It just got harder to be old and anything short of wealthy. Chapter 2 of the new Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) focuses exclusively on long-term care under Medicaid and seeks to make it much harder for elders to protect any assets if they are...

Staring in January, small business owners can line up to collect a gift from Uncle Sam. It's the Roth 401(k) and, according to financial advisors, it may be the best deal available for business owners who want to save on taxes in retirement and/or...

The following letter, based on a real life situation with a friend and the friend's financial advisor, offers a peek at issues concerning boomer clients (all names are fictitious): Dear Roger: Thank you for spending so much time counseling our...

The year 2005 saw a lot of legislative and Treasury Department action in the employee benefit area. This is nothing new. Since the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) came into being in 1974, the laws and Internal Revenue Service's...

If you have business-owner clients run do not walk to check that their pension plans are in order. And if they are not, quickly ask the Internal Revenue Service for forgiveness. The IRS is coming. The IRS is coming. And it'll be much better for...

Baby boomers are intent on getting the most out of life and their money for many years to come. Whether they will or not, though, is far from guaranteed. What does this demographic really need and what does that mean for your practice? What to...

If you haven't gotten your hooks into enough baby boomer clients those 70 million-plus Americans born between 1946 and 1964 who are now heading toward retirement Congress is about to give you a second chance. Sometime early next year, or perhaps...

Some helpful rulings for retirement benefits planning were announced in 2005. One court ruling defines higher education expenses, a revenue ruling clarifies disclaimers and a series of private letter rulings authorizes numerous trustee-to-trustee...

IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY, there have been plenty of government programs that have choked on their own red tape. So it's noteworthy when an expert, who studies the minutia of government mandates, claims that he's identified a federal program that...

When Congress created the Roth 401(k) back in 2001, hardly anyone, including your clients, probably noticed or even cared. Financial advisors and investors were far more excited about the other goodies that the 2001 tax act delivered. However, it...