• Seeking relief from the common estate tax Published 11/20/2009 at 11:54 a.m.

  The United States has its own swine-like flu in all 50 of the United States.

• New estate tax law is on the way Published 10/23/2009 at 4:01 p.m.

  Let’s start with some new tax laws Congress is likely to pass before 2009 ends. You must divide these new-tax-law candidates into two distinct groups: the good guys and the bad guys.

• Maintain charity while growing wealth Published 10/16/2009 at 2:51 p.m.

  Most clients (usually readers of this column), when I ask, “What is your charitable intent?” respond with something like, “Nothing significant.”

• Second opinion saves reader a fortune Published 10/09/2009 at 2:28 p.m.

  You’ll like this true story. A reader, let’s call him Joe, of this column had completed his transfer-to-his-kids plan and his estate plan in 1996.

• Giving your kids the business Published 10/02/2009 at 1:58 p.m.

  You’ve had it. After 15, 25 (well, you fill in the number) or more years of building your business, you want out.

• Getting real estate out of your corporation Published 09/25/2009 at 5:02 p.m.

  Years ago (from the 1950s to the late 70s), it was the custom to put real estate in a separate corporation (R/E Corp.), which would then lease the real estate to the corporation operating the business. It was a lousy ...

• Protecting your estate Published 09/18/2009 at 1:59 p.m.

  Trying to beat the income tax collector is a time-honored annual activity. But you only get one chance to beat (or be beaten by) the estate tax collector. In most cases, an organized estate plan leaves the collector with an ...

• Winning the tax game for a family business Published 09/11/2009 at 4:25 p.m.

  Recently, I read an article titled, “What Makes For Success?” by Kemmons Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inn. He said, “It is great to attain wealth, but money is really just one way – and hardly the best way – ...

• Qualified plans can give great tax advantage Published 09/04/2009 at 2:26 p.m.

  There are many types of qualified plans: pension, profit-sharing, 401(k) and IRAs are the most popular.

• Beat the estate tax; legally and easily Published 08/28/2009 at 4:56 p.m.

  If you use the right tax tools and techniques together with the right professionals (lawyer, insurance consultant, and CPA), you can and will develop a plan to beat the IRS. Every time. And legally.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Who should own business real estate? Published 08/18/2009 at 9:48 p.m.

  The first commandment of my someday-I-will-write-it bible of taxation would be “Thou shalt not put real estate into a corporation.” We see it at least a dozen times year: When readers of this column ask us to do a tax ...

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Solve your business succession problem Published 08/11/2009 at 9:21 p.m.

  Own a family business? Want to transfer it to your kids? Then you’ll love this article. It’s about an old IRS letter ruling that is one of my favorites. It might be labeled “the lazy man’s way to plan your ...

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Business succession Published 08/04/2009 at 9:22 p.m.

  Many of the columns I write and the seminars I give deal with family business succession planning. Can you guess the most common succession situation and related problems? Getting the business from dad and/or mom to one or more of ...

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Captive audience: Are you among them? Published 07/28/2009 at 10:30 p.m.

  The Internal Revenue Code is not a friendly creature. It is designed to “taketh” your money; “giveth” is not in its vocabulary.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Leveraged gifts: A great tax strategy for you and your family Published 07/21/2009 at 9:19 p.m.

  Want to win the estate tax game? Think gifts. Leveraged gifts.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: A tale of two clients Published 07/14/2009 at 9:54 p.m.

  Succession planning has always been and still is a hot topic. Let’s start with a classical fact pattern and the tragic tax results that are sure to follow for the uninformed.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Roth IRA a sure tax winner; tax-free E/R plan even better Published 06/30/2009 at 8:20 p.m. 1 Comment

  Every tax newsletter, journal, and other publication (I read a bunch of them in my never-ending struggle to stay current on the tax law) has had one or more articles on the virtues of Roth IRAs in the past three ...

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: A big breakthrough - Reader-insurance-analysis test yields hard to believe positive results Published 06/23/2009 at 9 p.m.

  About six months ago this tax column ran a long two-part article titled: “Slash premium costs, yet increase life insurance benefits.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: Succession planning Published 06/16/2009 at 8:49 p.m.

  Do you own all or part of a closely-held business? Like it or not, some day you’ll have to value that business.

• Tax Secrets of the Wealthy: How to escape from your qualified plan tax trap Published 06/02/2009 at 8:55 p.m.

  Do you have a significant amount of money ($300,000 or more) in one or more qualified plans? For example, an IRA, profit-sharing plan, 401(k), etc.

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