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
As year-end approaches, it is time to review strategic planning opportunities with your trusted advisors. As we await the outcome of the tax reform bill, it is a good time to start the dialogue and prepare to act. With that in mind, here is a list of end-of-the-year financial tasks for your consideration. Tax-Loss Harvesting … Continued
Earmarking the family home — or some portion of it — to fund a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) can satisfy philanthropic intent, reduce personal taxes, and generate long-term income. For those with certain needs and desires — coupled with the right set of circumstances and capabilities — this approach could be a better alternative than … Continued
Many years ago, I was meeting with some new clients: a married couple in their 50’s with several million dollars in assets. They’d provided copies of their brokerage account statements for two IRAs and a joint account for me to review. I asked if they’d done any estate planning and they enthusiastically answered, “Yes!”, clearly … Continued
Every parent can probably remember being asked when they were expecting, “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?” The quick answer, of course, is that you are hoping for a child that is healthy. Raising and caring for a child with special needs can be extremely rewarding, but it can also present greater … Continued
Every family is different. Some are very open, sharing details about nearly everything in a loud boisterous manner; others are more reserved and less comfortable revealing personal information. No matter what your family dynamic, there comes a time when it is important to share some details with your adult children or the family members who … Continued
In today’s world of innovation, where one idea could turn a young entrepreneur into an overnight million(billion)aire, it is becoming increasingly common for a financially successful individual to accumulate far more wealth than their living parents ever could. It is in this group of high net worth investors where a unique wealth transfer strategy may … Continued
Intellectual property (IP) is a critical driver of innovation and economic competitiveness. In the last several years, new groundbreaking products and services have been made available to the world markets from right here in Silicon Valley and surrounds: drones, back-lit LED plasma TVs, hybrid and self-driving cars (!), streaming video, smart phones, life-saving pharmaceuticals, medical … Continued
In the alphabet soup of estate planning jargon, the acronym QPRT is one of the more familiar — if not fully understood — terms and it represents a popular and rather common technique for potentially passing significant wealth amongst generations using family homes with little or no gift or estate tax consequence. The letters stand … Continued