As our lives are increasingly spent online from bill pay, to email and blogs to Facebook and Instagram, have you thought about what happens to your digital assets when you die? How will your successor trustee, executor or loved ones gain access to important records or treasured photographs stored in a vault in the cloud? … Continued
Silicon Valley is home to countless entrepreneurs who have created significant wealth, all concentrated in a single stock with very low cost basis. These positions can be quite volatile and often do not generate much income, if at all. Also, by selling the shares, the individual is faced with what can be sizeable capital gains … Continued
Custodial accounts are the simplest way to give property to minors, easily established at banks and brokerage firms, and do not require the need for an attorney to create a special trust. The gifts are deemed irrevocable, and age limits then apply for when the assets become fully available to the beneficiary child, typically … Continued
One of the biggest changes occurred here, with the taxable estate exemption doubled. The number of estates predicted to owe tax in 2018 versus 2017 may be cut in half thanks to the change in the estate and gift tax exemption amount. The new limit, which applies to gifts made during life or assets left … Continued
A major dilemma with navigating the divorce process is that it forces a person into an extremely emotional and gut-wrenching situation, and yet also requires extremely logical decision making to avoid major financial and legal mistakes. A quote by Winston Churchill – who was in the thick of trying to save his country while under … Continued
From setting allowances to extending shared credit, parents must contend with constant challenges related to how money affects their children. But challenges are also opportunities, and most money matters involving children have the potential to provide useful learning experiences. Take, for example, the basic issues surrounding credit and debt. Since even young children can use … Continued
The new tax law has brought about significant financial changes and opportunities for individuals and families, not least of which is the substantial increase in the estate and gift tax Lifetime Exemption amount. This amount has essentially doubled overnight, to a newly available $11.2 million per person in 2018 ($22.4 million for married couples). As … Continued
It is estimated that the newly passed tax law could result in a reduction of billions of dollars in charitable giving starting this year. Although the long-standing charitable deduction methodology was preserved, overall giving could be significantly hindered due to the new higher standard deduction reducing the number of tax payers who itemize on their … Continued
For entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, particularly first-time founders who bootstrapped their start-up, mediocre credit scores can be a painful fact of life. Perhaps company expenses were paid with personal credit, or, in the early days, a paycheck was passed on while bills piled up at home. Educational debt can also have served to lower credit … Continued
The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017” (TCJA) was signed into law on December 22nd and, while it will take some time to fully absorb its many impactful provisions, some key areas for planning clearly exist in this New Year. Probably the most significant change for many private taxpayers is the substantial expansion of … Continued