When President Bush first floated his tax-cut proposals, I penned a column about its implications, should the measures pass intact. Inevitably, several proposed provisions, including lifetime savings accounts, wound up on the cutting room floor...
The most important element in determining gift and estate liability is the value of the asset being transferred. To reduce that value, estate planners create family limited partnerships (FLPs) and family limited liability companies (LLCs). The...
James Gorman of Merrill Lynch and other brokerage execs are trying to reinvent the retail broker.
In your initial meetings with clients, an answer to one question will give you insight into their values, lives and dreams and create a healthy anxiety that will motivate them to enlist your services. As nonchalantly as possible, ask, When you die...
The longer you are in the business of providing financial advice, the more likely you will get this call: A favorite middle-aged client rings you up and notes that a large bond in his account is coming due, or that there is a burgeoning sum...
The Hershey School Trust recently tried to sell a controlling interest in Hershey Foods, the largest chocolate maker in the United States. The initiative ignited very vocal public protest and rapid-fire state court litigation that attracted a huge...