million dollars from two elderly Baxter County residents. (more…)
A comic strip 5 years ago! (Click to enlarge)
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 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.
November 24, 2008
San Francisco Federal Court Halts Sales of Tax Schemes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 24, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
Walnut Creek, Calif., Firm Allegedly Helped Customers Avoid Tax on More Than $25 Million Through Insurance and IRA Scheme Download the IRS lawsuit
WASHINGTON - A San Francisco federal judge has ordered Edwin Lichtig III and his Walnut Creek, Calif.-based firm, GSL Advisory Solutions, to stop promoting unlawful tax schemes, the Justice Department announced today. The defendants agreed to the permanent injunction order without admitting the government’s allegations against them. The United States sued Lichtig and GSL alleging that they promoted tax fraud schemes involving Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) that helped customers improperly avoid federal income tax on more than $25 million. (more…)