Who Will Run Your Business After You’re Gone?

June 25, 2009
Next in line for the throne

Many of my clients have spent decades building businesses right alongside raising families. They’re entrepreneurs, and I love that about them.
For as much calculating thought as they put into running successful businesses, many have never put any into who’s going to run the place after they are gone – whether by retirement or death.
They haven’t [...]

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Pre-Plan to Combat Rising Costs of Long-Term Care

June 15, 2009
Photo by DerrickT

One of the greatest challenges many of my clients face is how to protect their families from the rising cost of long term care – both for themselves when they reach retirement and for elderly parents.
For example, the average cost of staying in a Florida nursing home is between $5,000 to $6,500 per month, or [...]

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Feds Rate Nursing Homes Online

June 3, 2009
Photo by consumerfriendly

This is an idea that should have been brought to fruition a long time ago. The federal government has a tool consumers can use to evaluate nursing homes: medicare.gov/NHCompare
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS,  started ranking facilities in December based on government inspection [...]

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Cut Benefits or Jobs? You Pick!

May 27, 2009
Photo by Stephen Edmonds

Check out another trend that our small business owners are suffering under.  Do you cut jobs or do you cut benefits?
The recession is pounding on the small business community.  It is ugly, and will get uglier this summer.
The newspapers are not reporting it. I doubt you will ever see this in the New York Times, [...]

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Are Your Charitable Annuities At Risk?

May 15, 2009
Photo by DavidDMuir

As the jagged ripple of our economic situation continues to influence every aspect of our lives, a recent Wall Street Journal article on Gift Annuities caught my eye.
The article, “Donors Find Gift Annuities Can Stop Giving,” reviews how the market’s turmoil has sapped some charities’ ability to pay out promised yields.
This is an issue that [...]

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Just Legalese for Tax Sheltering? Trust Terminology Part II

May 1, 2009
istock_000005013722small

On behalf of the nation’s community of lawyers, allow me to apologize for all the cryptic acronyms we’ve developed for various kinds of Trusts.
I recently provided you with a kind of “cheat sheet” that explained some basic Trust terminology. This entry is the second installment in that series.
The goal is for you to be able [...]

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Small Businesses Being Crushed By Bank Credit Crisis

April 27, 2009
bailoutburger

I have heard this over and over from small business owners: The banks are pulling out of the small business market.
Lines of credit are being rescinded left and right. I am aware of several cases where the bank called the small business owner and said, “We are pulling your line of credit.”
It did not matter [...]

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Small Biz Owners Skipping Salary in Bad Economy

April 24, 2009
Photo by craigfinlay

The Wall Street Journal published an article about business owners scrambling to stay afloat in the tough economy by skipping their own paychecks, sometimes for months at a time.
Those interviewed for the story already had cut staff, dipped into personal savings, reduced their own salaries and renegotiated bill payments with suppliers. Have you had to [...]

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What the Heck Does That Mean? — Basic Trust Terminology

April 16, 2009
trust-documents-sign-here

One of the most awkward things in life to admit is:  “I don’t know what that word means.”
This can be especially true when meeting with an attorney – a professional you are now paying to explain basic terms when you’d rather be paying him or her to accomplish important goals for your family.
Before you step [...]

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Would this make Bono mad?

April 15, 2009
dead-aid

The Wall Street Journal published a fascinating article from a very interesting perspective.
Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa
I read a related review in Time magazine online about this book and its author, Dambisa Moyo, a former economist at Goldman Sachs. I found Time’s review rather biased against the book.  Read the articles and the book [...]

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