Producers eSource Insurance Selling Tips & News
The Insurance Agent's Resource
It is an unfortunate thing that you can’t attend your own funeral. It is, perhaps, the only occasion where everything that is said about you is complimentary and you aren’t even there to hear it. And what’s even worse is that you only miss it by a couple days. Another unfortunate thing about funerals is that many times the deceased was also absent when it came to properly planning for the estate that must now be settled in the wake of his or her death. What, Me Worry? An … [Read more...]
PLR 201139011 Released by IRS on September 30, 2011 In an unusual PLR, IRS allowed a 13-year old beneficiary of her father’s company plan assets to largely undo a previously taxed lump-sum distribution and transfer the distributed plan funds to an inherited IRA for the child’s benefit. The income tax owed on distributed amounts transferred to the inherited IRA will be eliminated. The beneficiary’s mother, who was her legal guardian when she inherited the plan assets, had elected to … [Read more...]
Successful entrepreneurs would never dream of running their business with unfocused and sporadic attention. But when their hard work and vision pay off with considerable wealth, that is exactly how some handle their personal financial management. Applying business discipline is key to building a long term vision of wealth – and to avoiding the chaos that comes with losing the clarity and dependability that fed their success. When wealth starts to build, the complexity of the financial … [Read more...]
Case Facts: Henrietta Mater is a cheery 95 year old widow with no living heirs – and significantly diminished cognitive abilities. For this reason, she is being represented by both a respected private fiduciary with a financial power-of-attorney (POA) and a noted estate planning attorney. Her quality of life was quite comfortable prior to her mental deterioration, and it currently costs $22,000/month in care to maintain that quality of life. At this rate, her assets will last approximately … [Read more...]
I always laughed at my Mother’s jokes. Not because she was necessarily clever, but because I was. It’s always a wise thing to let those in authority think, if they prefer, that they are the funniest person on the premises. She had one I remember that went something like this: Q: “What’s worse than finding a worm in an apple?” A: “Finding half a worm.” Good talk, right? Indeed! Especially when planning for family businesses. Consider: Q: “What’s worse than … [Read more...]
In a recent Private Letter Ruling, PLR 201116005, the IRS allowed a disabled beneficiary to transfer his share of two inherited IRAs to a special-needs trust of which he was the beneficiary. Similar to its decision in other PLRs (200620025 and 200826008), the IRS reasoned that since the beneficiary would still be considered the owner of the assets under grantor trust rules, the transfer would not trigger any income tax. Although the IRS granted the request, poor planning did not come without … [Read more...]
Average producers are like cab drivers. Cab drivers run the meter. They … [Read More...]
Taken from Mike Steranka’s eBook – How to Gain the Unfair … [Read More...]
Today, we often want to communicate with each other in the fastest and … [Read More...]
One problem with life insurance is that as one ages, increasing mortality … [Read More...]
How do you think most people would answer the following question: “If … [Read More...]
On January 2, 2013 the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) was signed into … [Read More...]
Over the last 17 years of working in the financial services industry, … [Read More...]